How old was leonardo da vinci. Biography of Leonardo da Vinci

Brief biography of Leonardo da Vinci April 15, 1452 - Leonardo was born in the village of Anchiano near Vinci. His mother, about whom almost nothing is known, was supposedly called Katerina. His father is Ser Piero da Vinci, 25 years old, a notary, from a dynasty of notaries. Leonardo -

Chapter 2 Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci) - Italian painter, sculptor, encyclopedic scientist, engineer, inventor, one of the most prominent representatives of the High Renaissance culture, was born on April 15, 1452 in the city of Vinci near Florence (Italy).

Chapter II. Leonardo da Vinci. Faust Verancio In fifteenth century Italy there lived a remarkable man named Leonardo da Vinci. He was a painter, a sculptor, a musician-composer, an engineer, a mechanic, and a scientist. His beautiful paintings and drawings are proud of in

His field of activity covers not only space (Italy-France), but also time. Is it not surprising that Leonardo da Vinci's paintings cause the same heated debate and admiration now as in the years of his life? This "formula of immortality" can rightfully be considered the greatest discovery in history. What are its components? Almost every person on the planet would like to get an answer to this question. Some even decided that it would be best to ask Leonardo himself about this, "resurrecting" the master with the help of modern scientific developments. However, the main components of the "formula" are visible to the naked eye: potential genius, multiplied by incredible curiosity and a lot of humanism. And yet, any genius is a dreamer-practitioner. Judge for yourself, all the work of Leonardo da Vinci (here we include not only sketches, paintings, frescoes, but also all the scientific research of the Master) can be imagined as steps towards realizing the long dreams of mankind about perfection. Did you want the person to fly like a bird? So we need to make it look like wings! Christ walked on water, so why shouldn't ordinary mortals have such an opportunity? Let's build a jet ski!

The whole life and work of Leonardo da Vinci was filled with attempts to answer numerous questions about the laws of the universe, to reveal the secrets of life and direct them to the service of mankind. After all, do not forget that a Renaissance man is, first of all, a great humanist.

The biography of Leonardo da Vinci is, figuratively speaking, the story of several souls imprisoned in the body of one person. Indeed, in each of the areas studied, he exhibits very special qualities that, in the understanding of ordinary people, can hardly belong to one single person. Maybe that's why some people tried to prove that Leonardo da Vinci is just a pseudonym taken by a group of people. However, the theory was doomed to failure almost before its birth.

Today da Vinci is known to us to a greater extent as an unsurpassed artist. Unfortunately, no more than 15 of his works have come down to us, while the rest either simply did not stand the test of time due to the master's constant experiments with techniques and materials, or are considered not yet found. However, the works that have come down to us remain the most famous and most copied masterpieces of art in the world.

Biography of Leonardo da Vinci

The baby, subsequently baptized under the name Leonardo, was born, as recorded in the church book, "on Saturday, April 15, 1452 from the birth of Christ" from the extramarital affair of the peasant Catherine and the notary, ambassador of the Florentine Republic, sir Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a descendant a wealthy and revered Italian family. The father, who at that time had no other heirs, wished to take his son to his home and give him a proper education. All that is known for sure about the mother is that she officially married a man from a peasant family and gave him 7 more children. By the way, Leonardo's father was also later married four times and presented his first child (who, by the way, never made his official heir) ten more brothers and two sisters.

All further biography of da Vinci is closely tied to his work, the events of the master's life, the people he met, naturally, left their traces of the development of his worldview. So, meeting with Andrea Verrocchio determined the beginning of his path in art. At the age of 16, Leonardo becomes an apprentice in the studio of the renowned master Verrocchio. It is in Verrocchio's workshop that Leonardo gets the opportunity to prove himself as an artist: the teacher allows him to paint the face of an angel for the famous "Baptism of Christ".

At the age of 20, da Vinci becomes a member of the St. Luke, the artists' guild, still working in Verrokkil's workshop until 1476. One of his first independent works "Madonna with a Carnation" is dated to the same period. Ten years later, Leonardo was invited to Milan, where he remained to work until 1501. Here Leonardo's talents are widely used, not only as an artist, but also as a sculptor, decorator, organizer of all kinds of masquerades and tournaments, a person who created amazing mechanical devices. Two years later, the master returns to his native Florence, where he paints his legendary fresco "The Battle of Angiani".

