It is not easy to become part of even a simple line in the great book of history, without a doubt the thousands of names that are part of it are worthy and deserving of being included. Beyond history there is a special place where only the greats, the geniuses arrive, where there are plenty of presentations because history could not be understood without them. Leonardo da Vinci, a genius with a touch of madness, a visionary or an inventor, painter or thinker, surely a lot and a little of everything. Biography and works of Leonardo Da Vincithe legacy of an artist, who was ahead of his time giving meaning to a new era called the Renaissance.
Leonardo DaVinci | Biography
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, in the Arno river valley, Tuscany, territory controlled by the Medici family and belonging to the Republic of Florence, at a time when Italy was then a compendium of city-states like Florence, republics like Venice and fiefdoms under the power of princes or even the Pope himself.
His first years of life were spent in Anchiano in the house of his mother, who had married a local craftsman, but in 1457, he moved to live with his father and grandparents. His father had been married for years, but had not been able to have offspring, perhaps that was the reason why he brought young Leonardo.
Florence Early Works
1460, they move to Florence, Leonardo quickly showed signs of his ingenuity, often imagining mythological beings invented by him and making incredible shields full of monstrous figures. This feature did not go unnoticed by his father and in 1466Leonardo enters as an apprentice in Andrea del Verrocchio’s workshop, There you will learn the techniques of altarpiece painting, sculpture in marble and bronze or various mechanical techniques.
Six years later Leonardo was ready to be considered Free Artist and was admitted to the Guild of Painters of the City of Florence. It was in this workshop that Leonardo had his first contact with oil painting, a new pictorial technique that requires a softer and softer brushstroke.
At this time he collaborates with his teacher in different works such as The Baptism of Christ, where he collaborated by painting the kneeling angel on the left of the canvas, as well as the misty landscape in the background. The first assignment was an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchio, but this project never came to fruition.
In 1471, Andrea delVerrocchio, is commissioned by Brunelleschi to build and place a sphere of 1800 kg and 2 m in diameter, made of copper and that would be housed in the upper part of the Cathedral’s lantern, approximately 100 m from the ground. The project to raise the 1800 kg sphere to the lantern was entrusted to the young Leonardo da Vinci, the impressive thing is that he was only 19 years old.
But his first important work was commissioned by the monks of San Donato de Scopeto, in the year 1481, work left unfinished The Adoration of the Magi. From this same period are the works madonna benoisthe portrait of Guinevere de Benci dated in 1474 or also the unfinished painting of Saint Jerome of the year 1481.
Milan and Ludovico Sforza (1482-1500)
After finding himself praised a thousand times but little contracted, Leonardo considers moving to Milan and with this purpose he writes a letter to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, where he offered himself as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, inventor and plumber. He did not hesitate to sell well, with ideas such as building portable bridges, techniques that would allow bombing, cannons, armored ships, semi-automatic catapults, but he also offered to make sculptures in different materials such as marble, bronze or terracotta.
He helped with his knowledge to people as important as mathematician Luca Pacioliin his work the divine proportion of the year 1509.
Within this stage his most important works are one of the two versions of the representation of the Virgin of the Rocks years 1483-1485, where stands out triangle composition Composed of the figure of the Virgin, the Child, Saint John and the Angel, it is in this work that Leonardo used for the first time the technique of sfumatowhere the landscape glimpses blurry, blurred.
Leonardo is commissioned to carry out a mural for the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Garcia, where he will spend from 1495 to 1497, making one of the most beautiful works such as The Last Supper. It is at this time that he carried out different works in paintings and drawings or designs for the dome of the Milan Cathedral.
Within his works in sculpture, One of his biggest commissions should be highlighted, it is the bronze equestrian figure of grandiose size by Francesco Sforza, father of the current Duke of Milan. The statue was intended to adorn the courtyard of the Sforza castle, but before Leonardo finished his work, in 1499, the Sforza family is expelled from Milan by the French and the unfinished statue of Leonardo is used as a target. The statue was destroyed.
in venice
But Leonardo not only worked for the Sforzas, in 1499, he received a commission as a military engineer and as an architect in the city of Venice. The Venetians wanted to strengthen their defenses to prevent the attack and invasion of the Turks.
Leonardo made a defense system and some technical and tactical advances, where the Venetians could approach their enemies underwater, through a kind of underwater diving suit created with a kind of rudimentary hull, an invention that was never used since the Turks never attacked.
Florence (1501-1508)
Around the year 1500 he returned to Florence and finally in the year 1502 he joined as an architect, of the Borgia house, specifically at the service of César Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI. In his facet as an architect, he supervised the works of the palaces/fortresses that the pope had in the central region of the Italian Peninsula.
Also was part of the commission in charge of finding site of Michelangelo’s David, work carried out between 1501-1504. He participated in the war against Pisa.
In 1504, is entrusted with the planning for the decoration of the Signoria Palace, the theme that the decoration should have is the battle of anghiari. In it he made various drawings and sketches but never got to capture the brush in them.
From this time we also have to talk about the realization of different portraits, among which stands out The Mona Lisa 1503-1506, a painting highly appreciated by the artist and from which he never parted, taking it with him on each of his trips.
Milan–Rome period
In the year 1506, Leonardo is claimed by the French governor Carlos II Chaumont, who had to recommend him to the French court and in 1507, Leonardo da Vinci appointed court painter to the king Louis XII of France, at that time residing in Rome.
In this period Leonardo will spend long periods between Milan and Florence. It is from this same period the execution of the second version of the Virgin of the Rocks, Saint Anne and the Virgin and Child, years 1506-1513. In 1516 he returns to Rome under the protection and patronage of Giuliano de Medici, a brother of Pope Leo X, where he had time to investigate and learn, dealing mainly with carrying out different scientific and technical experiments.
Scientifically, Leonardo carried out various studies on the human body, paid for the corpses whom he was dissecting, at the same time that he wrote down in his notebook each layer that he removed, having a deep and complete knowledge of the human anatomyyour concern about the pregnancy, the functioning of the muscles, tendons, bones, etc.
Leonardo’s character was somewhat extravagant, as befits a genius of his caliber, a vegetarian man, he despised all who ate meat, calling them «corpse eaters«. Jealous man of his intimacy.
Leonardo’s last years in France
Around the year 1516, Leonardo left for France, there he enters the court of the King Francis Iliving his last years in the Château de Cloux. On May 2, 1519, Leonardo Da Vinci died. in the castle, refuge of his last years. His burial took place in the cloister of the Church of Saint-Florentin in Amboise, in a funeral ceremony that was accompanied by chaplains and Fariles Menores, 60 poor people, each carrying a torch, as he had written in his will of April 23.
Years later and during the war between religions, Catholics and Huguenots, the tomb of Leonardo Da Vinci was violated and his remains were scattered. A terrible and sad ending for a genius who was ahead of his time and perhaps was not well understood.
Leonardo DaVinci | More important works
The most important works of the long and prolific life of Leonardo Da Vici are: