Leonardo Da Vinci

Julien LEBLANC

History of Western civilization

330­910­LF gr. 40016

Leonardo Da Vinci

Impact on Western civilization

Work handed to  

Ms. Laurence MESSIER

Department of social sciences Collège Laflèche

April 20th, 2017

TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................3

1. HIS HISTORICAL CONTEXT........................................................................3

1. Florence, Italy in the 15th century................................................................3
2. Milan, Italy and the Sforza family...............................................................3
3. France and the Renaissance.........................................................................4

1. BIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................4

1. Early age (0- 21 years old)......................................................................4-5
2. Middle age (22-44 years old).....................................................................5
3. Last period of his life (45-67 years old).....................................................6

1. ACHIEVEMENTS............................................................................................6

1. Scientific observations............................................................................6-7
2. Inventions...................................................................................................7
3. Paintings and sculptures.............................................................................7

CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................8

BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................9

GRADING SHEET...............................................................................................10

      Leonardo da Vinci was a renaissance artist, engineer, architect and he also had many other interests. This universal genius was born in a small city of Italy named Vinci from a marriage between a legal notary and a peasant woman. His unquenchable curiosity has led him to incredible inventions that now are part of the huge legacy he left to the modern world. Even today, almost 500 years after his death, Leonardo da Vinci still has an influence on modern western civilization. Whether it is for his advanced engineering knowledges, his paintings, his inventions or his scientific observations.

1. His historical context

1. Florence, Italy in the 15th century

1.    Early renaissance, Florence is a city-state and it has its own government, it’s ruled by middle-class merchants and wealthy families with important art patrons for example the Medici.
2.    Renaissance began because of accumulation of wealth in the middle and upper class, people have more time and money to spend on art, one of his major work in Florence while he was young is ‘’The annunciation’’.
3.    ‘’Florence saw itself as the ideal city, a place where the freedom of the individual was guaranteed’’ that led to the important movement of humanism and individualism, Leonardo da Vinci was part of the best renaissance humanists.^[1]

1. Milan, Italy and the Sforza family

1.    ‘’In the early 15th century, Milan was still a city focused on war and conquering Florence’’, many dukes tried to conquer Florence but failed because of different issues, Ex: Duke of Milan died of the plague in 1402.^[2]
2.    ‘’In 1450, the Sforza family took over Milan and brought peace to leave place for new ideas and art of the Renaissance’’, Leonardo was asked, by Ludovico Sforza, to work with Donato Bramante on the court of Milan which became among the most splendid court of Europe.^[3]
3.    Milan was losing a lot of people due to the plague, Leonardo proposed several concepts to reduce the losses caused by the plague, he proposed an ‘’ideal city’’ which would be more sanitary and have intelligent features like road system with drainage.^[4]

1. France and the Renaissance

1.    Renaissance started in the late 15th century in France, ‘’the Black Death of the 14th century and the ‘’Hundred years’ war’’ kept France economically and politically weak until the late 15th century’’.^[5]
2.    Francois I was the king of France at the beginning of the 16th century. He was a cultured and intelligent monarch and like to have major artists among his relatives that led to an important rise of the art interest in France, before having Leonardo next to him he already had had Giovanni Giocondo and Andrea Solario.^[6]
3.    ‘’The reign of Francis I and his son Henry II, is considered the apex of the French Renaissance’’.^[7] Francois I not only loved the art, he also encouraged the building of fine Renaissance buildings in his cities. For example, the ‘’Royal Chateau’’ in Chambord is a master piece and one of the most beautiful castle. It was designed by Pietro da Cortona but Leonardo helped him.

1. Biography

1. Early age (0- 21 years old)

1.    He was born April 15 in 1452, born from a marriage between a notary father and a peasant mother, he was raise by his father and his stepmothers. At the age of 5, he lived in Vinci with his uncle and grand parents. Has a kid he was really attracted by the nature, by the sense of contemplation but mostly by animals.^[8]
2.    His first education was received in Vinci, ‘’he received little formal education beyond basic reading, writing and mathematics instructions’’.^[9] In 1467, he was 15 years old and he entered as an apprentice in the studio of the famous sculptor and painter Andrea Del Verrocchio in Florence. One of his major work with Verrocchio is ‘’The Baptism of Christ’’ around 1470.^[10]

1.    At the age of 20, he was still Verrocchio’s student in Florence, but he began to paint more. He is recorded in the Red Book of the company of Saint Luc. His career as a painter began with remarkable works such as “The Virgin with the Carnation” and “The Annunciation”.^[11]

