Leonardo da Vinci in recent years. Where Leonardo da Vinci was born: the life path of the great Italian

Leonardo da Vinci was born in the town of Vinci (or near it), located west of Florence, on April 15, 1452. He was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl, was brought up in his father's house and, being the son educated person received a thorough primary education.

1467 - at the age of 15, Leonardo went as an apprentice to one of the leading masters Early Renaissance in Florence, Andrea del Verocchio; 1472 - joined the guild of artists, studied the basics of drawing and other necessary disciplines; 1476 - so he worked in the workshop of Verrocchio, apparently in collaboration with the master himself.

By 1480, Leonardo already had large orders, but after 2 years he moved to Milan. In a letter to the ruler of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, he presented himself as an engineer, military expert and artist. The years he spent in Milan were filled with various pursuits. Leonardo da Vinci painted several paintings and famous fresco « The Last Supper and began diligently and seriously to keep his notes. The Leonardo whom we recognize from his notes is a design architect (creator of innovative plans that were never carried out), an anatomist, a hydraulician, an inventor of mechanisms, a designer of scenery for court performances, a writer of riddles, puzzles and fables for the entertainment of the court, musician and art theorist.

1499 - after the expulsion of Lodovico Sforza from Milan by the French, Leonardo leaves for Venice, visits Mantua along the way, where he participates in the construction of defensive structures, then returns to Florence. In those days, he was so fascinated by mathematics that he did not want to think about picking up a brush. For 12 years, Leonardo constantly moved from city to city, working for the famous in Romagna, designing defensive structures (never built) for Piombino.

In Florence he enters into a rivalry with Michelangelo; this rivalry culminated in the huge battle compositions that the two artists painted for the Palazzo della Signoria (also Palazzo Vecchio). Then Leonardo conceived a second equestrian monument, which, like the first, was never created. Throughout all these years, he continues to fill out his notebooks. They reflect his ideas relating to a variety of subjects. This is the theory and practice of painting, anatomy, mathematics and even the flight of birds. 1513 - as in 1499, his patrons are expelled from Milan ...

Leonardo leaves for Rome, where he spends 3 years under the auspices of the Medici. Depressed and distressed by the lack of material for anatomical research, he engages in experiments that lead nowhere.

The kings of France, first Louis XII, then Francis I, admired the works of the Italian Renaissance, especially Leonardo's The Last Supper. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that in 1516, Francis I, well aware of the versatile talents of Leonardo, invites him to the court, which was then located in the Amboise castle in the Loire Valley. As the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini wrote, despite the fact that the Florentine worked on hydraulic projects and plans for a new royal palace, his main occupation is the honorary position of court sage and adviser.

Fascinated by the idea of ​​creating an aircraft, the Florentine initially developed the simplest apparatus (Dedalus and Icarus) based on wings. His new idea is an airplane with full control. But it was not possible to bring the idea to life due to the lack of a motor. Also, the famous idea of ​​​​the scientist is a device with vertical takeoff and landing.

Studying the laws of fluids and hydraulics in general, Leonardo made a great contribution to the theory of locks, sewer ports, testing ideas in practice.

Famous paintings by Leonardo - "Gioconda", "Last Supper", "Madonna with an Ermine", and many others. Leonardo was demanding and precise in everything he did. Even before painting, he insisted on a complete study of the object before starting.

Leonardo's manuscripts are priceless. They were fully published only in the XIX-XX centuries. In his notes, Leonardo da Vinci noted not just reflections, but supplemented them with drawings, drawings, and descriptions.

Leonardo da Vinci was talented in many areas, he made a significant contribution to the history of architecture, art, and physics.

Leonardo da Vinci died in Amboise on May 2, 1519; his paintings by this time were usually distributed to private collections, and the notes lay in various collections, almost in complete oblivion, for several more centuries.

Secrets of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci encrypted a lot so that his ideas would be revealed gradually, as humanity could “ripen” to them. He wrote with his left hand and in very small letters, from right to left, so that the text looked as if in a mirror image. He spoke in riddles, made metaphorical prophecies, and liked to compose puzzles. Leonardo da Vinci did not sign his works, but they have identification marks. For example, if you take a closer look at the paintings, you can find a symbolic bird taking off. Apparently, there are a lot of such signs, therefore one or another of his hidden "brainchildren" are unexpectedly found on famous canvases, through the centuries. So, for example, it was with the Benois Madonna, which for a long time, as a home icon, itinerant actors carried with them.

