BIOGRAPHY OF LEONARDO DA VINCI,Leonardo da Vinci: The Renaissance Man

                                

                 BIOGRAPHY OF LEONARDO DA VINCI

 Leonardo da Vinci was a genius who inventedrevolutionary ideas centuries before his the rest of the world would catch up with him. He embodies the definition of a “RenaissanceMan”- one who studied and mastered a variety of different subjects. He was a painter, engineer, architect, writer,scientist, and inventor. While you may know him for his most famousworks of art like The Mona Lisa or The Last Supper, few people know the man behind thepaintings. Today on Biographics, we’re talking aboutLeonardo da Vinci. Early LifeA baby boy named Leonardo was born on April 15th, 1452 in a Tuscan village called Vinci.

The child was born out of wedlock to a wealthylegal notary named Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio, and a beautiful peasant girl namedCaterina di Meo Lippi. His father took responsibility for the boy,and raised him on the family estate with his wife. But as a bastard child, young Leonardo wasnot even allowed to be given his father’s last name. He was simply called “Leonardo da Vinci”which means “Leonardo, of Vinci.” Leonardo lived with his biological motheruntil he was 5, and his father took over the responsibility of raising him. Caterina went on to marry a man who was simplyreferred to as “the fighter”. Leonardo’s father, Messer, married a 16-yearold noble girl named Albiera, and they had legitimate children of their own. Instead of going to school, the countrysidewas young Leonardo’s classroom.

 Even at a young age, he was an inquisitive,and truly fell in love with nature. He wished that men could fly like birds, andswim through the ocean like fish. Together with his brothers, they played gamesof war, and he imagined being triumphant in battle, like the men in the stories told byhis father. However, this stage of innocence could notlast forever. As he grew up, Leonardo learned that he wouldnot be allowed to inherit the family estate. Leonardo had 9 brothers and 3 sisters. So, even if he could inherit his father’sestate, it’s not like there would be much left to go around, anyway. He had to learn a trade and figure out howto take care of himself. In medieval Florence, guilds were like tradeunions, and they were split up into multiple categories of jobs that a man could choosefrom, so long as he was born into the right social class.

 The highest ranking guilds were called the“Arti Maggiori”, and his father would have been apart of the guild of powerful lawyers,judges, and notaries. But as an illegitimate child, this was likebeing in the lower class, and he was not even allowed to join the lesser guild categorieslike “Arti Mediane” , which had the middle class skills like blacksmiths and stone masons. His only option would be to join a guild inthe “Arti Minori”, which had lower-class jobs like bakers and millers. However, Leonardo’s father still wantedhis son to have a good life. He could see that the boy had a natural talentfor art. So, his father introduced him to a man namedAndre del Verrocchio, who ran an art studio in the city of Florence. After seeing the boy’s sketches, he agreedto take him on as an apprentice. The Florence Guild of Artists Andre del Verrocchio had several artists andcraftsmen working for him in his workshop. He would take on commissions from the wealthyand powerful Medici family, and divide the work among his students and employees.

Their studio worked on improving the beautyof the city. They had to work with all mediums, whetherit was carving marble statues, casting metal, or painting portraits. Even architecture, bridges, and other formsof civil engineering were all sketched by the members of the guild. So it became necessary for Leonardo to learnmultiple disciplines. After a few years of training, Leonardo daVinci assisted Verrocchio in painting a commissioned piece for the Catholic Church called “TheBaptism of Christ”. This was a very large mural on the wall ofa church, so there was plenty of space for two artists to stand and work on the paintingat the same time. Verrocchio instructed Leonardo to paint twoangels that had been included in his rough sketch. When Da Vinci was done, Verrocchio was inshock. He could not believe how gorgeous and life-likethe painting was. He knew that the student had already surpassedthe master. By his mid-20’s, Leonardo Da Vinci becamea master artist in Verrocchio’s studio, and he earned a reputation for himself inFlorence. Leonardo conducted experiments with his art,like studying how light changed the shading on an object, or the perfect time of day tosketch someone’s face. However, his talent was also a curse, becauseit caused a lot of jealousy among the art community. At 24 years old, Da Vinci was accused of havingsex with a male prostitute, and he was arrested for sodomy.

