leonardo da vinci -...

Updated March 25, 2016

Leonardo da Vinci 1452 – 1519

High Renaissance

In the vertical art storage rack you will find the following reproduction and posters: Large reproductions: Mona Lisa (1503–06) Small reproductions (in binder): The Lady with an Ermine (1483), Sketches of Flying Machines Posters: The Art Elements & Principles posters to use in the discussion In the black cabinet you will find a white binder with a copy of this presentation and several 8.5 x 11 prints of the other works referenced in this presentation.

Leonardo da Vinci

Art in the Classroom North Stratfield School

Personal Information Name: Leonardo da Vinci Nationality: Italian Born: 1452 in a village near the small town of Vinci (near Florence, Italy) Died: 1519 in Amboise, France, at the age of 67 Family: Leonardo never married during his lifetime. Professional Information

Type of artist: Painter, sculptor, inventor, scientist and mathematician Style: Leonardo used deep shadows to make things look three-dimensional. He did

not use outlines. In his work he would often start with the dark and let the light enter the picture.

Artistic Credo: Leonardo once said, “The most praiseworthy form of painting is the one that

most resembles what it imitates.” Leonardo recognized that one way to paint scenes realistically was to observe with great care how animals, people, and landscapes really looked. His amazing powers of observation and skill as an illustrator enabled him to notice and recreate the effects he saw in nature, and added a special liveliness to his portraits.

Artist Background The young Leonardo received a standard education for the time period, but always showed a great talent for painting. It is said that his father first noticed Leonardo’s artistic talents when he decorated a painting of a dragon. It was so realistic it scared his father! Historians call the period we live in today Modern Times. Modern Times began with the Renaissance, one of the rare periods of genius in world history. It began in Italy during the 14th century and reached its height in the 15th century. The word “Renaissance” means “rebirth”. It refers to man’s rediscovery in writing, literature, religion, and especially art. During this awakening was the development of the fine arts. After centuries of stiff symbolic representation, artists began again to study nature and the living model. New ideas of grace, harmony and beauty were gained during this period. This was a period of divine genius. All rules and formulas were abandoned so the artists’ individualism could be seen in their works. When we think of the Renaissance three names come to mind: Michelangelo, Raphael and da Vinci. Definition: The High Renaissance was traditionally viewed as a great explosion of creative genius. Paintings often were described as having harmony in their design and technique. This means that everything the artist included worked together and looked beautiful. Artists enjoyed creating serene moods and using luminous colors in their paintings. Interestingly you will also note that they tended to exaggerate the arms, fingers and necks of their subjects.

Leonardo da Vinci


The term “Renaissance Man” was coined to describe Leonardo da Vinci. He was a man of so many accomplishments. Many people know Leonardo for his painting of La Gioconda, or more commonly known as the Mona Lisa, and for his capture of the Last Supper painted on the walls of the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan, Italy. These paintings alone would ensure his fame as an artist, but it should also be known that he was a great sculptor, architect, and a man of science. Three hundred years before flying machines were perfected, Leonardo sketched prototypes of an airplane and a helicopter. Leonardo was born in 1452 on his family’s estate at Vinci, near Florence. When Leonardo was 15 his father saw his talent and was apprenticed to artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. Here he studied painting, sculpture and mechanical arts. He was accepted into the artist guild in 1472 and would remain in the city for the next 10 years. The duke of Milan first commissioned him and kept Leonardo very busy. During his 17 years in Milan, Leonardo completed six paintings; two portraits, the Last Supper, two versions of the Virgin on the Rocks and a ceiling painting. In early 1500 Leonardo returned to Florence. He was commissioned to do a number of paintings. His most notable work to come out of this period was the Mona Lisa. It is now in the Louvre in Paris. During the years of 1513 to 1516, Leonardo was in Rome. He lived with Cardinal Giuliano de ‘Medici, brother of Pope Leo X. Some of the greatest artists of the time were working for the church, but Leonardo was not kept busy. So at the age of 65 he accepted the invitation from the King of France to leave Italy and work for him. Here he worked on some sketches and the study of anatomy. On May 2, 1519, Leonardo died and was buried in the palace church. Artistic Persona