Leonard discovered the scattering principle (or sfumato). The objects on his canvases have no clear boundaries: everything, as in life, is blurry, penetrates one into another, which means it breathes, lives, awakens fantasy. To master this principle, he advised to practice: look at the stains on the walls that appear from dampness, ashes, clouds or dirt. He deliberately smoked the room where he worked in order to look for images in clubs.

Thanks to the sfumato effect, a flickering smile of the Gioconda appeared: depending on the focus of the gaze, it seems to the viewer that the Gioconda smiles either gently, or, as it were, ominously. The second miracle of the "Mona Lisa" is that she is "alive". Over the centuries, her smile changes, the corners of her lips rise higher. In the same way, the Master mixed the knowledge of various sciences, because his inventions find more and more applications over time. From the treatise on light and shadow come the beginnings of the sciences of penetrating power, oscillatory motion, and the propagation of waves. All of his 120 books have been distributed around the world and are gradually being revealed to mankind.

Leonardo da Vinci preferred the method of analogy to all others. Approximation of analogy is an advantage over the accuracy of a syllogism, when a third inevitably follows from two conclusions. But the more bizarre the analogy, the further the conclusions from it extend. Take, for example, the famous illustration of da Vinci, which proves the proportionality of the human body. A human figure with outstretched arms and spread legs fits into a circle, and with closed legs and raised arms - into a square. This "mill" gave impetus to various conclusions. Leonardo was the only one who created designs for churches in which the altar is placed in the middle (symbolizing the human navel), and the worshipers are evenly around. This church plan in the form of an octahedron served as another invention of genius - a ball bearing.

The Florentine liked to use contraposto, which creates the illusion of movement. Everyone who saw his sculpture of a giant horse in Corte Vecchio involuntarily changed their gait to a more relaxed one.

Leonardo was never in a hurry to finish a work, because unfinishedness is an essential quality of life. Finish means kill! The slowness of the Florentine was the talk of the town, he could make two or three strokes and retire for many days from the city, for example, to improve the valleys of Lombardy or was engaged in the creation of an apparatus for walking on water. Almost every one of his significant works- "incomplete". The master had a special composition, with the help of which he finished painting as if on purpose he made “windows of incompleteness”. Apparently, in this way he left a place where life itself could intervene and correct something ...

He masterfully played the lyre. When the case of Leonardo was heard in the court of Milan, he appeared there precisely as a musician, and not as an artist or inventor.

There is a version that Leonardo da Vinci was a homosexual. When the artist studied in Verrocchio's workshop, he was accused of harassing a boy who posed for him. The court acquitted him.

According to one version, Gioconda smiles from the realization of her secret for all pregnancy.

According to another, Mona Lisa is entertained by musicians and clowns while she posed for the artist.

There is another assumption, according to which, "Mona Lisa" is a self-portrait of Leonardo.

Leonardo da Vinci, apparently, did not leave a single self-portrait that could be unambiguously attributed to him. Experts doubt that Leonardo's famous sanguine self-portrait (traditionally dated 1512-1515), showing him in his old age, is such. It is believed that this is probably only a study of the head of the apostle for the "Last Supper". Doubts that this is a self-portrait of the artist began to be expressed with 19th century, they were recently expressed by one of the largest experts on Leonardo da Vinci, Professor Pietro Marani.

Scientists at the University of Amsterdam and American researchers, having studied the mysterious smile of Mona Lisa with the help of a new computer program, unraveled its composition: according to them, it contains 83 percent happiness, 9 percent neglect, 6 percent fear and 2 percent anger.

Leonardo loved water: he developed instructions for scuba diving, he invented and described a device for scuba diving, a breathing apparatus for scuba diving. All the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci formed the basis of modern underwater equipment.

Leonardo was the first painter to dissect corpses in order to understand the location and structure of muscles.

Observations of the Moon in the phase of the growing crescent led the researcher to one of the important scientific discoveries - Leonardo da Vinci established that sunlight reflects off our planet and returns to the moon as secondary illumination.

The Florentine was ambidexterous - he was equally good with his right and left hands. He suffered from dyslexia (impaired reading ability) - this ailment, called "word blindness", is associated with reduced brain activity in a certain area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe left hemisphere. Known fact, Leonardo wrote in a mirror way.

