(Leonardo da Vinci) (1452-1519) - the greatest figure, the multifaceted genius of the Renaissance, the founder of the High Renaissance. Known as an artist, scientist, engineer, inventor.
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the town of Anchiano near the city of Vinci, located near Florence. His father was Piero da Vinci, a notary from a prominent Vinci family. According to one version, the mother was a peasant woman, according to the other - the owner of the tavern, known as Katerina. At about the age of 4.5 years, Leonardo was taken to his father's house, and in the documents of that time he is called the illegitimate son of Pierrot. In 1469 he entered the workshop of the famous painter, sculptor and goldsmith Andrea del Verrocchio ( 1435/36–1488). Here Leonardo went all the way of apprenticeship: from rubbing paints to working as an apprentice. According to the stories of contemporaries, he painted the left figure of an angel in a painting by Verrocchio Epiphany(c. 1476, Uffizi Gallery, Florence), which immediately attracted attention. Naturalness of movement, smoothness of lines, softness of chiaroscuro - distinguishes the figure of an angel from the harder writing of Verrocchio. Leonardo lived in the master's house and after in 1472 he was admitted to the guild of Saint Luke, the guild of painters.
One of the few dated drawings by Leonardo was created in August 1473. View of the Arno Valley from a height, it was executed with a pen in quick strokes, transferring vibrations of light, air, which indicates that the drawing was made from nature (Uffizi Gallery, Florence).
The first piece of painting attributed to Leonardo, although its authorship is disputed by many experts, - Annunciation (c. 1472, Uffizi Gallery, Florence). Unfortunately, an unknown author made later corrections, which significantly deteriorated the quality of work.
Portrait of Ginevra de Benchi (1473-1474, National Gallery, Washington) is permeated with a melancholy mood. A part of the picture below is cropped: probably, the model's hands were depicted there. The contours of the figure are softened with the sfumato effect created even before Leonardo, but it was he who became the genius of this technique. Sfumato (it. Sfumato - foggy, smoky) is a technique developed in the Renaissance in painting and graphics, which allows you to convey the softness of modeling, the elusiveness of object outlines, the feeling of the air environment.
Madonna with a flower (Madonna Benoit) (Madonna and child) 1478 - 1480 Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia |
Between 1476 and 1478 Leonardo opens his workshop. This period includes Madonna with a flower, so-called Madonna Benoit (c. 1478, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg). The smiling Madonna addresses the baby Jesus sitting on her lap, the movements of the figures are natural and plastic. In this picture, there is a characteristic interest in Leonardo's art in showing the inner world.
The unfinished painting also belongs to the early works. Adoration of the Magi (1481-1482, Uffizi Gallery, Florence). The central place is occupied by the group of the Madonna and Child with the Magi placed in the foreground.
In 1482 Leonardo left for Milan, the richest city of that time, under the patronage of Lodovico Sforza (1452–1508), who maintained an army, spent huge sums of money on lavish celebrations and the purchase of works of art. Introducing himself to his future patron, Leonardo speaks of himself as a musician, military expert, inventor of weapons, military chariots, cars, and only then speaks of himself as an artist. Leonardo lived in Milan until 1498, and this period of his life was the most fruitful.
The first commission that Leonardo received was the creation of an equestrian statue in honor of Francesco Sforza (1401–1466), father of Lodovico Sforza. Working on it for 16 years, Leonardo created many drawings, as well as an eight-meter clay model. In an effort to surpass all existing equestrian statues, Leonardo wanted to make a grandiose sculpture, showing a rearing horse. But faced with technical difficulties, Leonardo changed the idea and decided to portray a walking horse. November 1493 model Horse without a rider was put on public display, and it was this event that made Leonardo da Vinci famous. To cast the sculpture, about 90 tons of bronze were required. The collection of metal that had begun was interrupted, and the equestrian statue was never cast. In 1499 Milan was captured by the French, who used sculpture as a target. After a while, it collapsed. Horse - a grandiose, but never completed project - one of the significant works of monumental plastic art of the 16th century. and, according to Vasari, "those who saw a huge clay model ... claim that they have never seen a work of more beautiful and majestic", called the monument "the great colossus."
At the Sforza court, Leonardo also worked as an artist-decorator for many festivals, creating hitherto unseen decorations and mechanisms, making costumes for allegorical figures.
Unfinished canvas Saint Jerome (1481, Vatican Museum, Rome) shows the saint in a moment of repentance in a complex turn with a lion at his feet. The painting was painted in black and white. But after covering it with varnish in the 19th century. the colors turned to olive and golden.
Madonna of the rocks (1483-1484, Louvre, Paris) - the famous painting by Leonardo, painted by him in Milan. The image of the Madonna, baby Jesus, little John the Baptist and an angel in a landscape is a new motive in Italian painting of that time. In the opening of the cliff, a landscape is seen, which has been given sublimely ideal features, and in which the achievements of linear and aerial perspective are shown. Although the cave is dimly lit, the picture is not dark, faces and figures appear softly from the shadows. The subtlest chiaroscuro (sfumato) creates the impression of dim scattered light, models faces and hands. Leonardo connects the figures not only with a common mood, but also with the unity of space.
 LADY WITH MOUNTAIN. 1485–1490. Czartoryski Museum |
Lady with an ermine (1484, Czartoryski Museum, Krakow) - one of the first works of Leonardo as a court portraitist. The painting depicts Lodovic's favorite Cecilia Gallerani with the emblem of the Sforza family, an ermine. The complex turn of the head and the exquisite bend of the lady's hand, the curved pose of the animal - everything speaks of the authorship of Leonardo. The background was rewritten by another artist.
