Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, or simply Leonardo da Vinci, was the original Renaissance man. This Italian art master lived from 1452 to 1519. He was a painter, engineer, inventor, mathematician, musician, anatomist, cartographer, writer, botanist, and geologist. In 2017, his painting, Salvator Mundi, sold for $450 million dollars and now holds the world record for highest amount paid for a work of art. Along with Michelangelo and Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci is seen as one of the great artists of the Italian High Renaissance masters.
Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock to Piero da Vinci, a wealthy notary, and Caterina, a local peasant woman. They lived in the town of Vinci in the region of Florence, which is how he got his last name. “Da Vinci” literally means “of Vinci”. Da Vinci ended up living with his father who was trying to have a legitimate heir, and he provided his son with formal education. In 1466, Leonardo da Vinci started his early art training with the Florence artist, Andrea del Verrocchio. Their collaborations were very productive. In 1472, when da Vinci became a master in the Guild of Saint Luke, his father provided him with his own workshop. Da Vinci continued to work on collaborations with Verrocchio, as their professional relationship was that constructive.
From 1482 until 1499, da Vinci left Florence for Milan where he continued doing commissioned works, as well as a variety of other projects outside of painting. During this time, he painted “The Last Supper”, one of the most famous paintings to date. In 1503, da Vinci returned to Florence and continued with commission works, often working alongside Michelangelo. Interestingly, the two artists did not like each other at all. Whereas da Vinci was social, friendly, well-dressed, and well-liked, Michelangelo preferred to be alone, was moody, dressed in his work clothes, and didn’t always get along well with others. In his later years, da Vinci lived in the Belvedere in the Vatican and worked alongside Michelangelo and Raphael.
For being one of the most well-known artists in art history, very few of his works actually survive, only about 15 at best. Part of the reason for this is that da Vinci was always trying new experimental techniques that did not always pan out. However, lucky for us, he left a plethora of notebooks. Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519 at 67 years of age.
Not much is known of Da Vinci’s personal life. He was a vegetarian, often bought birds just to set them free, and he never married. At 24 years old, he was involved in a scandal involving sodomy for which he was soon acquitted as there was no evidence. Most of his closest friends were men and included his pupils and other like-minded science and math thinkers (including Luca Pacioli, a mathematician). He had few female friends with the exception of Cecilia Gallerani, the model for the painting, “Lady with an Ermine”, and Beatrice Este and her sister, Isabella (Beatrice was the wife of his former employer, Lodovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan).
A lot of techniques that seem basic to artists today were actually invented by Leonardo da Vinci. Here are just a few:
- Contrapposto – when the subject of a profile is depicted at a half turn. Prior to Leonardo, the sitters of portraits were usually depicted looking either straight on, or in full profile.
- Sfumato – soft and subtle shading and blending without borders. Prior to Leonardo, there would be outlines or borders between light and shadow.
- Chiaroscuro – strong differences between lights and darks to help give a more three-dimensional volume visual effect. Leonardo exaggerated his palette, making his darks darker and his lights lighter.
- Glazing – the repeated application of thin layers of alternating pigment and varnish to encourage greater reflection of light on the canvas. This method yields radiant tones. Maxfield Parrish used this in his art.
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