After having performed the pluridisciplinar artwork about "The last supper", I am going to make a small research about its artist Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance whose areas of interest included invention, drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, paleontology, and cartography.
Leonardo da Vinci's education was, precisely, in the Florentine municipality of Vinci. There he learned the basic knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic skills.
Da Vinci soon expressed concern about nature. His curiosity led him to paint mythological beings invented by himself, inspired by his observations.
Aware of the young man's enormous talent, his father asked the artist Andrea del Verrocchio if his son could dedicate himself to painting. Then, Leonardo entered his workshop as an apprentice in 1469, where he learned from drawing and painting techniques to the basis of chemistry, through engraving and sculpture techniques. After the six years he spent as an apprentice, Leonardo set up his own workshop in Florence. At this time, he painted his first painting: Virgin of the Carnation (1476) and became an independent painter. In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci left Florence and settled in Milan. There, he appeared before Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, who became his patron. He remained in his court for 17 years as an engineer. In 1490, he opened a school in the Lombard city where he taught all his knowledge and shared his research. The Vitruvian Man dates from this same year, the famous drawing with which Leonardo explained the ideal proportions of the human body. In 1494, the Dominican convent of Santa Maria dalle Grazie commissioned da Vinci to paint a fresco in one of its rooms. This mural, more than four meters long and eight meters long, is none other than the famous The Last Supper, which ended in 1498, about which there has been so much speculation throughout history. A year later, French troops conquered Milan, and Ludovico Sforza's power fell. Leonardo fled the city with his friend, the mathematician and Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli. After a brief period in Mantua, in the house of Isabel de Este, Leonardo da Vinci moved to Venice. There he worked as a military engineer. Their task was to create defensive systems to protect the canal city from attacks by the Turks. The artifacts he invented were not built as, for example, a kind of diving suit or double-lined ships to withstand the onslaught. It is believed that his inventions did not go beyond paper due to lack of time and money. In April 1500, Leonardo da Vinci returned to Florence, where César Borgia ruled. Pope Alexander VI's son ordered him to visit various Italian cities as a military engineer to help him in his plan to conquer territories. However, a short time later, the population revolted against the Borgias and Leonardo returned to Florence. Around 1506, Leonardo da Vinci moved back to Milan. During this period, the genius developed a special interest in science, although he continued with his role as a painter. In these years the Virgin of the rocks ended. After coming and going on Italian territory as a military engineer, Leonardo da Vinci moved to Rome around 1513. There he developed his activity for Pope Leo X, a member of the Medici family. However, the men who stood out at the time were Rafael and Miguel Ángel.
It is believed that, due to the few commissions he received, da Vinci focused on his investigations. However, that feeling of failure in the Italian capital did not abandon him and possibly prompted him to move to France in 1516.
The king of France, Francis I, installed da Vinci in the Clos-Lucé castle, near the town of Amboise, where he spent the last years of his life. On May 2, 1519, after spending a season ill, Leonardo died at the age of 67. His remains rest in the chapel of Saint Hubert, in the castle of Amboise.
Some of his important artworks are:Leonardo da Vinci's education was, precisely, in the Florentine municipality of Vinci. There he learned the basic knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic skills.
Da Vinci soon expressed concern about nature. His curiosity led him to paint mythological beings invented by himself, inspired by his observations.