Like most Renaissance masters, da Vinci travels a lot, leaving a memory of himself in every city he visits. Towards the end of his life, he became “the first royal artist, engineer and architect” under Francois I, working on the architectural structure of the castle of Clu. However, this work remained unfinished: da Vinci died in 1519, at the age of 67. Nowadays, only a double spiral staircase remains in the castle of Clu from the plan originally conceived by the great Leonardo, the rest of the architecture of the castle was repeatedly altered by subsequent dynasties of French kings.

The work of Leonardo da Vinci

Despite Leonardo's numerous scientific studies, his fame as a scientist and inventor pales somewhat before the fame of Leonardo the artist, whose few surviving works have fascinated and excited the mind and imagination of mankind for almost 400 years. It was in the field of painting that many of da Vinci's works devoted to the nature of light, chemistry, biology, physiology and anatomy found their application.

His paintings remain the most mysterious works of art. They are copied in search of the secret of such skill, they are discussed and argued about by whole generations of art connoisseurs, critics and even writers. Leonardo considered painting to be a branch of applied science. Among the many factors that make da Vinci's works unique, one of the main ones is the innovative techniques and experiments used by the master in his works, as well as deep knowledge of anatomy, botany, geology, optics and even the human soul ... Looking at the portraits he created, we indeed, we see not just an artist, but an attentive observer, a psychologist who has managed to understand the physical expression of the emotional component of a human personality. Da Vinci not only managed to understand this himself, but also found techniques that allow transferring this knowledge to the canvas with photographic accuracy. An unsurpassed master of sfumato and chiaroscuro, Leonardo da Vinci put all the power of his knowledge into the most famous works - "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper".

Leonardo believed that the best character to depict on canvas is the person whose body movements are most consistent with the movements of his soul. This belief can be considered da Vinci's creative credo. In his works, it was embodied in the fact that in his entire life he painted only one portrait of a man, preferring women as models, as more emotional personalities.

Early period of creativity

The periodization of Leonardo da Vinci's creative biography is rather arbitrary: some of his works are not dated, and the chronology of the master's life is also not always accurate. The very beginning of da Vinci's career can be considered the day when his father, Ser Pierrot, showed some sketches of his 14-year-old son to his friend Andrea del Verrocchio.

A year later, during which Leonardo trusted only to clean the canvases, grind paint and do other preparatory work, Verrocchio began to acquaint his student with the traditional techniques of painting, engraving, architecture and sculpture. Here Leonardo received knowledge of the basics of chemistry, metallurgy, mastered woodworking and even the beginnings of mechanics. Only to him, his best student, Verrocchio entrusts the completion of his work. During this period, Leonardo did not create his own works, but eagerly absorbs everything related to the chosen profession. Together with his teacher, he works on The Baptism of Christ (1472-1475). The play of light and shadow, the facial features of the little angel, whom da Vinci was entrusted to write, so amazed Verrocchio that he considered himself surpassed by his own student and decided never to take up the brush again. It is also believed that Leonardo became the model for the bronze sculpture of David and the image of the Archangel Michael.

In 1472, Leonardo was included in the "Red Book" of the guild of St. Luke is the famous union of artists and doctors in Florence. At the same time, the first notable works of da Vinci appeared, which brought him fame: a sketch in ink "Landscape of Santa Maria de la Neve" and "Annunciation". He perfects the sfumato technique, bringing it to an unprecedented level of perfection. Now a light haze - sfumato - is not just a thin layer of blurred paint, but a really light veil of living fog. Despite the fact that by 1476. da Vinci opens his own workshop and receives his own orders, he still works closely with Verrocchio, treating his teacher with deep respect and respect. The Madonna of the Carnation, one of the most significant works of da Vinci, is also dated the same year.