More recently, the Louvre spent $5.5 million to outweigh famous masterpiece artist "La Gioconda" from the general to a specially equipped room for her. Two-thirds were allotted for the Gioconda State Hall occupying a total area of ​​840 sq. m. The huge room was rebuilt as a gallery, on the far wall of which now hangs the famous creation of the great Leonardo. The reconstruction, which was carried out according to the project of the Peruvian architect Lorenzo Piqueras, lasted about 4 years. The decision to move the Mona Lisa to a separate room was made by the administration of the Louvre due to the fact that same place, surrounded by other paintings by Italian masters, this masterpiece was lost, and the public was forced to queue to see the famous painting.

2003, August - the canvas of the great Leonardo worth $ 50 million "Madonna with a spindle" was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland. The masterpiece was stolen from the home of one of Scotland's wealthiest landowners, the Duke of Buccleuch.

It is believed that Leonardo was a vegetarian (Andrea Corsali in a letter to Giuliano di Lorenzo Medici compares him to a Hindu who did not eat meat). The phrase often attributed to Leonardo “If a person strives for freedom, why does he keep birds and animals in cages? .. man is truly the king of animals, because he cruelly exterminates them. We live by killing others. We are walking graveyards! Even at an early age I refused meat” is taken from the English translation of Dmitry Merezhkovsky’s novel “The Resurrected Gods. Leonardo da Vinci".

Leonardo da Vinci designed the submarine, the propeller, the tank, the loom, the ball bearing, and the flying machines.

Building canals, Leonardo made an observation that later entered geology under his name as a theoretical principle for recognizing the time of formation of the earth's layers. He came to the conclusion that our planet is much older than indicated in the Bible.

Among da Vinci's hobbies were even cooking and serving art. In Milan for thirteen years he was the manager of court feasts. He invented several culinary devices that facilitate the work of cooks. The original dish "from Leonardo" - thinly sliced ​​stew, with vegetables laid on top - was very popular at court feasts.

In the books of Terry Pratchett there is a character whose name is Leonard, the prototype of which was Leonardo da Vinci. Pratchett's Leonard writes from right to left, invents various machines, engages in alchemy, paints pictures (the most famous is the portrait of Mona Ogg)

A considerable number of Leonardo's manuscripts were first published by the curator of the Ambrosian Library, Carlo Amoretti.

Italian scientists have made a statement about the sensational discovery. According to them, discovered an early self-portrait of Leonardo. The discovery belongs to the journalist Piero Angela.

The history of mankind, in fact, knows not so many geniuses who were ahead of this or that era with each of their actions. Some of what they created firmly entered the life of their contemporaries, but something remained on the drawings and manuscripts: the master looked too far ahead. The latter can be fully applied to Leonardo da Vinci, brilliant artist, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, architect, sculptor, philosopher and writer - true man the Renaissance. Perhaps, in the history of medieval knowledge there is no area that the great master of the Enlightenment would not touch.

The sphere of his activity covers not only space (Italy-France), but also time. Isn't it surprising that the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci now cause the same heated debate, admiration, as in the years of his life? Such a "formula of immortality" can rightfully be considered greatest discovery in history. What are its components? The answer to this question would like to receive almost every person on the planet. Some even decided that it was best to ask Leonardo himself about this, “resurrecting” the master with the help of modern scientific developments. However, the main components of the "formula" are visible to the naked eye: potential genius, multiplied by incredible curiosity and a large share of humanism. And yet, any genius is a dreamer-practitioner. Judge for yourself, all the work of Leonardo da Vinci (here we include not only sketches, paintings, frescoes, but also all the scientific research of the Master) can be imagined as steps towards the realization of mankind's long dreams of perfection. Did you want a person to fly like a bird? So you need to make him a semblance of wings! Christ walked on water, so why shouldn't ordinary mortals have such an opportunity? Let's design water skis!

The whole life and work of Leonardo da Vinci were filled with attempts to answer numerous questions about the laws of the universe, reveal the secrets of life and direct them to the service of mankind. After all, do not forget that a man of the Renaissance is, first of all, a great humanist.

The biography of Leonardo da Vinci is, figuratively speaking, the story of several souls enclosed in the body of one person. Indeed, in each of the areas studied, he exhibits very special qualities that, in understanding ordinary people, can hardly belong to a single person. Maybe that's why some people tried to prove that Leonardo da Vinci is just a pseudonym taken by a group of people. However, the theory was doomed to failure almost before its birth.

