ARTH218
Leonardo da Vinci
(b Anchiano, nr Vinci, 1452; d
Amboise, nr Tours, 1519)
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Italian painter,
sculptor, architect, designer, theorist, engineer and scientist, Leonardo has often
been considered the epitome of the idea of the universal genius. Although he
brought relatively few works to completion, and even fewer have survived,
Leonardo was responsible for some of the most influential images in the history
of art.
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Founding father of what is called the High Renaissance, Leonardo exercised an enormous influence on
contemporary and later artists. His writings on art helped establish the ideals
of representation and expression that were to dominate European academies for
the next 400 years.
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Leonardo insistently defended the intellectual
nature of the visual arts. Painting was defined as ‘the sole imitator of all
the visible works of nature’ and as ‘a subtle invention which with subtle
speculation considers the nature of all forms’. His aspiration was that the
artist should be able to construct a created world on the basis of a
comprehensive understanding of causes and effects in the natural world.
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Furthermore, he devoted a good part of his
writings in art theory to the Paragone, that is a demonstration of
the superiority of painting over the arts of the ear, poetry and music, and over
sculpture, the other major visual art. The true end of his paragone
is to prove that painting must be considered as a liberal art, indeed, the
supreme liberal art, rather than as a manual craft.
Required
readings
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Murray
Important
names and terms
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Lodovico Sforza
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Francis I, King
of
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Paragone
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Sfumato
Study Images
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Leonardo
da Vinci, Vitruvian man, c. 1485-1490
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Leonardo da
Vinci, Lady
with an Ermine (Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani), 1483-90
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Leonardo da
Vinci, Adoration
of the Magi (unfinished), 1481-2
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Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper,
c. 1495-1498, refectory of
Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
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Leonardo da
Vinci, Madonna
of the Rocks, 1483-1486 (Louvre,
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Leonardo da
Vinci, Madonna
of the Rocks, 1495-1508 (National Gallery,
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Leonardo da Vinci, Self-portrait, c. 1512
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Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa (La Gioconda), c. 1503-1515 (detail)
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Leonardo da Vinci, Madonna and
Child with Saint Anne, c. 1510
Additional
images
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Leonardo
da Vinci, Sketches from Leonardo’s notebooks, c. 1490
Studies
of central plan buildings
Studies
of five grotesque heads
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Leonardo da Vinci, Anatomical studies, c. 1510
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Andrea del Castagno, The
Last Supper, c. 1450, refectory of Sant'Apollonia,
Additional
resources
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Click
here to read about Leonardo’s recently-found studio in 
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To learn more on Linear
Perspective and Leonardo’s use of this technique visit the site:
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There are several
websites devoted to Leonardo da Vinci:
http://library.thinkquest.org/3044/
http://galileo.imss.firenze.it/news/mostra/6/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo/
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For more
information about Leonardo’s engeniering projects
see: Leonardo da Vinci. Genius [videorecording].
Stratford-upon-Avon,