Portrait of a musician (1484, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan). Only the young man's face is completed, the rest of the painting is not spelled out. The type of face is close to the faces of the angels of Leonardo, only it is performed more courageously.
Another unique work was created by Leonardo in one of the halls of the Sforza Palace, which is called Donkey. On the vaults and walls of this hall, he painted the crowns of willows, whose branches are intricately intertwined, tied with decorative ropes. Subsequently, part of the paint layer fell off, but a significant part was preserved and restored.
In 1495 Leonardo began work on The last supper (area 4.5 × 8.6 m). The fresco is located on the wall of the refectory of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, at a height of 3 m from the floor and occupies the entire end wall of the room. Leonardo oriented the perspective of the fresco towards the viewer, thus it organically entered the interior of the refectory: the perspective reduction of the side walls depicted in the fresco continues the real space of the refectory. Thirteen people are seated at a table parallel to the wall. In the center is Jesus Christ, to the left and right of him are his disciples. Shows the dramatic moment of exposure and condemnation of betrayal, the moment when Christ just uttered the words: “One of you will betray Me,” and the different emotional reactions of the apostles to these words. The composition is based on a strictly verified mathematical calculation: in the center - Christ, depicted against the background of the middle, largest opening of the back wall, the vanishing point of perspective coincides with his head. The twelve apostles are divided into four groups of three figures each. Each is given a vivid characterization by expressive gestures and movements. The main task was to show Judas, to separate him from the rest of the apostles. By placing him on the same table line as all the apostles, Leonardo psychologically separated him with loneliness. Creature The last supper became a notable event in the artistic life of Italy at that time. As a true innovator and experimenter, Leonardo abandoned the fresco technique. He covered the wall with a special compound of resin and mastic, and painted with tempera. These experiments led to the greatest tragedy: the refectory, which was hastily renovated by order of Sforza, the picturesque innovations of Leonardo, the lowland in which the refectory was located - all this served as a sad service of safety The last supper... The paint began to flake off, as mentioned by Vasari in 1556. Secret supper It was repeatedly restored in the 17th and 18th centuries, but the restorations were unqualified (they simply reapplied colorful layers). By the middle of the 20th century, when Last suppercame to a deplorable state, they began scientific restoration: first, the entire paint layer was fixed, then later layers were removed, Leonardo's tempera painting was opened. And although the work was badly damaged, these restoration works made it possible to say that this masterpiece of the Renaissance was saved. Working on the fresco for three years, Leonardo created the greatest creation of the Renaissance.
After the fall of Sforza's power in 1499, Leonardo travels to Florence, stopping along the way to Mantua and Venice. In Mantua, he creates cardboard with Portrait of Isabella d "Este (1500, Louvre, Paris), executed in black chalk, charcoal and pastel.
In the spring of 1500, Leonardo arrived in Florence, where he soon received an order to paint an altarpiece in the monastery of the Annunciation. The order was never completed, but one of the options is the so-called. Burlington House Cardboard (1499, National Gallery, London).
One of the significant orders Leonardo received in 1502 to decorate the wall of the meeting room of the Signoria in Florence was Battle of Anghiari(not preserved). Another wall for decoration was given to Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), who painted there a picture Battle of Kashin... Leonardo's sketches, now lost, showed a panorama of the battle, in the center of which a battle for the banner took place. Leonardo's and Michelangelo's cardboards exhibited in 1505 were a tremendous success. As with The last supperLeonardo experimented with paints, with the result that the paint layer gradually peeled off. But preparatory drawings, copies have survived, which partly give an idea of \u200b\u200bthe scale of this work. In particular, a drawing by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) has survived, showing the central scene of the composition (c. 1615, Louvre, Paris).
For the first time in the history of battle painting, Leonardo showed the drama and fury of the battle.
Mona lisa - the most famous work of Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1506, Louvre, Paris). Mona Lisa (short for Madonna Lisa) was the third wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo. Now the picture is slightly changed: initially the columns were drawn on the left and right, now cut off. The small-sized painting makes a monumental impression: Mona Lisa is shown against the background of a landscape, where the depth of space, an airy haze are conveyed with the greatest perfection. The famous sfumato technique of Leonardo is brought here to unprecedented heights: the thinnest, as if melting, haze of chiaroscuro, enveloping the figure, softens the contours and shadows. There is something elusive, bewitching and attracting in a light smile, in the liveliness of facial expressions, in the stately calmness of the posture, in the immobility of the smooth lines of the hands. |
In 1506 Leonardo received an invitation to Milan from Louis XII of France (1462-1515). Having given Leonardo complete freedom of action, regularly paying him, the new patrons did not demand certain work from him. Leonardo is fond of scientific research, sometimes turning to painting. Then the second option was written Madonna of the Rocks (1506-1508, British National Gallery, London).
 MADONNA WITH CHILD AND ST. ANNOY. OK. 1510. Louvre, Paris |
St. Anna with Mary and the Christ Child (1500–1510, Louvre, Paris) - one of the themes of Leonardo's work, to which he repeatedly addressed. The latest development on this topic remained unfinished.
In 1513 Leonardo went to Rome, to the Vatican, to the court of Pope Leo X (1513-1521), but soon lost the Pope's favor. He studies plants in the botanical garden, makes plans for draining the Pontine swamps, writes notes for a treatise on the structure of the human voice. At this time he created the only one Self-portrait (1514, Bibliotheque Reale, Turin), performed by a sanguine, showing a gray-haired old man with a long beard and gaze.