Mature period of creativity

At the age of 26, da Vinci begins a completely independent career, and also begins a more detailed study of various aspects of natural science and becomes a teacher himself. During this period, even before his departure to Milan, Leonardo began work on The Adoration of the Magi, which he never completed. It is possible that this was a kind of revenge for da Vinci for the fact that Pope Sixtus IV rejected his candidacy when choosing an artist to paint the Vatican's Sistine Chapel in Rome. Perhaps the fashion for neo-Platonism that ruled in Florence at that time also played a role in da Vinci's decision to leave for a rather academic and pragmatic Milan, which was more in line with his spirit. In Milan, Leonardo undertakes the creation of "Madonna in the grotto" for the altar of the chapel. This work clearly shows that da Vinci already possesses some knowledge in the field of biology and geodesy, since the plants and the grotto itself are written out with maximum realism. All proportions and laws of composition are observed. However, despite such an amazing performance, this picture for many years became the subject of contention between the author and the customers. During this period, da Vinci devotes to recording his reflections, drawings, and deeper research. It is possible that a certain musician, Migliorotti, was involved in his departure to Milan. Just one letter from this man, which described the amazing works of engineering thought "a senior who also draws", was enough for da Vinci to receive an invitation to work under the auspices of Louis Sforza, away from rivals and ill-wishers. Here he gets some freedom for creativity and research. And also deals with the organization of performances and celebrations, the technical equipment of the stage of the court theater. In addition, Leonardo paints many portraits for the Milanese court.

Late period of creativity

It was during this period that da Vinci thinks more about military-technical projects, studies urban planning and offers his own model of an ideal city.
Also, during his stay in one of the monasteries, he receives an order for a sketch for the image of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus, St. Anna and John the Baptist. The work turned out to be so impressive that the viewer felt himself present at the described event, part of the picture.

In 1504, many of the students, who consider themselves followers of da Vinci, leave Florence, where he stopped to put in order his numerous notes and drawings, and moved with the teacher to Milan. From 1503 to 1506 Leonardo begins work on La Gioconda. Mona Lisa del Giocondo, née Lisa-Maria Gerardini, was chosen as the model. Numerous variants of the plot of the famous painting still do not leave indifferent artists and critics.

In 1513. Leonardo da Vinci moved for some time to Rome at the invitation of Pope Leon X, or rather, to the Vatican, where Raphael and Michelangelo are already working. A year later, Leonardo begins the series "Then", which is a kind of response to the version proposed by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. The master does not forget his passion for engineering, working on the problem of draining swamps on the territory of the possession of the Duke Julien Medici.

One of the most ambitious architectural projects of this period was for da Vinci the Clou castle in Amboise, where the master was invited to work by the king of France Francois I. Over time, their relationship became much closer than just business. François often listens to the opinion of the great scientist, treats him like a father, and grieves the death of da Vinci in 1519. Leonardo dies in spring from a serious illness at the age of 67, having bequeathed his manuscripts and brushes to his student, Francesco Melzi.

Leonardo da Vinci's inventions

It may seem incredible, but some inventions made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. in fact, have already been described in the writings of da Vinci, as well as some of the things we are used to. It seems that what the master would not mention in his manuscripts does not exist at all. Even an alarm clock is described there! Of course, its design is significantly different from what we see today, nevertheless, the invention deserves attention, if only because of its design: scales, the bowls of which are filled with liquid. Overflowing from one bowl to another, water activates a mechanism that pushes or raises the legs of a dozing person. It's hard not to wake up in such conditions!

However, the true genius of the Leonardo engineer is evident in his mechanical and architectural innovations. He managed to realize the latter almost completely (with the exception of the project of an ideal city). But with regard to mechanics, the use of it was found far from immediately. It is known that da Vinci was preparing to test his aircraft himself, but he was never designed, despite the detailed plan drawn up on paper. And the bicycle, created by the master from wood, also came into use several centuries later, as well as the mechanical self-propelled carriage, driven by two levers. However, the very principle of the carriage was applied to improve the loom during da Vinci's lifetime.
Recognized as a genius of painting during his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of a career as a military engineer all his life, and therefore a special place in his activities was given to the study of fortifications, military vehicles, and protective structures. So, it was he who developed excellent methods of repelling Turkish attacks in Venice, and even created a semblance of a protective spacesuit. But since the Turks never attacked, the invention was not tested in action. In the same way, only a combat vehicle resembling a tank remained in the drawings.

In general, unlike works of painting, Leonardo's manuscripts and drawings have survived to this day in greater preservation and continue to be studied today. According to some drawings, machines were even recreated, which were not destined to appear during da Vinci's life.

Painting by Leonardo da Vinci

Most of the works of da Vinci's brush have not survived to this day due to the master's constant experiments not only with painting techniques, but also with tools: paints, canvases, primers. As a result of such experiments, the composition of paints on some frescoes and canvases did not stand the test of time, light, and moisture.