Today, da Vinci is known to us to a greater extent as an unsurpassed artist. Unfortunately, no more than 15 of his works have come down to us, while the rest either simply did not stand the test of time due to the master’s constant experiments with technique and materials, or are considered not yet found. However, those works that have come down to us remain the most famous and most copied masterpieces of art in the world.

Biography of Leonardo da Vinci

The baby, later baptized under the name of Leonardo, was born, as recorded in the church book, "on Saturday, April 15, 1452 from the birth of Christ" from an extramarital affair between a peasant woman Katerina and a notary, ambassador of the Florentine Republic, sir Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a descendant of wealthy revered Italian family. The father, who at that time had no other heirs, wished to take his son into his house and give him a proper education. The only thing known for sure about the mother is that she officially married a man from a peasant family and gave him 7 more children. By the way, Leonardo's father was also subsequently married four times and presented his first-born (who, by the way, he never made his official heir) ten more brothers and two sisters.

All further biography da Vinci is closely connected with his work, the events of the master's life, the people he met, naturally, left their traces in the development of his worldview. Thus, the meeting with Andrea Verrocchio determined the beginning of his journey in art. At the age of 16, Leonardo became a student of the studio of the famous master Verrocchio. It is in the workshop of Verrocchio that Leonardo gets the opportunity to prove himself as an artist: the teacher allows him to paint the face of an angel for the famous Baptism of Christ.

At the age of 20, da Vinci became a member of the St. Luke, the painters' guild, still working in the workshop of Verocquil until 1476. The same period is dated to one of his first independent work"Madonna with a Carnation". Ten years later, Leonardo is invited to Milan, where he remains to work until 1501. Here, Leonardo's talents are widely used not only as an artist, but also as a sculptor, decorator, organizer of all kinds of masquerades and tournaments, a man who created amazing mechanical devices. Two years later, the master returns to his native Florence, where he paints his legendary fresco "The Battle of Angiani".

Like most Renaissance masters, da Vinci travels a lot, leaving a memory of himself in every city he visits. Towards the end of his life, he becomes "the first royal artist, engineer and architect" under Francois I, working on the architectural structure of the castle of Cloud. However, this work remained unfinished: da Vinci died in 1519, at the age of 67. Now in the castle of Cloux, only a double spiral staircase has remained from the plan originally conceived by the great Leonardo, while the rest of the architecture of the castle was repeatedly altered by subsequent dynasties of French kings.

The work of Leonardo da Vinci

Despite numerous Scientific research Leonardo, his fame as a scientist and inventor, fades somewhat before the glory of Leonardo the artist, whose few surviving works have fascinated and excited the mind and imagination of mankind for almost 400 years. It was in the field of painting that many of the works of da Vinci found their application, dedicated to nature light, chemistry, biology, physiology and anatomy.

His paintings remain the most mysterious works of art. They are copied in search of the secret of such skill, they are discussed and argued about by entire generations of art connoisseurs, critics and even writers. Leonardo considered painting a branch of applied science. Among the many factors that make da Vinci's works unique, one of the main ones is the innovative techniques and experiments applied by the master in his works, as well as deep knowledge of anatomy, botany, geology, optics, and even human soul… Looking at the portraits he created, we really see not just an artist, but an attentive observer, a psychologist who managed to understand the physical expression of the emotional component of the human personality. Da Vinci not only managed to understand this himself, but also found techniques to transfer this knowledge onto canvas with photographic accuracy. An unsurpassed master of sfumato and chiaroscuro, Leonardo da Vinci put all the power of his knowledge into the most famous works- Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

Leonardo believed that best character for the image on the canvas is a person whose body movements most correspond to the movements of his soul. This belief can be considered da Vinci's creative credo. In his works, it was embodied in the fact that in his entire life he painted only one portrait of a man, preferring women as models, as more emotional personalities.

Early period of creativity

The periodization of the creative biography of Leonardo da Vinci is rather arbitrary: some of his works are not dated, and the chronology of the master's life is also not always accurate. The very beginning creative way da Vinci can be considered the day when his father, Ser Piero, showed some sketches of a 14-year-old son to his friend Andrea del Verrocchio.