The last painting of Leonardo was also painted in Rome - Saint John the Baptist (1515, Louvre, Paris). St. John is shown pampered with a seductive smile and feminine gestures.
Once again, Leonardo received an offer from the French king, this time from Francis I (1494-1547), successor of Louis XII: to move to France, to an estate near the royal castle of Amboise. In 1516 or 1517, Leonardo arrived in France, where he was assigned an apartment in the Clou estate. Surrounded by the king's respectful admiration, he is awarded the title of "First Painter, Engineer and Architect of the King." Leonardo, despite his age and illness, is engaged in drawing canals in the Loire River valley, takes part in the preparation of court festivities.
Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, 1519, leaving his drawings and papers by will to Francesco Melzi, a student who kept them all his life. But after his death, all the countless papers were scattered all over the world, some were lost, some are kept in different cities, in museums around the world.
A scientist by vocation Leonardo, even now, strikes with the breadth and variety of his scientific interests. His research in the field of aircraft design is unique. He studied flight, planning of birds, the structure of their wings, and created the so-called. ornithopter, wing-flapping aircraft, and unrealized. Created a pyramidal parachute, a model of a spiral propeller (a version of a modern propeller). Observing nature, he became an expert in botany: he was the first to describe the laws of phyllotaxy (the laws governing the arrangement of leaves on the stem), heliotropism and geotropism (the laws of the influence of the sun and gravity on plants), discovered a way to determine the age of trees by annual rings. He was an expert in the field of anatomy: he was the first to describe the valve of the right ventricle of the heart, demonstrated anatomy, etc. He created a system of drawings that still help students understand the structure of the human body: he showed an object in four views in order to examine it from all sides, created an image system organs and bodies in cross section. Interesting is his research in the field of geology: he gave descriptions of sedimentary rocks, explanations of marine deposits in the mountains of Italy. As an optical scientist, he knew that visual images on the cornea of \u200b\u200bthe eye are projected upside down. Probably the first to use a camera obscura for sketching landscapes (from the Latin camera - room, obscurus - dark) - a closed box with a small hole in one of the walls; rays of light are reflected on the frosted glass on the other side of the box, and create an inverted color image, used by landscape painters of the 18th century. for accurate reproduction of views). Leonardo's drawings contain a project for an instrument for measuring the intensity of light, a photometer, which was only brought to life three centuries later. He designed canals, sluices, dams. Some of his ideas include lightweight water walking shoes, a lifebuoy, webbed swimming gloves, a scuba diving device similar to a modern spacesuit, rope making machines, grinders and much more. Talking to the mathematician Luca Pacioli, who wrote the textbook About Divine ProportionLeonardo became interested in this science and created illustrations for this textbook.
Leonardo also acted as an architect, but none of his projects were ever implemented. He participated in the competition for the design of the central dome of the Milan Cathedral, created the design of the mausoleum for members of the royal family in the Egyptian style, the project he proposed to the Turkish sultan, to build a huge bridge across the Bosphorus, under which ships could pass.
A large number of drawings by Leonardo, made by sanguine, crayons, pastels (it is Leonardo who is credited with the invention of pastels), silver pencil, and chalk remained.
In Milan Leonardo begins to write Treatise on painting, the work on which lasted all his life, but was never finished. In this multivolume reference book, Leonardo wrote about how to recreate the world around him on canvas, about linear and aerial perspective, proportions, anatomy, geometry, mechanics, optics, about the interaction of colors, and reflexes.
 John the Baptist. 1513-16 |
 Madonna Litta 1478-1482 Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia |
 Leda with a swan 1508 - 1515 Uffi Gallery, Florence, Italy |
The life and work of Leonardo da Vinci left a colossal mark not only in art, but also in science and technology. Painter, sculptor, architect - he was a natural scientist, mechanic, engineer, mathematician, made many discoveries for subsequent generations. He was the greatest personality of the Renaissance.
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"Vitruvian Man" - the common name for the graphic drawing by da Vinci, made in 1492. as an illustration to the entries in one of the diaries. The figure shows a nude male figure. Strictly speaking, these are even two superimposed images of the same figure, but in different poses. A circle and a square are described around the figure. The manuscript containing this drawing is sometimes also called the "Canon of Proportions" or simply "Human Proportions." Now this work is kept in one of the museums in Venice, but it is rarely exhibited, since this exhibit is truly unique and valuable both as a work of art and as a subject of study.
Leonardo created his "Vitruvian Man" as an illustration of the geometric studies he carried out on the basis of the treatise of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius (hence the name of da Vinci's work). In the treatise of the philosopher and researcher, the proportions of the human body were taken as the basis for all architectural proportions. Da Vinci, on the other hand, applied the research of the ancient Roman architect to painting, which once again clearly illustrates the principle of the unity of art and science put forward by Leonardo. In addition, this work also reflects the master's attempt to correlate man with nature. It is known that da Vinci considered the human body as a reflection of the universe, i.e. I was convinced that it functions according to the same laws. The author himself regarded the Vitruvian Man as the "cosmography of the microcosm." This figure also has a deep symbolic meaning. The square and circle in which the body is inscribed do not simply reflect physical, proportional characteristics. The square can be interpreted as the material being of a person, and the circle is his spiritual basis, and the points of contact of geometric figures with each other and with the body inserted into them can be considered as a connection between these two foundations of human existence. For many centuries, this drawing was considered as a symbol of the ideal symmetry of the human body and the universe as a whole.
A magnificent fake or a Renaissance masterpiece?