In the manuscript devoted to the fine arts of da Vinci, he mainly focuses not so much on the technique of writing, as on a detailed presentation of the innovations he invented, which, by the way, had a huge impact on the further development of art. First of all, there are some practical tips for preparing tools. So, Leonardo advises covering the canvas with a thin layer of glue, instead of the white soil mixture, which was customary to use before. The image, applied to the canvas prepared in this way, is fixed much better than on the ground, especially if you write with tempera, which was widespread at that time. Oil came into use a little later, and da Vinci preferred to use it just for painting on a primed canvas.

Also, one of the features of da Vinci's painting style is a preliminary sketch of the conceived picture in transparent dark (brown) tones, the same tones were used as the top, final layer of the entire work. In both cases, the completed work was endowed with a gloomy shade. It is possible that over time, the colors darkened even more precisely because of this feature.

Much of da Vinci's theoretical work is devoted to depicting human emotions. He talks a lot about the way to express feelings, leads his own research. There is even a known case when Leonardo decided to experimentally test his guesses about how the facial muscles move during laughter and crying. Having invited a group of friends for dinner, he began to tell funny stories, making his guests laugh, da Vinci carefully watched the movement of muscles, facial expressions. Possessing a unique memory, he transferred what he saw to sketches with such precision that, according to eyewitnesses, people wanted to laugh along with the portraits.

Mona Lisa.

"Mona Lisa" aka "La Gioconda", the full name is a portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo, perhaps the most famous painting in the world. Leonardo painted the famous portrait from 1503 to 1506, but even during this period the portrait was not fully completed. Da Vinci did not want to part with his work, so the customer never got it, but he accompanied the master on all his travels until the very last day. After the death of the artist, the portrait was transported to the Château de Fontainebleau.

La Gioconda has become the most mystical picture of all eras. She became the subject of research in artistic technique for the masters of the 15th century. During the era of romanticism, artists and critics admired its mystery. By the way, it is to the figures of this era that we owe such a magnificent aura of mystery that accompanies the Mona Lisa. The era of romanticism in art simply could not do without the mystical surroundings inherent in all genius masters and their works.

The plot of the picture is known to everyone today: a mysteriously smiling woman against the backdrop of a mountain landscape. However, numerous studies are revealing more and more details previously overlooked. So, upon closer examination, it is clear that the lady in the portrait is dressed in full accordance with the fashion of her time, a dark transparent veil is thrown over her head. It would seem that this is nothing special.

Compliance with fashion can only mean that a woman does not belong to the poorest family. But held in 2006. by Canadian scientists, a more detailed analysis using modern laser equipment showed that this veil, in fact, envelops the entire camp of the model. It is this thinnest material that creates the effect of fog, which was previously attributed to the famous sfumato da Vinci. It is known that such veils, which envelop the entire body, and not just the head, were worn by pregnant women. It is quite possible that this very state is reflected in the smile of Mona Lisa: the peace and tranquility of the expectant mother. Even her hands are laid in such a way, as if they are already ready to rock the baby. By the way, the very name "La Gioconda" also has a double meaning. On the one hand, this is a phonetic variation of the Giocondo surname, to which the model itself belonged. On the other hand, this word is consonant with the Italian "giocondo", i.e. happiness, peace. Doesn't this explain the depth of the look, and the gentle half-smile, and the whole atmosphere of the picture, where twilight reigns? Quite possible. This is not just a portrait of a woman. This is an image of the very idea of ​​peace and serenity. Perhaps that is why she was so dear to the author.

Now the painting Mona Lisa is in the Louvre, belongs to the Renaissance style. The dimensions of the painting are 77 cm x 53 cm.

The Last Supper is a fresco created by da Vinci in 1494-1498. for the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Greci, Milan. The fresco depicts a biblical scene of the last evening spent by Jesus of Nazareth, surrounded by his twelve disciples.

In this fresco, da Vinci tried to embody all his knowledge of the laws of perspective. The room in which Jesus and the apostles are seated was painted with exceptional precision in terms of proportions and distance of objects. The background of the room, however, is seen so clearly that it is practically a second picture and not just a background.

