Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519, Italian painter, sculptor, architect,
musician,
engineer, and scientist, probably the supreme
example of
RENAISSANCE genius. Born in Vinci, Tuscany,
he was
the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary
and a peasant
girl. His precocious artistic talent brought
him to
VERROCCHIO's workshop in 1466, where he
met
BOTTICELLI and GHIRLANDAIO. The culmination
of
his art in this first period in Florence
is seen in the
magnificent, unfinished Adoration of the
Magi (Uffizi),
with its characteristic dramatic movement
and
chiaroscuro. In c.1482 Leonardo went to
the court of
Ludovico SFORZA in Milan and there composed
most
of his Trattato della pittura and the notebooks
that
demonstrate his versatile genius. The severe
plagues in
1484 and 1485 drew his attention to town
planning, and
his drawings and plans for domed churches
reflect his
concern with architectural problems. In
1483, Leonardo
and his pupil Ambrogio de Predis were commissioned
to
execute the famous Madonna of the Rocks
(two
versions: 1483-c.1486, Louvre; 1483-1508,
National Gall.,
London). The now badly damaged Last Supper
(c.1495-1498; Milan) was executed during
the period
when he was experimenting with the FRESCO
medium,
and this partly accounts for its damage.
Despite this, a
sublime spiritual content and power of
invention mark it
as one of the world's masterpieces. Leonardo's
model for
an equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza
was never
cast, and in 1500 he returned to Florence,
where he did
much theoretical work in mathematics and
pursued his
anatomical studies in the hospital of Santa
Maria Nuova.
As a military engineer for Cesare BORGIA
he studied
swamp reclamation and met Niccolò
MACHIAVELLI. In
c.1503 he executed the celebrated Mona
Lisa (Louvre).
Then, as architect and engineer in Milan
to the French
king LOUIS XII, he continued his scientific
investigations into geology, botany, hydraulics,
and
mechanics. In 1510-11 he painted St. Anne,
Mary, and
the Child (Louvre), a work that exemplifies
his handling
of sfumato-misty, subtle transitions in
tone. His
enigmatic St. John the Baptist (c.1513;
Louvre) was
executed for Pope LEO X and his brother
Giuliano de'
Medici in Rome. Shortly after 1515, Leonardo
accepted
an invitation from FRANCIS I of France
to settle in the
castle of Cloux. Here he pursued his own
researches
until his death. His versatility and creative
power, as
well as the richness and originality expressed
in his
notebooks, drawings, and paintings, mark
him as one of
the great minds of all time.