The list of surviving works by Leonardo da Vinci is very short. And it is constantly decreasing due to re-attribution (we do not take cases of swindling of Russian oligarchs and Arab sheikhs, this is another story).
About how recently the relief of his work was allegedly found (in fact, of course, not his).
And here is a much more famous "his" work, the controversy about which did not subside much longer.
This is a bust of the goddess Flora, made of painted wax.
Excerpt from the book: A.C. Bernatsky. "Ideal Criminals"
In 1909, the director of Berlin museums, Wilhelm Bode, was offered a wax statue of Flora for purchase. Bode immediately became interested in the proposal, since, according to the family legends of the owners of the statue, Leonardo da Vinci himself sculpted it. An important argument in favor of this assumption was one characteristic detail of the work - the mysterious smile inherent in some of the female images of the great Italian.
Fascinated by the beauty of the statue and the idea that one of his museums would be replenished with a unique creation by da Vinci, Bode acquired Flora for an impressive amount of 150 thousand marks at that time. The statue was placed in the most honorable place among the exhibits of the Renaissance in the Museum of Emperor Frederick.
London journalists, who have always closely followed the flow of national treasures to other countries, a few months after the deal, published a scathing article that the Germans had acquired, under the guise of a masterpiece, a work of a certain Richard Lucas, executed in 19th century England.
Richard Cockle Lucas. "Lady Catherine Stepney as Cleopatra", c. 1836
Of course, Bode and his German staff did not believe the British reporters. Moreover, he even complained to his English colleagues for giving the press information about the deal.
But the British insisted on their own and, in support of their innocence, sought out their eighty-year-old son Lucas. He not only confirmed the authorship of his father, but also indicated that the statue was sculpted from some old painting, which he, at that time a seventeen-year-old boy, remembered well.
The Germans again did not believe the journalists, saying that only a brilliant sculptor could sculpt such a masterpiece, and Lucas, as you know, was not one of those.
Photo portrait of the sculptor
Then a certain Thomas Whitebourne, who was in the house of Lucas the father and watched him work on the statue, spoke on behalf of the British. It was this witness who remembered that the painting with which the statue of Flora was molded did not belong to Lucas, but was temporarily borrowed from the antique dealer Buchanan, who ordered the wax sculpture. He also indicated the street and the house where the customer's shop was located.
But this story did not shake the self-righteousness of Berliners.
I did not find which picture was meant. Apparently, something like this "Flora" by Leonardo's student named Melzi ()
Then the British, realizing that you couldn't sew a word to the deed, began to look for material evidence to confirm their statements. And soon they showed the store's trade book for 1846, in which the presence of a painting with the name "Flora" was registered.
Or like this "Flora", also Melzi
They also found a lithograph from this work, dated 1840, and, in addition, documents from the Christie's auction, at which the property of the antiquary was sold to the collector Morrison for 640 guineas. And after a while, Morrison's granddaughter was found, with whom British researchers found the last proof of their innocence: the painting "Flora".
Or, perhaps, this is "Flora" by Carlo Antonio Procaccini (which, by the way, is actually a naked "Mona Lisa")
However, the ups and downs did not end there. Already almost laid out on the shoulder blades, the Germans suddenly announced that Lucas had got the genuine statue of Leonardo, from which Morrison's painting was made.
Oh, I sort of found an old article. There is a reproduction of this "Flora" as a sample. Today the painting is attributed to Bernardino Luini
Whitbourne got into the argument again, suddenly remembering that Lucas had to layer wax for some reason, and he complained that the new wax candles used for this purpose were of horribly poor quality.
Reproduction from the London Times
Now it was up to the chemists. And they found that a surrogate was mixed with the wax from which the statue was made to make it cheaper. And it began to be applied only in 1840. And the decay of the sculpture was explained by the fact that a certain Simpson, who bought Lucas's house with all his works, kept Flora in an open gallery for sixteen years.
Bust illustrated from Bode's book of the early 20th century
Just at that moment, there were tensions between England and Germany, and therefore British journalists gladly raised this story on the shield, and with the help of it they mocked the "stupid Deutsch" whom the British talent fooled. For three years, a record number of newspaper articles and articles were published on this topic - about 700 pieces.
Despite this evidence, Bode went on to maintain that his original attribution was correct. To prove this, he exhibited a bust of Flora among Lucas's works - however, this exhibition was more likely to backfire as it showed that Lucas regularly made wax sculptures inspired by the great works of the old masters.
"Nymph", wax statuette by Lucas.
His wax "Leda and the Swan"
As some continue to cling to Leonardo's authorship, everyone is trying to prove it.
For example, this bust was the first sculpture to be studied using an X-ray.
Spermaceti found in chemical samples later proved the material was too old for Lucas and too young for Leonardo. In 1986, chemical analysis showed that the wax contains synthetically produced stearin, a substance that was first produced in 1818.
Today it is exhibited in Berlin museums with a sign "19th century England".
In 1492, Ludovico Moro, ruler of Milan, commissions Leonardo the world's largest equestrian statue as a monument to his father Francesco Sforza, who was ruler / duke / prince of Milan from 1452 to 1466, and even pays him a generous advance.
The Cavallo di Leonardo was part of the equestrian monument of Francesco Sforza, conceived by Leonardo da Vinci in 1482-1493. It was supposed to be cast in bronze, but Leonardo only managed to make a clay model, which was later lost.
In 1977, the American pilot Charles Dent, a philanthropist and lover of sculpture, decides in 5 centuries to fulfill Leonardo's dream and recreate the statue according to his sketches. It is said that the pilot did not let go of the guilt over the bombing of Milan during the Second World War, when the city was turned into ruins. ...