Naturally, the center of the entire work is Christ himself, it is in relation to his figure that the rest of the composition of the fresco is planned. The arrangement of the disciples (4 groups of three people each) is symmetrical about the center - the Teacher, but not among themselves, which creates a feeling of living movement, but at the same time there is a certain halo of loneliness around Christ. A halo of knowledge that is not yet available to its followers. Being the center of the fresco, a figure around which the whole world seems to revolve, Jesus still remains alone: ​​all the other figures are, as it were, separated from him. The entire work is enclosed in a strict rectilinear framework, limited by the walls and ceiling of the room, the table at which the participants of the Last Supper are sitting. If, for clarity, draw lines along those points that are directly related to the perspective of the fresco, you get an almost perfect geometric mesh, the "threads" of which are lined up at right angles to each other. This limited precision is not found in any other work of Leonardo.

In the Abbey of Tongerlo, Belgium, there is a surprisingly accurate copy of the Last Supper, made by the masters of the Da Vinci school on his own initiative, as the artist feared that the fresco in the Milan monastery would not stand the test of time. It was this copy that the restorers used to recreate the original.

The painting is in Santa Maria delle Grazie, dimensions 4.6 mx 8.8 m.

Vitruvian Man

"Vitruvian Man" is the common name for Da Vinci's 1492 graphic drawing. 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 a "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.

Drawing done in ink. The dimensions of the picture are 34 cm x 26 cm. Genre: Abstract art. Direction: High Renaissance.

The fate of the manuscripts.

After the death of da Vinci in 1519. all the manuscripts of the great scientist and painter were inherited by the beloved student of Leonardo, Francesco Melzi. Fortunately, the main part of the drawings and notes left by da Vinci, made by his famous method of mirror writing, i.e. from right to left. Without a doubt, Leonardo left behind the largest collection of works of the Renaissance, but after his death, the manuscript was not in an easy fate. It's even surprising that after so many twists and turns, the manuscripts still survive to this day.
Today, da Vinci's scientific works are far from the form that the Master gave them, with special care who grouped them according to the principles he knew. After the death of Malzi, the heir and custodian of the manuscripts, his descendants began to mercilessly squander the inheritance of the great scientist, apparently without even knowing its true value. Initially, the manuscripts were simply kept in the attic, later the Malzi family distributed some of the manuscripts and sold individual sheets to collectors by friends for a ridiculous price. Thus, all of da Vinci's records found new owners. Happiness that not a single leaf was lost!

However, the power of evil doom did not end there. The manuscripts came to Ponpeo Leoni, the court sculptor of the Spanish royal house. No, they were not lost, everything turned out to be much worse: Leoni undertook to "put in order" numerous records of da Vinci, naturally based on his own principles of classification, and finally confusing all the pages, separating, where possible, texts from sketches, but cleanly scientific, in his opinion, treatises from notes relating directly to painting. Thus, two collections of manuscripts and drawings emerged. After Leoni's death, one part of the collection returned to Italy again and until 1796. kept in the library of Milan. Part of the works came to Paris thanks to Napoleon, while the rest was "lost" among Spanish collectors and was discovered only in 1966 in the archives of the National Library in Madrid.

To date, all known da Vinci manuscripts have been collected, and almost all of them are in state museums in Europe, with the exception of one that miraculously still remains in a private collection. From the middle of the 19th century. art researchers are working to restore the original classification of manuscripts.

Output.

According to the last will of da Vinci, his funeral cortege was accompanied by sixty beggars. The great master of the Renaissance was buried in the chapel of Saint-Hubert, in the vicinity of the castle of Amboise.
Da Vinci remained lonely his entire life. Having neither a wife, nor children, nor even a home of his own, he devoted himself entirely to scientific research and art. So the fate of geniuses develops that during life and after death their work, in each of which a particle of the soul was invested, remain the only "family" of its creator. This happened in the case of Leonardo. However, everything that this man did, who was able to fully cognize and embody the spirit of the Renaissance in his creations, has become the property of all mankind today. Fate itself arranged everything in such a way that without having his own family, da Vinci passed on a huge legacy to all of humanity. Moreover, this includes not only unique recordings and delightful works, but also the mystery that surrounds them today. There was not a single century in which they did not try to unravel this or that idea of ​​da Vinci, to look for what was considered lost. Even in our age, when much previously unknown has become everyday, manuscripts, drawings and paintings by the great Leonardo do not leave indifferent either museum visitors, or art critics, or even writers. They still serve as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Isn't this the true secret of immortality?

