MaKayla Stirland pd 1st

Research Paper
I am doing my research paper on Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was born out of
wedlock on April 15, 1452 to a the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a
Florentine legal notary which is a lawyer, and Caterina who was a peasant. He lived
with his mother until the age of five. Living as the common people lived. At age five he
when to live his high gentleman father with all the luxuries a gentleman and his money
offered a young boy and teenager. Leonardo was exposed to many cultures as he
switched from living with his mother and father. Which perhaps contributed to his
extraordinary depth of interests and talents. Leonardo da Vinci was known for many
diverse fields in art and science. Leonardo da Vinci was and still is renowned primarily
as a painter. His works included the Mona Lisa, the most famous and most parodied
painting of all time. Some people speculate that the Mona Lisa is a self portrait of
himself. Leonardos drawing of the Vitruvian Man is a cultural icon found on anything
from coins to tee shirts and the Last Supper which has religious reverence to many
Christian faiths. Both of these two painting were featured prominently in the movie the
Da Vinci Code. These are just a few examples of his artwork as a painter. Da Vinci was
not content with just one art medium, there would be many more amazing creations to
come.
Not much was known about his early life, for the first five years of he lived with
his mother and not much had been recorded. He does talk about two incidence in his
life that he said were like omens to him. The first one is where he was laying in his
cradle as a baby, and there was a kite hanging above his head. The tail feathers on the
kite would brush across his face once in awhile. The other one was when he was

exploring a cave in the mountains. Leonardo discovered that a cave was both terrifying
and feared that a monster was lurking in there. However, the curiosity of finding out
what was inside had equal measure of anticipation. I imagine living the life of a peasant
would not have offered many opportunities to education. More likely he discovered the
education of hard knocks, hunger and poor nutrition, and sickness. His mother probably
had to work and he may have been left to fend for himself or left with neighbors. This
early life with his mother was in of itself a type of education and added fuel to his
curious mind.
At the age of fourteen Leonardo da Vinci was an apprentice for another famous
painter named Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio. The people back then said that it
was one of the finest workshops in Florence. While Leonardo was Verrocchios
apprentice they worked d on a painting together called The Baptism of Christ. This
painting is of a young angel holding Jesus robe. The artistic work in this painting was
so far superior to his masters that Verrocchio never painted again. It has also been
speculated that Leonardo may have been the model for two works by Verrocchio: t he

bronze statue of

David in the Bargello and the Archangel Raphael in Tobias and the Angel. Although
Leonardo da Vinci didnt have much formal education. He had a basic understanding of
math, reading, and science. Besides his artistic skills of drawing, painting, and sculpting,
he loved to tinker around in chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather
working, mechanics and carpentry. In 1472, when he was twenty years old Leonardo
da Vinci qualified as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke, the guild of artists and doctors
of medicine, but even after his father had set him up in his very own workshop,
Leonardo's attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate with

him. Leonardo's earliest known dated work was a drawing in pen and ink of the Arno
valley, drawn on 5 August 1473.
Leonardos profession career was vast and varied. While he was living in
Florence he received two independent commissions to paint an altarpiece for the
Chapel of St. Bernard and the Adoration of the Magi for the Monks of San Donato a
Scopeto. He didnt finish either of these pieces. He created a silver lyre in the shape of
a horse head and was according to Vasari a most talented musician. Between 1482
and 1499 he worked in Milan creating the painting Virgin of the Rocks and the Last
Supper. At the start of the second Italian war he was employed as a military architect
and engineer devising ways to defend the city from naval attacks. In 1502 Leonardo
created a map for Cesare Boriga, the son of Pope Alexander VI. This map was of
Borigas stronghold. Maps were extremely rare at the time and upon seeing it, Cesare
hired Leonardo as his chief military engineer and architect. Later in the year, Leonardo
produced another map of Chiana Valley, Tuscany, which gave Cesare patron a better
overlay of the land and greater strategic position. He created this map in conjunction
with his other project of constructing a dam from the sea to Florence, in order to allow a
supply of water to sustain the canal during all seasons.
Leonardo da Vinci was one of the most famous painters of all time, and people
had and still know him at that. What people may not know is that Leonardo was also an
inventor. He loved working with machines and tinkering with things like that. One thing
that Leonardo designed was a flying machine. Although the did not have the technology
back then to create such a machine his designs made it easier for other people later on
to make the machine. Another thing that he is also credited for designing is the
parachute. Leonardo never made a parachute, but his design did make it easier for

other people to make up the parts for the inventions. Another area that Leonardo was
interested in was anatomy. Leonardo would study parts of the human anatomy and then
draw and sketch it out. Then he studied how a fetus develops in the womb and then he
sketched it out. Leonardo also sketched the drawing of the perfect man, but the only
flaw with that is that the feet were not proportioned right.
Leonardo returned to Florence in 1503 and spent two years designing and
painting a mural of the Battle of Anghiari while Michelangelo designed its companion
piece, the Battle of Cascina. He returned to Milan but didnt stay long because his of
his father's death in 1504 and by 1507 had to be in Florence to straighten out issues
with brothers over his father's estate.
At the age of 67 Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, 1519 at Clos Luce. The King
Francis I had become a close friend of his. There is a legend that the French like to tell
that says King Francis held Leonardos head in his arms as he died. But his friend
Vasari stated that in his last days Leonardo called for a priest to make his confessions
to and to recieve the Holy Sacrament. According to Da Vincis will his casket was
followed by 60 beggars. Melzi was the principal heir and executor of his estate which
included paintings, tools, library and personal things. He also gave half of his vineyards
to his long time pupil and companion Salai. His brothers received the other half of his
land. He also remember his servant woman who received a black cloak with a fur edge
full of good stuff. Leonard da Vincis body is buried in the Capel of Saint Hubert in
Chateau d Amboise, France.
Leonardo da Vinci was and still is considered one of the greatest artist of the
human era. Each of his masterpieces have stood the test of time and with each
generation that comes across his works are still amazed and acquire a deep

appreciation for the magnificent creations. Even though Leonardos style is very
different from the modern world today, people still look up to him as an icon or just for
inspiration. Even if there are few original painting from Leonardo people from all over
the world take the works of Leonardo da Vinci and put their own meaning and
messages to them. Leonardo da Vinci set standards for representation, draftsmanship,
and aesthetics that dominated the High Renaissance. Leonardo essentially changed the
image of the artist, from a craftsman to a learned man with a capacity for creativity and
theoretical thinking. His theories and oeuvre dominated European art for the past five
hundred years. His Mona Lisa is considered the most famous painting in the world.
Leonardo da Vinci was the first Italian artist to paint in oil. Leonardo holds a place of
honor in the lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors, architects, and I am sure
many more. Leonardo da Vinci is one of my most favorite artist of all time. I just love the
feeling that his paintings give off. They are classic and just plain beautiful, the simplicity
is just amazing. Leonardo da Vinci's reputation was high during his own lifetime and has
and hopefully will continue unsullied throughout art history.
Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
http://www.da-vinci-inventions.com/davinci-inventions.aspx
http://www.artexpertswebsite.com/pages/artists/leonardo.php
http://legacy.mos.org/leonardo/inventor.html
http://www.history.com/topics/leonardo-da-vinci
http://legacy.mos.org/leonardo/