Under the cut 3 photos and 2 minutes / bad and not mine / video
It took 15 years to find funding, and the estimate was $ 2.5 million. In 1994 Charles Dent dies ... His project was continued by Frederik Meijer, the owner of a supermarket chain in Michigan, USA.
With great difficulty, the plan was realized, the sculptor Nina Akamu participated in the completion of the work. Horse height 3 m, length 8 m.
The statue, cast in bronze in parts, 7 in total, was transported to Milan, the parts were connected, and Leonardo's Horse was installed on a pedestal of granite and marble in 1999 at the entrance to the Milan Hippodrome / Ippodromo del Galoppo - racing, next to the stadium Meazza / San Siro.
Leonardo da Vinci (), Italian painter, sculptor, architect, scientist and engineer. The founder of the artistic culture of the High Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci developed as a master, studying in Florence with Verrocchio. The methods of work in Verrocchio's workshop, where artistic practice was combined with technical experiments, as well as friendship with the astronomer P. Toscanelli, contributed to the emergence of the scientific interests of the young da Vinci.
Leonardo was born in 1452 and was the illegitimate son of a certain Sir Pierrot, a notary from a small town near the city of Vinci, and a simple peasant woman. Therefore, later, when the artist became famous, he began to call himself Leonardo da Vinci. Since childhood, he has shown an equal interest in mechanics, astronomy, mathematics, and other natural sciences, which did not prevent him from enthusiastically drawing and sculpting various figures. They say that even from a young age he sculpted several heads of laughing women, which were so expressive that plaster casts of them are still made from them for imitation. Already a renowned artist, he did not abandon his studies in engineering, perpetuating his new ideas in drawing.
In his early works (the head of an angel in the Baptism of Christ by Verrocchio, after 1470, the Annunciation, circa 1474, both in the Uffizi; in the first independent work, Madonna Benoit, circa 1478, State Hermitage, St. Petersburg) the artist, developing traditions art of the Early Renaissance, emphasized the smooth volumetric forms of soft chiaroscuro, sometimes enlivened the faces with a barely perceptible smile, achieving with its help the transmission of subtle states of mind.
Once Leonardo's teacher, Verrocchio received an order for the painting "The Baptism of Christ" and commissioned Leonardo to paint one of the two angels. It was a common practice in art workshops of that time: the teacher created the picture together with the student assistants. The most talented and diligent ones were entrusted with the execution of a whole fragment. The two angels, written by Leonardo and Verrocchio, unambiguously demonstrated the superiority of the student over the teacher. As Vasari writes, the amazed Verrocchio abandoned the brush and never returned to painting.
Fixing the results of countless observations in sketches, sketches and field studies performed in various techniques (Italian and silver pencils, sanguine, pen, etc.), Leonardo da Vinci achieved, sometimes resorting to an almost caricatured grotesque, sharpness in the transfer of facial expressions, and physical the features and movement of the human body were brought into perfect harmony with the spiritual atmosphere of the composition. In 1481 or 1482, Leonardo da Vinci entered the service of the ruler of Milan, Lodovico Moro, acting as a military engineer, hydraulic engineer, and organizer of court celebrations.
In the Milanese period, Leonardo da Vinci created "Madonna of the Rocks" (Louvre, Paris; 2nd version - near, National Gallery, London), where the characters are presented surrounded by a bizarre rocky landscape, and the subtle chiaroscuro plays the role of a spiritual principle, emphasizing warmth Human Relations Madonna of the Rocks
Madonna of the Rocks, Louvre, Paris.
In the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, he completed the mural painting "The Last Supper" painting; its high ethical and spiritual content is expressed in the mathematical pattern of composition, which logically continues the real architectural space, in a clear, strictly developed system of gestures and facial expressions of characters, in a harmonious balance of forms.
After the fall of Milan, Leonardo da Vinci's life was spent in continuous travel (, Florence; Mantua and Venice; 1506, Milan; Rome; France).
The strength of the artist's convictions was such that even the most fantastic of what he had invented seemed to his contemporaries quite real. Giorgio Vasari reports that when Leonardo was still in Florence, he made a drawing, with the help of which he repeatedly proved to many enterprising citizens who ruled the city at that time that he could raise the temple of San Giovanni and bring stairs under it without destroying it ... “And he persuaded with such convincing arguments that it seemed possible, although after his departure, everyone in the depths of his soul realized the impossibility of such an undertaking.” Temple of San Giovanni
Unfortunately, the penchant for a wide variety of reflections and scientific experiments prevented Leonardo from focusing on one thing. He started a lot, did not finish a lot, so an opinion began to take shape about him as a person who was not able to bring anything to the end. Therefore, when he was asked to paint the refectory of the new Dominican monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan, he did not hesitate for a moment, he agreed, hoping by the execution of this fresco to prove the opposite to all idle gossips.
