Leonardo Da VinciItalian Renaissance Artist (1452 - 1519)

Biography

Born: 15th of April, 1452 in Vinci, Italy

Died: 2nd of May, 1519 in Amboise, France

Da Vinci was a writer, a mathematician, an inventor, an engineer, as well as an artist. His most famous piece is also one of the most recognised and iconic artworks in all the world; The Mona Lisa (1503-1506).

Leonardo Da Vinci is known as the founding Father of many areas of work and study, however in the realm of art, the movement in which his founder status holds, is that of the Renaissance – and more specifically, the Italian Renaissance.

The Renaissance Period

The word renaissance means rebirth in French, and the period was named as such due to the wide changes in various aspects of society and cultures across Europe from roughly the 14th to the 17th

century.

These changes were reminiscent of the Ancient Greek and Roman art, architecture, literature, and intellect, so this was indeed a revival – a rebirth – of ways of life and thinking that had fallen out of fashion over time.

The Renaissance Period

The renaissance was a period that is categorised by…

• innovation

• imagination

• creativity

This caused a shift in dominance.

Who’s dominance in society was challenged, and why did this challenge them?

The Renaissance Period

Although this period brought about a lot of change in areas of architecture, literature, philosophy and science, we will focus specifically on art.

Unlike the artists styles of the earlier Middle Ages, which had a heavy focus on symbolism as opposed to reality, renaissance art focused on achieving realism.

This mean focusing the correct perspective, human anatomy, the play and interaction of light and shadows, the depiction of landscapes, most of which can all be accredited to the studies of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Biography

Please click the link below to watch a video on

Leonardo Da Vinci’s biography.

http://www.biography.com/people/leonardo-da-vinci-

40396#awesm=~oBuSQBHHqSfvZo

Practice

What is practice?

Artist practice refers to the way in which an artist

goes about making and creating their artworks. This

includes their influences, ideas, materials, tools,

skills, processes, and procedures.

Da Vinci’s Practice

Skills learnt under Andrea Di CioneVerrocchio:

Leonardo Da Vinci was exposed to a vast range of technical skills and had the opportunity to learn drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics, and carpentry, as well as artistic skills such as

• Drawing

• Painting

• Sculpting

• Modelling

Da Vinci’s Practice

Preliminary Drawings:

Da Vinci used preliminary drawings to plan his

paintings, study anatomy, and also create blue prints

and designs.

Da Vinci’s Practice

Sfumato – meaning ‘smoky’:

Da Vinci used this technique in his paintings, which was a style of depicting tone or light and shadow. It created a highly realistic impression of light, although with a hint of dream-like fantasy.

“Light and shade should blend without lines or borders in the manner of smoke.”

~ Leonardo Da Vinci

Da Vinci’s Practice

Sfumato – meaning ‘smoky’:

Please click the link below to view a video of a

scene from Assassin’s Creed (which actually

includes Leonardo Da Vinci as a character) includes

sfumato in the design of the lighting of the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ulU7oQrIQA

Da Vinci’s Works

The Mona Lisa (1503-1506). Oil on

Lombardy poplar panel (77 x 53

cm).

Thought to be Lisa Gherardini, wife

of Florentine cloth merchant,

Francesco del Giocondo.

The work did not originally go to it’s

commissioner after it’s completion,

and was only returned to Italy when

Da Vinci left for France years later.

Da Vinci’s Works

Click on the link below

to look at the work in

closer detail.

http://musee.louvre.fr/oa

l/joconde/indexEN.html

Da Vinci’s Works

The Virgin of the Rocks (1483 -1486). Wood, transferred to canvas in 1806 by Jean-Louis Hacquin (1.99 x 1.22m).

The most convincing hypothesis is that the picture, painted between 1483 and 1486, did not meet with Leonardo’s clients’ full satisfaction, which enabled Louis XII to acquire it around 1500 -1503. The second, replacement picture, now in London, may have been painted by Ambrogio de Predis under Leonardo’s supervision between 1495 and 1508.

Da Vinci’s Works

Click on the link below to view

some details on the history of

this particular work, as well as

how the original commission

might have been displayed.

http://www.italian-renaissance-

art.com/Virgin-of-the-

Rocks.html

HOMEWORK: Students must select one Da

Vinci artwork and analyse it using the

Frames.