Aware of the young man's enormous talent, his father asked the artist Andrea del Verrocchio if his son could dedicate himself to painting. Then, Leonardo entered his workshop as an apprentice in 1469, where he learned from drawing and painting techniques to the basis of chemistry, through engraving and sculpture techniques. After the six years he spent as an apprentice, Leonardo set up his own workshop in Florence. At this time, he painted his first painting: Virgin of the Carnation (1476) and became an independent painter. In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci left Florence and settled in Milan. There, he appeared before Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, who became his patron. He remained in his court for 17 years as an engineer. In 1490, he opened a school in the Lombard city where he taught all his knowledge and shared his research. The Vitruvian Man dates from this same year, the famous drawing with which Leonardo explained the ideal proportions of the human body. In 1494, the Dominican convent of Santa Maria dalle Grazie commissioned da Vinci to paint a fresco in one of its rooms. This mural, more than four meters long and eight meters long, is none other than the famous The Last Supper, which ended in 1498, about which there has been so much speculation throughout history. A year later, French troops conquered Milan, and Ludovico Sforza's power fell. Leonardo fled the city with his friend, the mathematician and Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli. After a brief period in Mantua, in the house of Isabel de Este, Leonardo da Vinci moved to Venice. There he worked as a military engineer. Their task was to create defensive systems to protect the canal city from attacks by the Turks. The artifacts he invented were not built as, for example, a kind of diving suit or double-lined ships to withstand the onslaught. It is believed that his inventions did not go beyond paper due to lack of time and money. In April 1500, Leonardo da Vinci returned to Florence, where César Borgia ruled. Pope Alexander VI's son ordered him to visit various Italian cities as a military engineer to help him in his plan to conquer territories. However, a short time later, the population revolted against the Borgias and Leonardo returned to Florence. Around 1506, Leonardo da Vinci moved back to Milan. During this period, the genius developed a special interest in science, although he continued with his role as a painter. In these years the Virgin of the rocks ended. After coming and going on Italian territory as a military engineer, Leonardo da Vinci moved to Rome around 1513. There he developed his activity for Pope Leo X, a member of the Medici family. However, the men who stood out at the time were Rafael and Miguel Ángel.
It is believed that, due to the few commissions he received, da Vinci focused on his investigations. However, that feeling of failure in the Italian capital did not abandon him and possibly prompted him to move to France in 1516.
The king of France, Francis I, installed da Vinci in the Clos-Lucé castle, near the town of Amboise, where he spent the last years of his life. On May 2, 1519, after spending a season ill, Leonardo died at the age of 67. His remains rest in the chapel of Saint Hubert, in the castle of Amboise.
LA GIOCONDA OR MONA LISA
It is located in Louvre museum, being a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. The painting is likely of the Italian noblewoman Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. It was painted between 1503 and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it until 1517.
The artwork contains optical effects, which are created by the location of the girl's eyes and her discreet smile. There are those who say that you have the impression of being constantly watched by the Gioconda, whatever position you look at it. This anecdote demonstrates the scientific and anatomical knowledge of Leonardo Da Vinci. As for Mona Lisa's famous smile, there is evidence that a group of musicians played during the painter's working hours so that she could maintain that cheerful attitude and broad smile.
The background is also a case study. The sfumato technique is used to create a gently blending perspective.
Personally, this pictures conveys joy and quietness to my brain. Her look gives me the impression of being attentively staring at me. The fact that she is crossing her hands makes me feel that she is thinking about something serious. Moreover, her dark black clothes remind me of the era in which she lived. The landscape that she has got behind her bring throughts of freedom to my mind, to my mind, I believe that she is trying to grab you into the picture with her thoughtful eyes and cheerful smile in order to live a life of her kind.
LA SCAPIGLIATA
La Scapifliata is a painting in oil on wood, which dates from around c. 1508 and is housed in the Galleria Nazionale di Parma, Italy. La Scapifliata means dishevelled, making reference to the messy hair with which she shows up on the picture. Actually, it represents a draft of a woman that was never painted due to a loss of the sketches. The lips, the outside of the eyes and the eyebrows define the perfect circle that Leonardo considered essential in the composition of a beautiful face. The delicate lines with which it achieves a perfectly blurred soft chiaroscuro add light and volume to the work.
Personally, I love the smile and the low gaze full of tenderness. This is how Leonardo's faces transmit that universal goodness that illuminates each of his canvases and that has remained unchanged over the centuries.
MADONNA OF THE YARNWINDER
Madonna of the yarnwinder is a picture dated from 1501. This work was based around the geometric figures of triangles and ellipses. The little picture shows a woman seated as if she were about to spin a yarn. The child is grasping the cross and gazes attentively at the four spokes, which depict the cross in which Christ was crucified. As if desirous of the cross he smiles and holds it firmly, moreover, he is unwilling to yield it to his Mother who seems to want to take it away from him.
Personally, the emotions that this picture transmits to me are of eagerness for Christ. The child seems to be looking forward to seeing Christ and talk to him, nonetheless, the mother looks worried about her son holding the cross and approaching Christ. Moreover, as the child is entirely naked, he gives the impression of being pure, innocent and without any evil thoughts.
Regarding the landscape they have got behind, I can see that half of it depicts ground and moors, whilst the other half shows ridges and highlands, from which you may reach god. Therefore, I believe that the picture tries to show the so desired path we must follow to reach the divinities.
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