Leonardo began working on the Last Supper for the Santa Maria della Grazie monastery in 1495. He had to finish the fresco as soon as possible. But, as always, he wanted to be independent and original in everything that required careful and hard work. And although the idea of \u200b\u200bthe "Last Supper" was born to Leonardo long before receiving this order, before starting to paint on the wall, he made many drawings and sketches, accompanied by verbal descriptions like the following: "The first who drank and put the glass on his place, turns his head to the speaker; the other connects the fingers of both hands and looks at his comrade with frowning eyebrows; the other, opening his hands, shows their palms, raises his shoulders to his ears and makes a face of amazement with his mouth, "and so on for each character." The Last Supper "
Last Supper, refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
The abbot of the monastery constantly urged Leonardo to complete the work. One day, irritated by the slowness of the artist, he complained about him to the duke. The artist, who often talked with the duke about art, managed to convince him that "sometimes exalted talents work less, but they achieve more when they think over their ideas and create those perfect ideas that only then express with their hands." Leonardo handed over his work in the winter of 1497, however, without having time to finish the head of Jesus Christ. The success of the fresco exceeded all expectations. The whole of Italy was struck by the boldness of the composition, the power of expression, the movement combined with calmness, which still amaze anyone who enters the refectory. The variety of visible forms of mental life is striking. To the head of Jesus Christ
The compositional solution of the traditional Gospel subject, chosen by Leonardo for the painting of the refectory, was already unusual. The room where the fresco is located, elongated in shape, and the tables were located in it in the form of the letter "P". To create the illusion of reality of what is happening, the table at which Jesus Christ sat with his disciples was drawn the same as those that stood in the refectory, closing them into a single rectangle. The originality of the plan also lay in the fact that the abbot of the monastery found himself just opposite Christ, sitting in front of his figure during the afternoon meal. The walls of the real room and the ceiling also imperceptibly merge into the walls and ceiling depicted in the fresco. When all the monks gathered at the table, the impression was created that Christ and the apostles were participating in a joint meal. The desire to convey the impression of the reality of what is happening, which occupied the artist from early youth, in this work was realized with complete reliability and convincingness.
Fresco by Leonardo da Vinci "The Last Supper"
At the table in the upper room, where the last meal of the Teacher with the disciples takes place, Christ sits in the center. On both sides of it were the apostles, united in groups of three. The entire composition of The Last Supper depicts the moment when Jesus utters his famous words: "One of you will betray me." The reigning calm of the last supper, conveyed by a strictly verified composition, is disturbed by the arising noise and a wave of human emotions: "Is it not me, rabbi?" Judas, traditionally always sitting on the other side of the table, is this time in the group of the apostles. He, too, is outraged, he also tries to be surprised, but his right hand, nervously gripping a purse with thirty pieces of silver, gives him away and makes him recognizable. The visually balanced composition is disturbed by the resulting noise. Replicas seem to be transferred from one end of the table to the other, mixing separate groups of the apostles into one restless mass. Christ cannot but hear and notice what is happening, but his figure remains unperturbed. He responds to the excitement that seized all the apostles with ritual calmness, stillness, and silence.
The fate of the Last Supper fresco turned out to be tragic. Once, one evening, having come to the refectory of the monastery to admire his most famous work, Leonardo noticed that some mistake had been made when working with soil and paints, and his work, on which so much time and effort had been spent, could turn out to be short-lived. He constantly monitored the ongoing changes and did everything possible to extend the life of his creation.
From Milan Leonardo returned to Florence. In the same city, Leonardo painted a portrait of Mona Lisa (La Gioconda). From a small canvas, graceful hands with thin aristocratic fingers folded crosswise, a beautiful woman looks at the viewer. Her look is serious, and her lips are slightly touched by a smile, which is often called mysterious. Instead of a background behind the Mona Lisa, the ideal landscape typical of the Renaissance spreads out. Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)
Portrait of Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) Tree. 77 x 53. Louvre, Paris.
Fragment. Portrait of Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) Tree. 77 x 53. Louvre, Paris.
The last years of his life Leonardo spent in wanderings. First he returned to Milan, from there he went to Rome. There, for his scientific experiments, he was accused of heresy. Fleeing the persecution of the church, Leonardo accepted the invitation of the French king. In France, he hardly worked, but was always surrounded by respectful admiration. Leonardo's life ended in 1519 in the small town of Amboise in the castle of Clu. Vasari noted that “although he did a lot more in words than in deeds, all these branches of his activity, in which he showed himself so divinely, will never let his name and fame fade away.”
Among the works of Leonardo da Vinci - painting, frescoes, drawings, anatomical drawings, which laid the foundation for the appearance of scientific illustration, works of architecture, projects of technical structures, notebooks and manuscripts (about 7 thousand sheets), "Treatise on Painting" (Leonardo began to write a treatise back in Milan at the request of Sforza, who wished to know which art is more noble - sculpture or painting; the final version was drawn up after the death of Leonardo da Vinci by his student F. Melzi). anatomical drawings of the architecture of technical structures
Chambord Castle was built for King Francis I and still amazes not only with its size - 440 rooms and 365 fireplaces, but also with its innovative architecture. It is no coincidence that it is considered a masterpiece of engineering and it is assumed that the first project was developed by Leonardo da Vinci himself.
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci is a Renaissance man of art, sculptor, inventor, painter, philosopher, writer, scientist, polymath (universal man).
The future genius was born as a result of the love affair of the noble Piero da Vinci and the girl Catherine (Catarina). According to the social norms of that time, the marriage union of these people was impossible due to the low origin of Leonardo's mother. After the birth of her first child, she was married to a potter, with whom Katerina lived the rest of her life. It is known that from her husband she gave birth to four daughters and a son.
Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci
The firstborn Piero da Vinci lived with his mother for three years. Leonardo's father immediately after his birth married a wealthy representative of a noble family, but his legal wife could not give birth to an heir. Three years after the marriage, Piero took his son to him and took up his upbringing. Stepmother Leonardo died 10 years later trying to give birth to an heir. Pierrot remarried, but quickly became a widow again. In total, Leonardo had four stepmothers, as well as 12 paternal half-brothers and sisters.
