Leonardo da Vinci1452 to 1519

1452 to 1519

What people say about da Vinci• The most talented person ever to have lived.• One of the greatest minds in history.• The embodiment of the Renaissance man• A man before his time.• One of the most versatile geniuses in history.• His curiosity makes him a symbol of the

Renaissance spirit.• His mind and personality seem to us

superhuman.

Da Vinci’s talents

• Painter• Musician• Sculptor• Architect• Musician• Engineer• Mathematician• inventor

• Anatomist• Geologist• Botanist• Writer

Early Life

• Born in Vinci, near Florence in 1452.• Born out of wedlock to a lawyer father and a

peasant (illegitimate)• His real is name is Lionardo di ser Piero da

Vinci (Leonardo son of Piero from Vinci)• Very little is known of his early life.• At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a

Florentine painter Verrocchio

Apprenticeship to Verrocchio

• Da Vinci worked with his master on his painting of the Baptism of Christ.

• It was said that his contribution was so superior to his master’s that Verrocchio put down his brush and never painted again.

• By 1472 aged 20 da Vinci qualified as a master in the guild of artists in Florence.

Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ

Da Vinci’s contribution to his master’s painting

Adoration of the Magi

The Mona Lisa

30 inches tall and 20 inches wide.

Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris

The Last SupperLeonardo chose to capture the moment just after Christ tells his apostles that one of them will betray him, and at the institution of the Eucharist. The effect of his statement causes a visible response, in the form of a wave of emotion among the apostles.

The Virgin of the Rocks

The Virgin and Child with St Anne and John the Baptist

Vitruvian Man

Self Portrait

John the Baptist

Madonna Litta

Head of a Woman

Leonardo’s notebooks• Written in mirror writing.• Books record his fascination with nature and his

genius for invention.• In many places the pen seems to race along,

struggling to keep up with the pace of his mind.• Most of the notebooks are housed in museums

around the world• http://

www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Arundel_MS_263

• Bill Gates bought one of his notebooks for $30.8 million in 1994 – the most expensive book ever.

• Leonardo’s Mirror Writing

Da Vinci – anatomical drawings

Da Vinci - Inventions

helicopter

parachute

tank