Vitruvian Man

Madonna Benoit

Madonna Litta

One of my favorite books so far is "The Da Vinci Code"... The genre of the work - mystical detective - masterly creates an aura of mystery around the already mysterious the Leonardo phenomenon... I cannot call him only an artist or a sculptor, since this person was The creator(and only with a capital letter) of the Renaissance, versatile and talented. So who was Leonardo da Vinci?

How it all started

What a pity that photography and cinematography did not appear until several centuries after Leonardo. I'd like to see how this man looked, what clothes he wore, smiled or, conversely, frowned his shaggy eyebrows. However, the strict image of the master can still be seen in Piazza della Scala in Milan. Monument depicting Leonardo and his students, it's hard not to notice, but it's very easy to spend an hour staring at His face.

Da Vinci was originally identified by his father in painters and sculptors and began to study in Florence. An inquisitive mind and thirst to learn did not limit the young man only to the sphere of art. Were soon mastered Humanities sciences, chemistry, modeling and drafting.

After Florence, da Vinci finds himself in Milan, where he becomes engineer at the court of the Duke of Sforza. We can say that it was the duke who contributed to the development of new directions in Leonardo's "career": architecture and mechanics.

If we imagine that the Skolkovo Foundation already existed in the Renaissance, then the drawings and projects of the newly-minted engineer would be considered innovative and would immediately allocate a grand. Leonardo's sphere of scientific interest had the widest range: from military devices up to peaceful inventions.

Who was Leonardo da Vinci

Throughout his fairly long life (he died at the age of 67), the creator was able to achieve amazing success in many areas. science and arts... For example.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in the town of Vinci (or near it), located west of Florence, on April 15, 1452. He was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl, brought up in his father's house and, being the son of an educated man, received a solid elementary education.

1467 - at the age of 15, Leonardo became an apprentice to one of the leading masters of the Early Renaissance in Florence, Andrea del Verrocchio; 1472 - joined the guild of artists, studied the basics of drawing and other necessary disciplines; 1476 - and worked in Verrocchio's workshop, apparently in collaboration with the master himself.

By 1480, Leonardo already had large orders, but after 2 years he moved to Milan. In a letter to the ruler of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, he introduced himself as an engineer, military expert and artist. The years he spent in Milan were filled with various pursuits. Leonardo da Vinci painted several paintings and the famous fresco "The Last Supper" and began to carefully and seriously take his notes. The Leonardo whom we recognize from his notes is an architect-designer (creator of innovative plans that were never realized), anatomist, hydraulics, inventor of mechanisms, creator of scenery for court performances, writer of riddles, riddles and fables for the entertainment of the courtyard. musician and painting theorist.

1499 - after the expulsion of Lodovico Sforza from Milan by the French, Leonardo leaves for Venice, visits Mantua on the way, where he participates in the construction of defensive structures, after which he returns to Florence. In those days, he was so passionate about mathematics that he did not even want to think about picking up a brush. For 12 years, Leonardo has been moving from city to city all the time, works for the famous in Romagna, designs defensive structures (never built) for Piombino.

In Florence, he enters into a rivalry with Michelangelo; This rivalry culminated in the creation of huge battle compositions that the two artists wrote for Palazzo della Signoria (also Palazzo Vecchio). Then Leonardo conceived a second equestrian monument, which, like the first, was never created. Throughout all these years, he continues to fill out his notebooks. They reflect his ideas related to a variety of subjects. This is the theory and practice of painting, anatomy, mathematics and even the flight of birds. 1513 - as in 1499, his patrons are expelled from Milan ...

Leonardo leaves for Rome, where he spends 3 years under the auspices of the Medici. Depressed and distressed by the lack of material for anatomical research, he engages in experiments that lead to nothing.

The kings of France, first Louis XII, then Francis I, admired the works of the Italian Renaissance, especially Leonardo's Last Supper. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that in 1516 Francis I, well aware of the versatile talents of Leonardo, invited him to the court, which was then located in the castle of Amboise in the Loire Valley. As the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini wrote, despite the fact that the Florentine worked on the hydraulic projects and plans for the new royal palace, his main occupation is the honorary position of court sage and adviser.