Da Vinci's creativity and inventions
The parent gave Leonardo a student of the Tuscan master Andrea Verrocchio. During his studies with a mentor, Pierrot's son learned not only the art of painting and sculpture. Young Leonardo studied the humanities and technical sciences, the craftsmanship of leather, the basics of working with metal and chemical reagents. All this knowledge was useful to da Vinci in life.
Leonardo received confirmation of the master's qualifications at the age of twenty, after which he continued to work under Verrocchio. The young artist was attracted to small work on the paintings of his teacher, for example, he painted background landscapes and clothes of secondary characters. Leonardo got his own workshop only in 1476.
Drawing "Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo da Vinci In 1482, da Vinci was sent by his patron Lorenzo Medici to Milan. During this period, the artist worked on two paintings that were never completed. In Milan, Duke Ludovico Sforza enlisted Leonardo as an engineer in the court staff. The high-ranking person was interested in defensive devices and devices for the amusement of the yard. Da Vinci had the opportunity to develop the talent of an architect and the ability of a mechanic. His inventions turned out to be an order of magnitude better than those offered by his contemporaries.
The engineer stayed in Milan under the Duke of Sforza for about seventeen years. During this time, Leonardo painted pictures "Madonna in the grotto" and "Lady with an ermine", created his most famous drawing "Vitruvian Man", made a clay model of the equestrian monument of Francesco Sforza, painted the wall of the refectory of the Dominican monastery with the composition "The Last Supper", made a number of anatomical sketches and drawings of apparatus.
Leonardo's engineering talent also came in handy after returning to Florence in 1499. He got a job with the Duke Cesare Borgia, who counted on da Vinci's ability to create military mechanisms. The engineer worked in Florence for about seven years, after which he returned to Milan. By that time, he had already completed work on his most famous painting, which is now kept in the Louvre Museum.
The second Milanese period of the master lasted six years, after which he left for Rome. In 1516 Leonardo went to France, where he spent his last years. On the journey, the master took with him Francesco Melzi, a student and main heir of da Vinci's artistic style.
Portrait of Francesco Melzi Despite the fact that Leonardo spent only four years in Rome, it is in this city that there is a museum named after him. In three halls of the institution you can get acquainted with the apparatus built according to Leonardo's drawings, view copies of paintings, photos of diaries and manuscripts.
The Italian has devoted most of his life to engineering and architectural projects. His inventions were both military and peaceful. Leonardo is known as the developer of prototypes of a tank, an aircraft, a self-propelled vehicle, a searchlight, a catapult, a bicycle, a parachute, a mobile bridge, and a machine gun. Some of the inventor's drawings still remain a mystery to researchers.
Drawings and sketches of some of Leonardo da Vinci's inventions In 2009, the "Discovery" TV channel aired a series of films "The Da Vinci Apparatus". Each of the ten episodes of the documentary series was devoted to the construction and testing of mechanisms according to the original drawings of Leonardo. The film's technicians tried to recreate the inventions of the Italian genius using materials from his era.
Personal life
The master's personal life was kept by him in the strictest confidence. Leonardo used a cipher for entries in his diaries, but even after decryption, the researchers received little reliable information. There is a version that da Vinci's unconventional orientation was the reason for the secrecy.
The theory that the artist loved men was based on the guesses of researchers based on indirect facts. At a young age, the artist appeared in the sodomy case, but it is not known for certain in what capacity. After this incident, the master became very secretive and stingy with comments about his personal life.
Possible lovers of Leonardo include some of his students, the most famous of whom is Salai. The young man was endowed with an effeminate appearance and became a model for several paintings by da Vinci. The painting "John the Baptist" is one of the surviving works of Leonardo, for which Salai posed.
There is a version that "Mona Lisa" was also written from this model, dressed in a woman's dress. It should be noted that there is some physical similarity between the people depicted in the paintings "Mona Lisa" and "John the Baptist". The fact remains that da Vinci bequeathed his artistic masterpiece to Salai.
Historians also consider Francesco Melzi to be Leonardo's possible lovers.
There is another version of the secret of the Italian's personal life. It is believed that Leonardo had a romantic relationship with Cecilia Gallerani, who, presumably, is depicted in the portrait "Lady with an Ermine." This woman was the favorite of the Duke of Milan, the owner of the literary salon, the patroness of the arts. She introduced the young artist to the circle of Milanese bohemia.
Fragment of the painting "Lady with an Ermine" Among da Vinci's notes was found a draft of a letter addressed to Cecilia, which began with the words: "My beloved goddess ...". Researchers suggest that the portrait "Lady with an Ermine" was painted with clear signs of unspent feelings for the woman depicted on it.
Some researchers believe that the great Italian did not know carnal love at all. Men and women did not attract him physically. In the context of this theory, it is assumed that Leonardo led the life of a monk who did not bear descendants, but left a great legacy.
Death and grave
Modern researchers have concluded that the likely cause of the artist's death is a stroke. Da Vinci died at the age of 67, it happened in 1519. Thanks to the memoirs of contemporaries, it is known that by that time the artist was already suffering from partial paralysis. Leonardo could not move his right hand, as the researchers believe, due to a stroke suffered in 1517.
Despite the paralysis, the master continued an active creative life, resorting to the help of his student Francesco Melzi. Da Vinci's health worsened, and by the end of 1519 it was already difficult for him to walk without assistance. This evidence is consistent with the theoretical diagnosis. Scientists believe that a second attack of cerebrovascular accident in 1519 completed the life of the famous Italian.
