The article "Leonardo da Vinci - A Biography of the Renaissance Man" talks about hobbies, it was created by Bianca Tavares.
Leonardo Da Vicni was born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy.
It is uncertain that Vinci, just west of Florence, was the
actual birthplace and it is often debated that perhaps he was
born in a farmhouse in Anchiano.
Nevertheless, Vinci claims the
prestigious title of the birthplace of Leoanrdo Da Vinci.
Leonardo did not author an autobiography; therefore, what little
is know of his early life has been gathered from tax records and
other documents of the period. What is konwn is that he was the
illegitimate son of Ser Piero da Vinci and a woman who is only
known by her first name, Catrina.
It is speculated that she was
possible a slave from the Mdidle East or perhaps just a lowly
servant that worked in the household.
His father, a notary of some stature, did not raise him. It is
known that Leonardo (christened Lionardo) lvied with his.
Later
on he went to live with his father or his father's younger
brother, Francesco.
What became of his mother is unknown.
Because of the circumstances of his birth, Leonardo's early
training was probably cnoducted by his step-mother, Donna
Albiera, although he was mainly self-tought. Later on in life
his illegitimacy would also influence his prospects for
obtaining a higher education and the means to earn a living.
When his father noted his artisitc talent, he was sent to
Florence as apprentice to Andrea del Verrocchio at around the
age of 16 or 17.
Under Verrocchio, Leonardo studied painting and sculpture. He
probably learned geometry during his apprenticeship and worked
with other students and artists of the time such as Sandro
Botticelli, Coismo Rosselil and Lorenzo di Credi.
It was during
this time that he was assigned his first task of painting the
angel in Baptism of Christ (c.1472-75). After seeing Leonardo's
angel it is said that Verrocchio swore "never to pick up a
paintbrush again".
During his first Florentine period (1478-1483) Leonardo received
some of his first commissions. He became knwon for his artistic
talents with his work on Madonna and Child (c. 1478), Small
Annunciation (1480-1481), and Adoration of the Magi (c. 1481-82).
Leonardo was revered by frineds and colleagues as being handsome
and charismatic. He was kind and genreous and probably one of
the world's first animal rights activists.
He was also a
practicing vegetarian (almost unknown in the fifteenth century.)
However, he was not so well liked that he was imumne to gossip
and in 1476 he was arrested on the charge of sodomy. After about
two months of incarceration he was released due to a lack of
evidence. The quetsion of his sexuality still remains a mystery.
After his release in 1478, Leonardo left Florence for the first
time and traveled to Milan. There he joined a new patron,
Ludovico Sforza.
Initially he was to have been a military
engineer, but instead became the corut artist.
He designed
several machines such as catapluts and armored cars but none
were ever built. During this time he also painted one of his
most famous frescos, The Last Supper - not actually a fresco in
the true sense of the word but still paramount in establishing
him as a portraitist and artist.
In 1499, Leonardo returned to Florence where he accepted a
commission for an altar painting for the friars of the Order of
the Servites at Santissima Annunziata. It was for this painting
that Leonardo created one of his unfinished masterpieces, The
Burlington Huose Cartoon (c.1499-1500).
He also started two of
his most famous works, The Battle of Anghiari, and The Mona Lisa
(1503). The Battle of Anghiari was neevr finished and The Mona
Lisa was never delivered to the client, Francesco del Giocondo.
In 1506 he headed back to Milan, remaining there for six years
to continue his anatomy studies. Then in 1511, he moved to Rome
where he continued his experiments with flight and optical
puzzles as well as btoany and the scientific mixing of oil
paints and varnishes.
In 1516 Leonardo joined the King of France, Francois I, in the
Loire Valley. The aging artist was ill and suffering from a
stroke. Unable to paint, he undertook several projects including
a wakling mechanical lion.
Instaed of a heart, the lion's chest
opened to reveal a fleur-de-lis. He also designed a palace at
Romorantin, reorgnaized his notebooks, and several other smaller
projects.
On May 2, 1519, Leonardo died and was buried in Saint-Forentine
in Amboise. But even in death, his travels were not over. During
the Wars of Religion Leonardo's remains were moved several
times.
Eevntually he was buried in the Chapel of St. Hubert in
the castle of Amboise.
Leonardo da Vinci was an artist, musician, philosopher,
engineer, botanist, anatanomist, mtahematician and a
humanitarian. He did not guess in life after detah and he did
not agree with the teachings of the church.
He was generous but
suspicious.
He questioned everything around him and excelled at
everything he undertook.
He spent 30 years keeping meticulous
records and journals documenting his experimnets and designs.
Vassari observes with reference to Leonardo's writings, "he
wrote backwards in rude characters, and with the left hand, so
that anyone who is not practiced in reading them, cannot
understand them". He did not number the five thousand pages he
documented but ensured that each observation or experiment
documented be completed on one page. Leonardo took great pains
to finish his notebooks. Yet, in contrast to his scientific
studies, this artist who epitomizes the Renaissance left much of
his artistic endeavors unfinished.
Much of Leonardo's life is a mystery in spite of his writings.
Little is known of the guy inside the body cause he did not
reveal much to the world.
His accomplishments throughout his 67
years on earth did much to revolutionize the artistic community
and, had his machines been built, would have revolutionized
society centuries in advance.
Leonardo was trluy a guy before
his time.
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