Renaissance Lives Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

In the renaissance, the ideal person was the ‘universal man or

woman’.
Leonardo was born in Vinci, near Florence. From an early age
he was full of curiosity and also showed a love of drawing. He was
apprenticed to Master Verrocchio, one of Florence’s best-known
artists.
When Leonardo was trained, he tried without success to get
work in Florence. He wrote instead to the ruler of Milan, Ludovico
Sforza. Sforza invited him to work in Milan. Here Leonardo painted
the virgin of the rocks on canvas. This painting shows his use of
sfumato – a ‘smoky’ technique, first used by Leonardo, in which the
outlines of the figures were blurred or smudged to make them blend
into their surroundings. Leonardo also painted the last supper in
Milan. This was painted on the dining-room wall of a monastery.
Very soon the paint began to peel off one of the greatest works of
art.
He had a special interest in anatomy (the study of the
human body). In all, about 7,000 pages of his notes still exist. He
made detailed drawings of the human body. He designed machines
– tanks, cannons and an aeroplane with flapping wings. He wrote
left-handed backwards (mirror writing), so for many years people
did not understand what he had written. After Sforza’s fall from
power, Leonardo returned to Florence. Here he painted the Mona
Lisa, who is believed to have been the wife of a merchant. Leonardo
went to live in France in 1516 at the invitation of the king, Francis I.
three years later he died, still dreaming of new projects.