Carried away by the idea of ​​creating an aircraft, the Florentine first developed the simplest aircraft (Daedalus and Icarus) based on wings. His new idea is an airplane with full control. But it was not possible to bring the idea to life due to the lack of a motor. Also the famous idea of ​​the scientist is a vertical take-off and landing apparatus.

Studying the laws of fluid and hydraulics in general, Leonardo made a great contribution to the theory of locks, sewer ports, testing ideas in practice.

Famous paintings by Leonardo - "La Gioconda", "The Last Supper", "Madonna with the Ermine", and many others. Leonardo was exacting and exacting in everything he did. Even before painting a picture, he insisted on a complete study of the object before starting.

Leonardo's manuscripts are priceless. They were fully published only in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his notes, Leonardo da Vinci noted not just reflections, but supplemented them with drawings, drawings, descriptions.

Leonardo da Vinci was talented in many fields, he made a significant contribution to the history of architecture, art, physics.

Died Leonardo da Vinci at Amboise on May 2, 1519; By this time, his paintings were usually dispersed in private collections, and the notes lay in different collections, almost in complete oblivion, for several more centuries.

Secrets of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci encrypted a lot so that his ideas were revealed gradually, as humanity could "mature" to them. He wrote with his left hand and in very small letters, from right to left, so that the text looked like a mirror image. He spoke in riddles, made metaphorical prophecies, loved to make puzzles. Leonardo da Vinci did not sign his works, but there are identification marks on them. For example, if you take a closer look at the paintings, you may find a symbolic bird flying up. As you can see, there are many such signs, because one or another of his hidden "offspring" are unexpectedly found on famous canvases, centuries later. So, for example, it was with "Madonna Benoit", which for a long time, as a home icon, was carried by itinerant actors.

The principle of scattering (or sfumato) was discovered by Leonard. The objects on his canvases do not have clear boundaries: everything, as in life, is blurry, penetrates one into another, which means it breathes, lives, awakens imagination. To master this principle, he advised to exercise: look at the spots that appear on the walls, ash, clouds or dirt that appear from dampness. He specially fumigated the room where he worked with smoke in order to look for images in clubs.

Thanks to the sfumato effect, a flickering smile of Gioconda appeared: depending on the focus of the gaze, the viewer seems that Gioconda smiles either tenderly or somehow ominously. The second miracle of "Mona Lisa" is that she is "alive". Over the centuries, her smile has changed, the corners of her lips rise higher. In the same way, the Master mixed the knowledge of various sciences, therefore his inventions find more and more applications over time. From the treatise on light and shadow, the beginnings of the sciences of penetrating force, vibrational motion, and wave propagation originate. All of his 120 books have spread around the world and are gradually being revealed to mankind.

Leonardo da Vinci preferred analogy to all others. The approximation of an analogy is an advantage over the accuracy of a syllogism, when a third inevitably follows from two inferences. But the more bizarre the analogy, the further the conclusions from it extend. Take, for example, the famous illustration of da Vinci, proving the proportionality of the human body. A human figure with outstretched arms and legs apart fits into a circle, and with closed legs and raised arms - into a square. This "mill" gave impetus to various conclusions. Leonardo was the only one who created projects of churches in which the altar is placed in the middle (symbolizing the navel of a person), and the worshipers are evenly around. This church plan in the form of an octahedron served as another invention of the genius - the ball bearing.

The Florentine loved to use counterpost, which creates the illusion of movement. Everyone who saw his sculpture of a giant horse in Corte Vecchio involuntarily changed their gait to a more relaxed one.

Leonardo was never in a hurry to finish a work, because incompleteness is an integral quality of life. To finish is to kill! The slowness of the Florentine was the talk of the town, he could make two or three strokes and leave the city for many days, for example, to improve the valleys of Lombardy or was engaged in the creation of an apparatus for walking on water. Almost every of his significant works is "unfinished". The master had a special composition, with the help of which he made “windows of unfinishedness” on a finished painting on purpose. As you can see, in this way he left a place where life itself could intervene and correct something ...

He played the lyre masterly. When Leonardo's case was heard in the Milan court, he figured there precisely as a musician, and not as an artist or inventor.

There is a version that Leonardo da Vinci was a homosexual. When the artist studied at Verrocchio's workshop, he was accused of molesting a boy who posed for him. The court acquitted him.