Only 17 of the paintings that have survived can definitely be attributed to Leonardo, and not all of them are finished. Yet he is still considered one of the greatest painters of all time. He excelled in inventiveness, technique, drawing ability, use of light, shadow and color. Leonardo had great control of light and shade. In his work he would often start with the dark and let the light enter the picture. It is believed Leonardo developed something called “aerial perspective”. The artist noticed that the colors of hills, buildings, and trees change in a measurable way according to how far away they are. Normally they become more light and cool (or bluish) in tone the closer they are to the horizon. This observation has been used by artists ever since to produce the effect of distance. Much of Leonardo’s work represents the Renaissance. All the old rules were thrown out and the artist was allowed to express himself. Pictures were given life. The forms were more naturalistic; symbolism was ignored so that reality could be shown. Static pictures were no more, and artists gave movement and life to their work. What distinguished Leonardo’s painting was his ability to make everything look solid and three-dimensional. He managed this through close examination of

Leonardo da Vinci


shadow and careful use of color. He could make the human body look rounded and solid by showing how light and shadow fall on faces, limbs and clothes. Leonardo was famous for his “sfumato” landscapes. Definition: Sfumato means hazy or smoky in Italian. Many of his paintings contain a rich and intense foreground, with a distant landscape fading away in a blue haze in the dreamy distance. One of the greatest things Leonardo left would be his notebooks. There are four volumes: the science of painting, architecture, mechanics and anatomy. Leonardo produced countless drawings of architecture, plants, people, anatomy, mechanics, mathematics – just about anything he found interesting. Some of these are hasty sketches, others are very detailed illustrations. An interesting fact about Leonardo was his use of “mirror writing”. Leonardo was left-handed. In the days of writing with pen and ink this was a disadvantage: as you pushed the pen forward your hand would trail over the fresh ink. Leonardo had a better idea. He wrote back to front, from right to left. His writing is “mirror writing”; it is like ordinary writing held up to a mirror.

Featured Artwork

Mona Lisa (1503–06) (Oil on wood, 30 x 20 7/8 in) The Mona Lisa, also called La Gioconda, is one of the most famous paintings in the world. It is a portrait of rich silk merchant’s wife. Leonardo’s imagination has transformed this woman into a symbol of womanhood in general. The Mona Lisa is all the more intriguing for this reason as the subject was not royalty but the wife of a merchant, who is thought to have commissioned the painting, although he never received it. This picture must have been important to Leonardo, because he took it all the way to France with him. Although the portrait is now cracked and faded, it was originally painted so delicately you could see every eyelash. Leonardo extended the picture past the waist, which had never been done before. There is a triangular shape to her body and she seems to loom over the landscape. The landscape is very

mysterious, and the curves in the landscape are repeated in her body. This brings animation into the picture. The smiling eyes are made more fascinating with the jagged skyline that disappears behind her eye level. Even the horizontal lines of the lake to the right lead you right back to her eyes. Everyone who looks at this painting has tried to understand the secrets of her expression and her soft smile. It is like Leonardo’s thoughts are written in the lines and warm colors of the painting. Her gaze suggests to us that she is willing to accept all mankind. Her mouth, with its full lips and inward

Leonardo da Vinci


smile, continues the questioning in her eyes. She is dressed very plain, yet with her posture erect she conveys a sense of royalty. General Discussion: • What do you think Mona Lisa was like? (Young or old? Shy or bold? Loud or quiet? Etc. She is

estimated to be about 16 years old at the time the portrait was done) • Do you think you would have liked her? Why or why not? • Which part of her face seems most expressive? (eyes, mouth) • What is in the background of the portrait? (mountains, water, rocks) • How does the background affect the painting? (hazy background gives a sense of illusion or

mystery) • Why do you think da Vinci chose this background? (for its mystical quality – adds to the mystery

of her eyes and smile) • Have you ever had your picture taken or painted? • What would you choose to wear if you were having your portrait done? Why? • Why do you think a person has his or her portrait done? • What would you want in the background to say something special about you?