 At that time, the punishment for sodomy wasbeing burned to death. But when he went to trial, no evidence orwitnesses were presented, and they could not prove that he did anything illegal. So they let him go. However, even though he was found “not guilty”,he wrote in his journals that this scandal very seriously hurt his reputation. Fewer clients wanted to work with him aroundFlorence, despite his obvious talent. We don’t know his actual sexual orientation,except that he never got married. Some believe that he chose to be celibatein order to focus more on his work. At the end of the day, whoever turned himinto the authorities wanted him dead. As awful as this sounds, medieval times weretruly cut-throat, and men of high standing always had to watch their backs to make surethey were not killed by their enemies. An assassin named Bernardo di Bandino Baroncellistabbed Giuliano de’ Medici in the streets simply because they were both from rival bankingfamilies. One of Leonardo’s earliest known sketcheswas his observation of Baroncelli’s body in the gallows called “The hanged man”. After this dispute between the Baroncellisand the Medici families, Florence and Naples were on the brink of war.

The men in Da Vinci’s guild were forcedto stop working on art, and use their engineering skills to defend the city, instead. Since Da Vinci was a bastard, he could notbecome a knight and serve in a royal court, so he thought this was far more exciting thanpainting Catholic murals. He started to design ladders and massive weaponsto help defend Florence, should they ever need it. Perhaps he saw this as his way to be rememberedin the history books. During a three month time period, the citywas on edge, believing they were on the brink of war. When Lorenzo Medici returned after makinga successful peace treaty, the rest of the city celebrated, and Leonardo was actuallydisappointed. After peace was returned to the city, theartist’s guild could go back to making beautiful things, but this was no longer challengingor interesting to Leonardo Da Vinci. When he was 29 years old, he was asked todo his first commissioned mural at a church all by himself. The painting was called “Adoration of theMagi”, and he took his concept above and beyond what any other painter had done inthe past.

 It was an incredible piece, but Da Vinci didn’tseem to see that, because after spending a very long time working on the piece, he decidedthat he could not finish the painting. He was very restless at that time, and didn’thave the patience to actually sit and complete a lot of his projects. He had so many brilliant ideas, he sometimeshad had trouble executing them. Da Vinci was actually sued more than oncefor getting paid by a patron, and then failing to finish his work, as promised. With this, coupled with the accusation ofsodomy, his talent was not enough to make up for his bad reputation. He thought that maybe, it was time to startover somewhere new. A New Life in Milan Even though he was more talented than manyof the other painters in Florence, Leonardo Da Vinci still went through a midlife crisiswhen he was 30 years old.

He realized that the lifestyle of a professionalartist did not suit him, and he craved the adventure of having a career in weapon designs. He had an entire book filled with incredibleinventions that would not be made until years later, like a tank, a giant crossbow, underwaterscuba gear, and even a robotic soldier. He was truly hundreds of years ahead of histime, but without a war, these weapons would never actually come to life. Leonardo da Vinci planned to move to Milan,because it is the most northern Italian state, but he wanted to secure employment beforehe made the journey. Since the city is much closer to France, theywere far more interested in gathering weapons to defend the country. He sent a letter to the Duke of Milan, claimingthat he was a weapon’s design expert, and included a few pages from his sketchbook. At the very end of the letter, he includeda single line mentioning that he was also a painter. Ludovico Sforza was the temporary Duke ofMilan, holding the position of power until his nephew came of age.