After a year, during which Leonardo was entrusted only with cleaning canvases, grinding paints and doing other preparatory work, Verrocchio began to acquaint his student with the traditional techniques of painting, engraving, architecture and sculpture. Here Leonardo received knowledge of the basics of chemistry, metallurgy, mastered woodworking and even the beginning of mechanics. Only to him, his best student, Verrocchio entrusts the completion of his work. During this period, Leonardo does not create his own works, but eagerly absorbs everything related to the chosen profession. Together with his teacher, he is working on The Baptism of Christ (1472-1475). The play of light and shadow, the facial features of the little angel, which da Vinci was entrusted to paint, impressed Verrocchio so much that he considered himself surpassed by his own student and decided never to take up the brush again. It is also believed that Leonardo became the model for the bronze sculpture of David and the image of the Archangel Michael.

In 1472, Leonardo was included in the "Red Book" of the guild of St. Luke - famous union artists and doctors of Florence. At the same time, the first notable works of da Vinci appeared, which brought him fame: an ink sketch “Landscape of Santa Maria dela Neve” and “Annunciation”. He improves the technique of sfumato, bringing it to an unprecedented perfection. Now a light haze - sfumato - is not just a thin layer of blurred paint, but a really light veil of living fog. Despite the fact that by 1476. da Vinci opens his own workshop and receives his own orders, he still works closely with Verrocchio, treating his teacher with deep reverence and respect. The Madonna with a Carnation, one of the most significant works da Vinci.

Mature period of creativity

At the age of 26, da Vinci begins a completely independent career, and also begins a more detailed study of various aspects of natural science and becomes a teacher himself. During this period, even before his departure for Milan, Leonardo begins work on the "Adoration of the Magi", which he never completed. It is possible that this was a kind of revenge on da Vinci for the fact that Pope Sixtus IV rejected his candidacy when choosing an artist for painting the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican in Rome. Perhaps the fashion for Neoplatonism that dominated that era in Florence also played a role in da Vinci's decision to leave for a fairly academic and pragmatic Milan, which was more in line with his spirit. In Milan, Leonardo takes on the creation of the "Madonna in the Grotto" for the altar of the chapel. This work clearly shows that da Vinci already has a certain knowledge in the field of biology and geodesy, since the plants and the grotto itself are written out with maximum realism. All proportions and laws of composition are observed. However, despite such an amazing performance, this picture for many years became the subject of contention between the author and customers. Da Vinci devotes the years of this period to recording his thoughts, drawings, and deeper research. It is possible that a certain musician, Migliorotti, was involved in his departure to Milan. Just one letter from this man, which described amazing works engineering"Senior, who also draws" was enough for da Vinci to receive an invitation to work under the auspices of Ludovic Sforza, away from rivals and ill-wishers. Here he gets some freedom for creativity and research. And also organizes performances and celebrations, technical equipment of the stage of the court theater. In addition, Leonardo paints many portraits for the Milanese court.

Late period of creativity

It was during this period that da Vinci thought more about military-technical projects, studied urban planning and proposed his own model ideal city.
Also, during his stay in one of the monasteries, he receives an order for a sketch for the image of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus, St. Anna and John the Baptist. The work turned out to be so impressive that the viewer felt himself present at the described event, part of the picture.

In 1504, many students who consider themselves followers of da Vinci leave Florence, where he stayed to put in order his numerous notes and drawings, and move with their teacher to Milan. From 1503 to 1506 Leonardo begins work on La Gioconda. Mona Lisa del Giocondo, born Lisa Maria Gherardini, was chosen as the model. Numerous variants of the plot of the famous painting still do not leave indifferent artists and critics.

In 1513 Leonardo da Vinci moves to Rome for some time at the invitation of Pope Leon X, or rather, to the Vatican, where Raphael and Michelangelo are already working. A year later, Leonardo begins the Afterwards series, which is a kind of response to the version proposed by Michelangelo in Sistine Chapel. The master does not forget his hobby engineering, working on the problem of draining the swamps in the territory of the Duke Julien de Medici.

One of the most grandiose architectural projects of this period becomes for da Vinci the Cloux castle in Amboise, where the master himself is invited to work by the King of France, Francois I. Over time, their relationship becomes much closer than just business. Francois often listens to the opinion of the great scientist, treats him like a father, and grieves da Vinci's death in 1519. Leonardo dies in the spring from a serious illness at the age of 67, having bequeathed his manuscripts and brushes to his student, Francesco Melzi.

Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci

It may seem incredible, but some inventions made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. in fact, they have already been described in the writings of da Vinci, as well as some of the things we are used to. It seems that what the master would not mention in his manuscripts does not exist at all. There is even an alarm! Of course, its design is significantly different from what we see today, however, the invention deserves attention if only because of its design: scales, the bowls of which are filled with liquid. Overflowing from one bowl to another, the water activates a mechanism that pushes or lifts the legs of a dozing person. It's hard not to wake up in such conditions!

However, the true genius of Leonardo the engineer is evident in his mechanical and architectural innovations. He managed to realize the latter almost completely (with the exception of the project of an ideal city). But with regard to mechanics, it was far from being used right away. It is known that da Vinci was preparing to test his aircraft himself, but he was never designed, despite detailed plan drawn up on paper. Yes, and a bicycle, created by a master from wood, also came into use a few centuries later, as, indeed, a mechanical self-propelled cart driven by two levers. However, the very principle of the wagon was applied to improve the loom during the life of da Vinci.
Being recognized as a genius of painting during his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of a career as a military engineer all his life, and therefore a special place in his work was given to the study of fortifications, military vehicles, and protective structures. So, it was he who developed excellent methods of repelling Turkish attacks in Venice, and even created a semblance of a protective suit. But since the Turks never attacked, the invention was not tested in action. In the same way, only a combat vehicle resembling a tank remained in the drawings.

In general, unlike works of painting, Leonardo's manuscripts and drawings have come down to our days in better condition and continue to be studied today. According to some drawings, machines were even recreated that were not destined to appear during the life of da Vinci.

Painting by Leonardo da Vinci

Most of da Vinci's works have not survived to this day due to the master's constant experiments not only with painting techniques, but also with tools: paints, canvases, primers. As a result of such experiments, the composition of paints on some frescoes and canvases did not stand the test of time, light, moisture.

In a manuscript dedicated fine arts da Vinci, basically, focuses not so much on the technique of writing, but on a detailed presentation of the innovations he invented, which, by the way, had a huge impact on the further development art. First of all, these are some practical advice concerning the preparation of tools. So, Leonardo advises covering the canvas with a thin layer of glue, instead of the white primer mixture that was customary to use before. An image applied to a canvas prepared in this way is fixed much better than on the ground, especially if you write with tempera, which was widespread at that time. Oil came into use a little later, and da Vinci preferred to use it just for writing on a primed canvas.

Also, one of the features of da Vinci's painting style is a preliminary sketch of the conceived picture in transparent dark (brown) tones, the same tones were also used as the upper, final, layer of the entire work. In both cases, the completed work was endowed with a gloomy tinge. It is possible that over time the colors darkened even more precisely because of this feature.

Much of da Vinci's theoretical work is devoted to depicting human emotions. He talks a lot about the way of expressing feelings, cites his own research. There is even a case when Leonardo decided to experimentally test his guesses about how the facial muscles move during laughter and crying. Having invited a group of friends for dinner, he began to tell funny stories, making his guests laugh, da Vinci carefully watched the movement of muscles, facial expressions. Possessing a unique memory, he transferred what he saw to sketches with such accuracy that, according to eyewitnesses, people wanted to laugh along with the portraits.

Mona Lisa.

"Mona Lisa" she is "Gioconda", the full name is a portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo, perhaps the most famous work painting in the world. Leonardo wrote famous portrait from 1503 to 1506, but even during this period the portrait was not completely completed. Da Vinci did not want to part with his work, so the customer never got it, but he accompanied the master in all his travels until last day. After the artist's death, the portrait was moved to Fontainebleau Castle.

Gioconda has become the most mystical painting of all eras. She became the subject of research. artistic technique for masters of the 15th century. In the era of romanticism, artists and critics admired its mysteriousness. By the way, it is to the figures of this era that we owe such a magnificent halo of mystery that accompanies the Mona Lisa. The era of romanticism in art simply could not do without the mystical surroundings inherent in all brilliant masters and their works.

The plot of the picture today is known to everyone: a mysteriously smiling woman in the background mountain landscape. However, numerous studies reveal more and more details that were not previously noticed. So, upon closer examination, it is clear that the lady in the portrait is dressed in full accordance with the fashion of her time, a dark transparent veil is thrown over her head. It would seem that this is nothing special.