1. Middle age (22-44 years old)

1.    In 1478, Leonardo continue his learning and at the age of 26 he quits his master because he had brilliantly surpassed this one in all disciplines. He decided to open his own bottega in Florence, where he received commissions from the greatest figure of his time. The monastery of San Donato asked him ‘’the Adoration of the Magi’’, but Leonardo, annoyed not to be chosen by Pope Sixtus IV for the decoration of the Sixtine Chapel of the Vatican instead of Michelangelo, will never finish this painting.^[12]
2.    When he was 24 years old, da Vinci was arrested along with several other men for sodomy, the charges were dropped due to lack of witness and after that he decided to quit Florence. He then left to go to Milan to work for the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza. The artist invents theater machines which amazed the public, he paints several portraits of the Milanese court and started studies to make the canal of the Martesana navigable^[13].
3.    At the age of 31 he was still painting masterpieces like ‘’ The Virgin with the Rocks ‘’ but he also thinks about technical and military projects, he improves clocks, cranes and was studying architecture for urban planning. In 1490, he created the Leonardo da Vinci academy where he will teach during a few years his knowledge while noting his research in small treatises.^[14]

1. Last period of his life (45-67 years old)

1.    After the fall of the Sforza power in Milan he left for Venice and lived there for 2 years. While in Venice, he ‘’thought of a way to protect from ships attack by sending men underwater with diving suits’’, that led to the modern invention of the diving suits.^[15]
2.    After his time in Venice, he also did a short time in Florence and he was received as a great man. ‘’Florentine painters of the generation followed Leonardo were excited by his modern methods’’, it is during that period that he will produce the most, “The Mona Lisa”, “Leda and the Swan” and “the Battle of Anghiari” are among his major works.^[16]
3.    In 1506, he was called in Milan by the king of France, he quickly became under his protection, Francis I, who named him first painter, architect, and engineer of the King. Leonardo will stay in a castle near the king to serve him till his death on May 2nd 1519.^[17]

1. Achievements

1. Scientific observations

1.    Anatomy, Leonardo made several important discoveries in human anatomy, ‘’he wrote a treatise on anatomy in which he made more than 200 drawings, he was the first to describe the double S form of the backbone and first to draw the scientific representation of the fetus in the intra-utero.’’^[18]
2.    Hydraulics, he studied on water, was interested in water irrigations in all its aspects and in hydraulics, he creates an hydraulics water pump which was considered irrational at that time.^[19]
3.    Friction, Leonardo described the process of governing friction predating Guillaume Amontons and the Amontons's Laws of Friction by 150 years.^[20]

1. Inventions

1.    Aviation, he did air flight study and designed a flying machine built from the movement of a bird's wings and its silhouette but it will fail it’s first flight test.^[21]
2.    Engineer, he designed a ‘’self-propelled cart, the first self-propelled machine in history and so considered as one of the ancestor of the modern automobile’’.^[22] He didn't receive deserved credit for many of his inventions like the strut bridge, the rolling mill, the automated bobbin winder. ^[23]
3.    Architecture, he laid out how geometry could be used as a basis of stability in a structure and his insight in the construction of domes were inspirations for important modern buildings like the Madison Square Garden.

1. Paintings and sculptures

1.    The “Mona Lisa”, in 1503 he painted his most famous painting.^[24] Even though he was never completely satisfied with his work he was very attached to it and never delivered it to it’s commissioner. It was his attempt to excellence.^[25]
2.    The “Last Supper” was painted in 1498 and it’s the most reproduced religious painting in the world.^[26] It was very significant for the Christians because the painting of Leonardo helps better understanding of an important event like this.^[27]
3.    The “Virgin of the rocks”, in 1483, he started another famous painting of his that he painted for the San Francesco Grande chapel. It is considered one of his greatest works for its style and extraordinary detailing.^[28]

      Leonardo's paintings have revolutionized the way art is perceived and he paved the way for other great painter like Picasso by seeing art as a form of communication and expression. But we saw that he was more than just a painter, the Renaissance man and his love for perfection has increased the inspiration for quality in every aspect of life. During his eventful life, he has work a lot to leave one of the most significant legacy. ‘’Leonardo lived during a great age of human cultural development which allowed him to achieve a lot’’.^[29] We can only imagine as to what he may have achieved if he had been born in more modern times or opposite during a more restricted era.

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