The Sforza family had not been in power forvery long, especially compared to the likes of the Medicis. Sforza invited Leonardo da Vinci to visit,and he was overjoyed, hoping that he would finally be able to make a career change. But, once he got there, he was gravely disappointedto find out that the Duke wanted him to paint a portrait of his beautiful mistress. Today, that portrait is called “Lady withan Ermine”. Even though he came to Milan to escape beinga painter, he still blew people away with his talent. Sforza was so impressed, he commissioned astatue of a 24-foot tall horse. Da Vinci told him that it would take at least3 years to complete. In reality, Da Vinci was stalling for time,because without the help of his master’s studio, he had no idea how he was going topull off a 24-foot tall metal cast horse. Remember- this was back in the 1400’s, sothere was no benefit of modern machinery to help him. The Sforzas were still establishing themselves,and the Duke of Milan believed that paying for things like metal statues would somehowprove their permanence in high society. At first, Da Vinci created the horse out ofclay, and it was unveiled at a party, where Da Vinci was officially accepted into theSforza royal court.

Unfortunately, just like a lot of his projects,DaVinci was a bit in over is head, and he was running out of time. By a stroke of luck, Sforza decided to goto war, and he needed the metal resources for his army’s weapons. Yet again, Da Vinci thought this might behis time to shine with his weapon designs, but there weren’t enough resources to payfor their creation. The Duke of Milan game him a new assignmentof decorating a church called Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is where he painted oneof his most famous works, “The Last Supper.” At the time, the priests were actually veryannoyed with him, because it took him over 3 years to complete the painting, which isa mural on the wall of the church. For 17 years, DaVinci enjoyed a life of financialsecurity and respect in Sforza’s royal court. During the time that he lived in Milan, DaVinci had a secret project that he never dared to tell anyone, and it is likely a good reasonwhy the rest of his work was taking so long. He was dissecting human cadavers and sketchingtheir bodies, muscles, and organs. He also made wax casts of the organs. Yes, this sounds incredibly creepy, and herealized this, which is why he kept his sketchbook a secret, and it only showed up in the 1600’s. At that time, autopsies and any other formof disturbing the dead was frowned upon by the Catholic Church.

 He already knew what it was like to have asoiled reputation back in Florence, so he was far more careful this time while leadinga double life. Even though his sketchbook was found over100 years later, his studies of the human body were revolutionary, and became the foundationof modern anatomy. Leonardo da Vinci would write in notebooksabout his scientific experiments, inventions, and artistic ideas. There are over 15,000 pages of his notes thatsurvived. He even wrote some of those notes backwards,so you can only read them when looking in a mirror. Some people believe he did this because hewas worried that his rivals would steal his ideas. HomecomingWhen Leonardo Da Vinci was 50 years old, the Sforza family lost their position of power,and the French invaded Milan. When they saw the giant clay horse statuestanding on the estate, they used it for target practice. Leonardo da Vinci had to leave Milan withthe bare necessities, like his journals, and left all of his works of art behind. He decided to travel from place to place,once again trying to pitch his ideas for military weaponry around Italy. He showed The Duke of Venice his ideas, whichincluded a snorkeling suit for breathing underwater that actually worked. He had ideas on how humans could fly, or walkon the bottom of the ocean. Keep in mind, this was at a time when peopledidn’t even have clocks or watches to tell time. While all of his ideas were amazing, theywere far too ahead of his time, and the Duke of Venice didn’t find a need for any ofthose inventions. Da Vinci was forced to reluctantly move backto Florence, because he feared that everyone would still remember his bad reputation. But it was actually far worse than that, becauseby that time, people had all but forgotten the name Leonardo Da Vinci, and there wasa new genius in town: Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. But you know as simply “Michelangelo”. He was just 26 at that time. Since the art world in Florence was so competitive,Leonardo hated Michelangelo almost immediately, because this meant that he would strugglefinding work. Da Vinci was clearly jealous, and had to findreasons to dislike Michelangelo. He would write angrily in his journal abouthow he thought the young man was dirty and undignified. Despite the long beard you see in most depictionsof Da Vinci, he actually spent all of his younger years making sure he was always clean-shaven,and wore the finest clothes. He even had professional musicians playingmusic for his clients while they sat for their portraits, and the whole process felt likegoing to a luxury spa.