Compliance with fashion can only mean that a woman does not belong to the poorest family. But held in 2006. Canadian scientists over detailed analysis using modern laser equipment showed that this veil, in fact, envelops the entire body of the model. It is this thinnest material that creates the effect of fog, which was previously attributed to the famous sfumato da Vinci. It is known that such veils, enveloping the whole body, and not just the head, were worn by pregnant women. It is quite possible that it is this state that is reflected in Mona Lisa's smile: the peace and tranquility of the expectant mother. Even her hands are laid in such a way as if they were already ready to rock the baby. By the way, the very name "La Gioconda" also has double meaning. On the one hand, this is a phonetic variation of the name Giokondo, to which the model herself belonged. On the other hand, this word is consonant with the Italian "giocondo", i.e. happiness, peace. Doesn't this explain the depth of the look, and the gentle half-smile, and the whole atmosphere of the picture, where twilight reigns? Quite possible. This is not just a portrait of a woman. It is a depiction of the very idea of ​​peace and serenity. Maybe that's what she was so dear to the author.

Now the painting Mona Lisa is in the Louvre, refers to the style of "Renaissance". The dimensions of the painting are 77 cm x 53 cm.

The Last Supper is a fresco painted by da Vinci between 1494 and 1498. for the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Gresi, Milan. The fresco depicts a biblical scene of the last evening spent by Jesus of Nazareth surrounded by his twelve disciples.

In this fresco, da Vinci tried to embody all his knowledge of the laws of perspective. The hall in which Jesus and the apostles sit is painted with exceptional accuracy in terms of the proportions and distance of objects. The background of the room, however, is so clearly visible that it is almost a second picture, and not just a background.

Naturally, the center of the whole work is Christ himself, it is precisely in relation to his figure that the rest of the composition of the fresco is planned. The location of the disciples (4 groups of three people) is symmetrical with respect to the center - the Teacher, but not among themselves, which creates a feeling of live movement, but at the same time there is a certain halo of loneliness around Christ. A halo of knowledge that is not yet available to his followers. Being the center of the fresco, a figure around which the whole world seems to revolve, Jesus still remains alone: ​​all other figures are, as it were, separated from him. The whole work is enclosed in strict rectilinear frames, limited by the walls and ceiling of the room, the table at which the participants in the Last Supper sit. If, for clarity, we draw lines along those points that are directly related to the perspective of the fresco, we get an almost perfect geometric grid, the “threads” of which are built at right angles to each other. Such limited precision is not found in any other work of Leonardo.

In Tongerlo Abbey, Belgium, there is an amazingly accurate copy of The Last Supper, made by the masters of the da Vinci school according to his own initiative because the artist was afraid that the fresco in the Milanese monastery would not stand the test of time. It was this copy that the restorers used to recreate the original.

The painting is located in Santa Maria delle Grazie, dimensions 4.6 m x 8.8 m.

Vitruvian Man

"Vitruvian Man" is the common name for a graphic drawing by da Vinci made in 1492. as an illustration to the entries in one of the diaries. The picture shows a naked male figure. Strictly speaking, these are even two images of the same figure superimposed on each other, but in different poses. A circle and a square are described around the figure. The manuscript containing this drawing is sometimes also referred to as The Canon of Proportions or simply The Proportions of Man. Now this work is kept in one of the museums in Venice, but it is exhibited extremely rarely, since this exhibit is really unique and valuable both as a work of art and as a subject of research.

Leonardo created his "Vitruvian Man" as an illustration of the geometric studies he carried out on the basis of a treatise by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius (hence the name of da Vinci's work). In the treatise of the philosopher and researcher of proportion human body were taken as the basis of all architectural proportions. Da Vinci, on the other hand, applied the studies of the ancient Roman architect to painting, which once again clearly illustrates the principle of the unity of art and science, put forward by Leonardo. In addition, this work also reflects the master's attempt to correlate man with nature. It is known that da Vinci considered the human body as a reflection of the universe, i.e. was convinced that it functions according to the same laws. The author himself considered the Vitruvian Man as "the cosmography of the microcosm". In this picture, there is also a deep symbolic meaning. The square and circle in which the body is inscribed do not simply reflect physical, proportional characteristics. The square can be interpreted as the material existence of a person, and the circle represents its spiritual basis, and the points of contact geometric shapes between themselves and with the body inserted into them can be seen as a connection between these two foundations of human existence. For many centuries this drawing was considered as a symbol of the ideal symmetry of the human body and the universe as a whole.

