A portait of Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a genius who’s talents overpowered all of those around him. He was a great artist, philosopher, engineer and scientist. Most people know him for his art, but of true value was his science. To him, his astonishingly painted works of art were nothing to his preoccupation with Nature, and how she worked. Da Vinci was born in 1452, to Piero da Vinci, in the town of Vinci, Italy. As the period he was born in was the Renaissance, a tutor struggled to teach him Latin, how to read and write, philosophy, basic sums and accepted science theory. Leonardo disliked schoolrooms, instead preferring the outdoors. When he was fifteen, his father apprenticed him to Bonacci, a renowned artist of the times, and he began to study and invent, meeting philosophies of the New and Old schools. At twenty-five, he tried to become an engineer, and created dozens of variations on siege weapons, new methods of pouring oil for maximum effect to get the job. Sadly, he was refused. Da Vinci kept food in his mouth by painting, but he was often beset by curiosity, and then he would drop everything to study his new passion. He became interested in light, and wrote a treatise on it, declaring it to be composed of primary colors (true) and several other theories. Leonardo had 100’s of works compiled, over 4200 pages of notes, he always intended to have them written in book form, but he never got around to it. His later-life accomplishments include light, sound, air, hearing, water, optics, anatomy, astronomy, speech, gradients, pigments, mechanics, engineering, architecture, astronomy, and he discovered steam power. He created many inventions, so many brilliant ideas, and much art. Leonardo died in 1519, thinking he had left no mark on the world.
A famous painting done by Leonardo Da Vinci named the Mona Lisa. A virtuvian man, by Leonardo Da Vinci.
A virtuvian man, by Leonardo Da Vinci.