Talking about the Elements of Art in this Portrait Color:

• Are the colors in the painting warm or cool (cool – black, brown, green) • Are the colors crisp or muted? (muted) • How does this choice of colors affect the picture? (makes it mysterious)

Light:

• Is the overall picture light or dark? (dark) • Where does the light appear to come from? (from within Mona Lisa) • What does this draw your attention to? (her face)

Shape:

• What shapes do you see in this picture? (circle-face, triangles-mountains) • Are they free-form or geometric (geometric)

Line:

• Are the lines clean and crisp or blended? (blended) Texture:

• Where do you see texture in this picture (the falling of her hair, the folds of her dress, the muted background)

• What do all of these things have in common (a feeling of softness) Space:

Leonardo da Vinci


• How does da Vinci’s use of light, combined with the muted background, affect space in the picture? (it makes Mona Lisa appear to move toward the viewer and away from the picture)

The Lady with an Ermine (1483) (Oil on wood) Show: Small reproduction in binder This painting is one of only four portraits of women painted by Leonardo, one other being the Mona Lisa. At the time when Leonardo was painting, it was unusual for figures to be painted with extreme contrast of light and shade. Ask: Does anyone know what contrast is? (darkness and light working together in a painting. In particular to bring attention to what the artist feels are the most important parts of the painting) Faces, in particular, were shadowed in a manner that was bland and maintained all the features and contours clearly visible.

Leonardo did something different and set the figure diagonally to the picture space and turns her head so that her face is almost parallel to her nearer shoulder. Ask: What letter does this look like? (An “S” – top of her head curves around and her hair leads to her shoulder and down to the arm of her gown. The curve of the Emine’s body ends the letter). The back of her head and the further shoulder are deeply shadowed. The painting shows a half-length figure, the body of a woman turned at a three-quarter angle toward her right, but her face turned toward her left. Her gaze is directed neither straight ahead, nor toward the viewer, but toward a "third party" beyond the picture's frame. In her arms, Gallerani holds a small white-coated stoat, known as an ermine. Ask: what animal does the stoat look like? (Weasel. The name ermine is often, but not always, used for the animal in its pure white winter coat. The ermine was a traditional symbol of purity because it was believed an ermine would rather face death rather than soil its pretty white coat.) Gallerani's dress is comparatively simple, revealing that she is not a noblewoman. Her coiffure, or hairstyle, is known as a coazone, confines her hair smoothly to her head with two bands of hair bound on either side of her face and a long plait at the back. Her hair is held in place by a fine gauze veil with a woven border of gold-wound threads, a black band, and a sheath over the plait. General Discussion: • How is this portrait similar to the Mona Lisa? • How is this portrait different from the Mona Lisa?

Leonardo da Vinci


Leonardo the Inventor (Notebook sketches of Flying Machines) Show: Small reproductions in binder Leonardo possessed a genius which went far beyond simply being a remarkable artist. He was, perhaps, the first European interested in a practical solution to flight. Leonardo designed a multitude of mechanical devices, including parachutes, and studied the flight of birds as well as their structure. About 1485 he drew detailed plans for a human-powered ornithopter (a wing-flapping device intended to fly). There is no evidence that he actually attempted to build such a device, although the image he presented was a powerful one. The notion of a human-powered mechanical flight device, patterned after birds or bats, recurred again and again over the next four centuries.

General Discussion: • What do you thing Leonardo was thinking that these inventions would do? (Helicopter, plane) • Do you think nature inspired Leonardo’s inventions? (Animals: birds, bats) • Do you think he could have imagined that in the future we live in, that his drawings would be so

accurate?

Leonardo da Vinci


Resources What Makes a Leonardo a Leonardo, Richard Muhlberger, Viking, 1994 Famous Artists, Leonardo da Vinci, Anthony Mason, Barron’s, 1994 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_inventions_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_with_an_Ermine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Renaissance http://www.flyingmachines.org/davi.html

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