Monument to Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, Italy At the time of his death, the master was at the Clos-Luce castle near the city of Amboise, where he lived the last three years of his life. In accordance with the will of Leonardo, his body was buried in the gallery of the Church of Saint-Florentin.
Unfortunately, the master's grave was destroyed during the Huguenot wars. The church, in which the Italian rested, was plundered, after which it fell into desolation and was demolished by the new owner of the castle of Amboise, Roger Ducos in 1807.
After the destruction of the Saint-Florentin chapel, the remains from many graves of different years were mixed and buried in the garden. Since the mid-nineteenth century, researchers have made several attempts to identify Leonardo da Vinci's bones. The innovators in this matter were guided by the lifetime description of the master and selected the most suitable fragments from the remains found. They studied them for some time. The work was supervised by the archaeologist Arsen Ussay. He also found fragments of a tombstone, presumably from da Vinci's grave, and a skeleton that lacked some of the fragments. These bones were reburied in the reconstructed grave of the artist in the chapel of Saint Hubert on the grounds of the castle of Amboise.
In 2010, a team of researchers led by Silvano Vincheti planned to exhume the remains of a Renaissance master. It was planned to identify the skeleton using genetic material taken from the burials of Leonardo's paternal relatives. Italian researchers were unable to obtain permission from the owners of the castle to carry out the necessary work.
In the place where the Church of Saint-Florentin used to be, a granite monument was erected at the beginning of the last century, marking the four hundredth anniversary of the death of the famous Italian. The reconstructed tomb of the engineer and the stone monument with his bust are some of the most popular attractions in Amboise.
Secrets of da Vinci paintings
Leonardo's work has occupied the minds of art historians, religious researchers, historians and ordinary people for more than four hundred years. The works of the Italian artist have become an inspiration for people of science and creativity. There are many theories that reveal the secrets of da Vinci's paintings. The most famous of them says that when writing his masterpieces, Leonardo used a special graphic code.
With the help of a device of several mirrors, the researchers managed to find out that the secret of the views of the heroes from the paintings "La Gioconda" and "John the Baptist" lies in the fact that they look at a creature in a mask that resembles an alien alien. The secret cipher in Leonardo's notes was also deciphered using an ordinary mirror.
Hoaxes around the work of the Italian genius have led to the emergence of a number of works of art, the author of which was the writer. His novels have become bestsellers. In 2006, the film The Da Vinci Code was released, based on the work of the same name by Brown. The film was met with a wave of criticism from religious organizations, but set box office records in its first month of release.
Lost and unfinished works
Not all of the master's works have survived to our time. The works that have not survived include: a shield with a painting in the form of the head of Medusa, a horse sculpture for the Duke of Milan, a portrait of the Madonna with a spindle, the painting "Leda and the Swan" and the fresco "Battle of Anghiari".
Modern researchers know about some of the master's paintings thanks to the surviving copies and memoirs of da Vinci's contemporaries. For example, the fate of the original Leda and the Swan is still unknown. Historians believe that the painting may have been destroyed in the mid-seventeenth century by order of the Marquise de Maintenon, wife of Louis XIV. Sketches made by Leonardo's hand and several copies of the canvas made by various artists have survived to our time.
The painting depicted a young nude woman in the arms of a swan, at whose feet babies are playing, hatching from huge eggs. When creating this masterpiece, the artist was inspired by a famous mythical plot. Interestingly, the canvas based on the story of Leda's copulation with Zeus, who took the form of a swan, was painted not only by da Vinci.
A lifetime rival of Leonardo also painted a picture dedicated to this ancient myth. Buonarotti's canvas suffered the same fate as da Vinci's work. The paintings of Leonardo and Michelangelo simultaneously disappeared from the collection of the French royal house.
Among the unfinished works of the brilliant Italian, the painting "Adoration of the Magi" stands out. The canvas was commissioned by the Augustinian monks in 1841, but remained unfinished due to the departure of the master to Milan. The clients found another artist, and Leonardo saw no reason to continue working on the picture.
Fragment of the painting "Adoration of the Magi" Researchers believe that the composition of the canvas has no analogues in Italian painting. The painting depicts Mary with the newborn Jesus and the Magi, and behind the pilgrims there are riders on horseback and the ruins of a pagan temple. There is an assumption that Leonardo depicted in the picture among the men who came to the son of God, and himself at the age of 29.
- The researcher of religious secrets Lynn Picknett published the book Leonardo da Vinci and the Brotherhood of Zion in 2009, naming the famous Italian one of the masters of the secret religious order.
- Da Vinci is believed to have been a vegetarian. He wore linen clothes, neglecting leather and natural silk clothes.
- A group of researchers plans to isolate Leonardo's DNA from the surviving personal belongings of the master. Historians also claim they are close to finding Da Vinci's maternal relatives.
- The Renaissance was the time when noble women in Italy were addressed with the words "my lady", in Italian - "madonna" (ma donna). In colloquial speech, the expression has been shortened to monna. This means that the title of the painting "Mona Lisa" can literally be translated as "Mrs. Lisa".
- Rafael Santi called da Vinci his teacher. He visited Leonardo's studio in Florence, tried to adopt some of the features of his artistic style. Raphael Santi also referred to Michelangelo Buonarroti as his teacher. The three artists mentioned are considered the main geniuses of the Renaissance.
- Australian enthusiasts have created the largest traveling exhibition of the great architect's inventions. The exhibition was designed with the participation of the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Italy. The exhibition has already traveled to six continents. During its work, five million visitors were able to see and touch the works of the most famous engineer of the Renaissance.