According to one version, Mona Lisa smiles at the realization of her secret pregnancy for all.

According to another, Mona Lisa is entertained by musicians and clowns while she posed for the artist.

There is another assumption, according to which, "Mona Lisa" is a self-portrait of Leonardo.

Leonardo da Vinci, apparently, did not leave a single self-portrait that could be unambiguously attributed to him. Experts doubt that the famous self-portrait of Leonardo's sanguine (traditionally dated 1512-1515), depicting him in old age, is such. It is believed that this is probably only a sketch of the head of the Apostle for The Last Supper. Doubts that this is a self-portrait of the artist began to be expressed in the 19th century, the latter was recently expressed by one of the greatest experts on Leonardo da Vinci, Professor Pietro Marani.

Scientists at the University of Amsterdam and American researchers, having studied the mysterious smile of Mona Lisa with the help of a new computer program, unraveled its composition: according to their data, it contains 83 percent of happiness, 9 percent of neglect, 6 percent of fear and 2 percent of anger.

Leonardo loved water: he developed instructions for scuba diving, he invented and described a diving device, a breathing apparatus for scuba diving. All the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci formed the basis of modern scuba equipment.

Leonardo was the first painter who began to dismember corpses in order to understand the location and structure of muscles.

Observations of the moon in the waxing crescent phase led the researcher to one of the important scientific discoveries - Leonardo da Vinci found that sunlight is reflected from our planet and returns to the moon in the form of secondary illumination.

The Florentine was ambidextrous - he was equally good at right and left hands. He suffered from dyslexia (impaired reading ability) - this ailment, called "verbal blindness", is associated with decreased brain activity in a certain area of ​​the left hemisphere. It is a well-known fact that Leonardo wrote in a mirror-like manner.

Relatively not so long ago, the Louvre spent 5.5 million dollars to outweigh the famous masterpiece of the artist "La Gioconda" from the general to a hall specially equipped for it. Two-thirds of the State Hall, covering a total area of ​​840 sq. M., Was allocated for the "La Gioconda". m. The huge room was rebuilt into a gallery, on the far wall of which now hangs the famous creation of the great Leonardo. The reconstruction, which was designed by the Peruvian architect Lorenzo Piqueras, lasted about 4 years. The decision to move the Mona Lisa to a separate room was made by the Louvre administration due to the fact that in the same place, surrounded by other paintings by Italian masters, this masterpiece was lost, and the public was forced to stand in line to see the famous painting.

2003, August - the painting of the great Leonardo worth 50 million dollars "Madonna of the Spindle" was stolen from the castle of Drumlanrig in Scotland. The masterpiece was stolen from the home of one of the richest landowners in Scotland, the Duke of Bucklew.

It is believed that Leonardo was a vegetarian (Andrea Corsali, in a letter to Giuliano di Lorenzo Medici, compares him to one Indian who did not eat meat). The phrase often attributed to Leonardo “If a person strives for freedom, why does he keep birds and animals in cages? .. Man is truly the king of beasts, because he cruelly exterminates them. We live by killing others. We are walking cemeteries! Even at an early age, I gave up meat "is taken from the English translation of Dmitry Merezhkovsky's novel" The Resurrected Gods. Leonardo da Vinci ".

Leonardo da Vinci created designs for a submarine, propeller, tank, loom, ball bearing and flying machines.

Building the canals, Leonardo made an observation that later entered geology under his name as a theoretical principle for recognizing the time of formation of earth layers. He came to the conclusion that our planet is much older than indicated in the Bible.

Da Vinci's hobbies even included cooking and the art of serving. In Milan, for thirteen years, he was the manager of the court feasts. He invented several culinary devices that facilitate the work of cooks. An original dish from Leonardo - a thinly sliced ​​stew with vegetables on top - was very popular at court feasts.

In the books of Terry Pratchett there is a character called Leonard, whose prototype was Leonardo da Vinci. Pratchett's Leonard writes from right to left, invents various machines, does alchemy, paints (the most famous is the portrait of Mona Yagg)

A considerable number of Leonardo's manuscripts were first published by the curator of the Ambrosian Library, Carlo Amoretti.

Italian scientists have made a statement about the sensational find. According to them, an early self-portrait of Leonardo was discovered. The discovery belongs to the journalist Piero Angela.