 Michelangelo, on the other hand, had the polaropposite approach to his art. He was so focused on his work, that he wouldforget to shave for a few days, and let his beard grow. He let chips of stone and dust cover his homeafter working on a statue, and it was far more like a workshop than a comfortable placeto clients to stay. The two artists deeply disliked each other,and even got into a fight out in public. Secretly, Da Vinci would go home to writeabout how depressed he was to be getting older, and the fear and anxiety rules his thoughts. Be Careful What You Wish For Since Da Vinci could no longer secure hisplace in the Florence art scene, he decided to try his luck at weapon design one lasttime. Pope Alexander had a bastard son named CesareBorgia. Some people say that he was a great leader,while others say that Borgia was a bloodthirsty ruler who killed anyone who got in his way. Machiavelli's famous book called The Princewas even based on Borgia as an example of what a ruler must be in order to stay in power. Da Vinci sent his sketches to Borgia, andfinally, someone said yes to the weapons. He become Chief General Engineer for CesareBorgia, and supervised the construction of towers, weapons, and bird’s-eye-view mapsof the cities he planned on invading, which was revolutionary for the time. Da Vinci got everything he wanted, but itwas at a price he never expected. The only reason why Borgia was willing topay for the creation of all of these weapons was because he wanted to kill as many enemiesas possible. Until this point, the idea of war had beensimply a concept to Leonardo Da Vinci, and stories of knights going to battle seemedlike good fun. For the first time in his life, Da Vinci actuallywitnessed what a bloody battle looked like, and it was too gruesome for him to handle. He wrote, “Truly, man is more savage thanbeast, for our brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others.” The straw that broke the camel’s back waswhen Borgia ordered the death of one of Da Vinci’s close friends. He quietly left Borgia in the dead of nightand moved back to Florence, where he returned to a peaceful life of painting portraits. Mona Lisa’s SmileAfter selling those weapons, Leonardo da Vinci had saved a nice nest egg for retirement,and It was during this time that he painted “The Mona Lisa” No one knows for surewho she actually is. There are several theories of who she is,or what she might represent, but none have been confirmed. Unlike all of those portraits that were commissionedand given away, he carried around the portrait of Mona Lisa with him for the rest of hislife. For once, this was a piece of art that wasdone just for himself, but he was constantly changing it, because he never felt he gotit exactly right. During his retirement, he started to buildmassive wings for human beings, in hopes that it would help people fly. “There will be wings for man. If it is not accomplished by me, it will beaccomplished some day, by some other.” There is a commonly told story that duringa flight attempt with these wings, someone fell and broke their leg.

 After this failed attempt, he designed a motorthat would flap the wings, but it never worked properly. However, he did eventually design the firstwing that looks very much like what we use in modern-day airplanes. Aside from the patrons that he served, Leonardoda Vinci was not yet famous around the world. He intended to publish books, but he neveractually went through with it. As we mentioned earlier, he wrote and sketchedover 15,000 pages on a variety of subjects, but he was a perfectionist. So he continued to add on more and more information,because he never felt that they were complete. Among these notes, there are multiple sketchesof an old man with a beard. People assume that this was his self-portrait,but no one knows for sure. However, this image is used to portray himin popular culture, and it’s how he is remembered today. King Francis I in France had been collectingDa Vinci’s pieces for years, and he wrote a letter to invite him to live in his chateau. He agreed to move to France, and when he was65 years old, and he had a stroke, which paralyzed his arm. The king’s castle became his comfortableretirement, and he was given the best medical care money could buy. When he died in the year 1519, he left theMona Lisa and all of his sketchbooks and journals to his loyal apprentice. Born a bastard, Leonardo Da Vinci died likea king. His life lives on forever in his work, andhe continued to serve as an inspiration to people around the world for centuries to come.