The drawing is made with ink. The size of the picture is 34 cm x 26 cm. Genre: Abstract art. Direction: High Renaissance.

The fate of the manuscripts.

After da Vinci's death in 1519. all the manuscripts of the great scientist and painter were inherited by Leonardo's favorite student, Francesco Melzi. Fortunately, most of the drawings and notes left by da Vinci, made by his famous method of mirror writing, have survived to this day. from right to left. Without a doubt, Leonardo left behind the largest collection of works of the Renaissance, but after his death, the manuscript was not an easy fate. It is even surprising that after so many ups and downs, the manuscripts still survived to this day.
Today scientific works da Vinci are far from the form that the Master gave them, with special care grouping them according to the principles he alone knew. After the death of Malzi, the heir and keeper of the manuscripts, his descendants began to mercilessly squander the legacy of the great scientist that they had inherited, apparently not even knowing about his true value. Initially, the manuscripts were simply stored in the attic, later the Malzi family distributed some of the manuscripts and sold individual sheets to collectors by friends for a ridiculous price. Thus, all the records of da Vinci found new owners. Luckily, not a single leaf was lost in the process!

However, power bad rock didn't end there. The manuscripts came to Ponnpeo Leoni, the court sculptor of the Spanish royal house. No, they were not lost, everything turned out to be much worse: Leoni undertook to “put in order” the numerous notes of da Vinci, based, of course, on his own principles of classification, and finally mixed up all the pages, separating, where possible, texts from sketches, and purely scientific, in his opinion, treatises from notes relating directly to painting. Thus, two collections of manuscripts and drawings appeared. After the death of Leoni, one part of the collection returned to Italy again and until 1796. kept in the library of Milan. Some of the works came to Paris thanks to Napoleon, while the rest was "lost" from Spanish collectors and was discovered only in 1966 in the archives national library in Madrid.

To date, all collected famous manuscripts da Vinci, and almost all of them are in state museums countries of Europe, with the exception of one, miraculously still remaining in a private collection. From the middle of the 19th century art researchers are working to restore the original classification of manuscripts.

Conclusion.

According to the last will of da Vinci, sixty beggars accompanied his funeral cortege. The great Renaissance master was buried in the Saint-Hubert chapel, in the vicinity of the Amboise castle.
Da Vinci remained single all his life. Having no wife, no children, not even a home of his own, he devoted himself entirely to scientific research and art. This is how the fate of geniuses develops, that during their lifetime and after death, their works, each of which was invested with a particle of the soul, remain the only "family" of their creator. This happened in the case of Leonardo. However, everything that this man did, who managed to fully cognize and embody the spirit of the Renaissance in his creations, has become the property of all mankind today. Fate itself arranged everything in such a way that, without having a family of its own, da Vinci passed on a huge inheritance to all mankind. And this includes not only unique recordings and amazing works, but also the mystery that surrounds them today. There was not a single century in which they would not try to unravel this or that plan of da Vinci, to look for what was considered lost. Even in our age, when much of the previously unknown has become everyday, the manuscripts, drawings and paintings of the great Leonardo do not leave museum visitors, art critics, or even writers indifferent. They still serve as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Isn't this what true secret immortality?

Vitruvian Man

Madonna Benois

Madonna Litta

Supposed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci and the "Vitruvian Man"

1. Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the village of Anchiano, a suburb of the town of Vinci, which is located in the vicinity of Florence, Italy. The house where he was born is now a museum.

2. Leonardo did not have a surname in modern sense; "da Vinci" simply means "(hailed from) the town of Vinci." His full name- Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, that is, "Leonardo, son of Mr. Piero of Vinci."

The house where Leonardo lived as a child

3. Leonardo's parents were the 25-year-old notary Piero and the peasant woman Katerina. Leonardo spent the first years of his life with his mother. His father soon married a rich and noble girl, but this marriage turned out to be childless, and Piero took his three-year-old son to be raised.

4. In his youth, Leonardo took up the study of many subjects, but, having started, then abandoned them. But despite various hobbies, he never gave up drawing and modeling.

5. Taking into account his son's love of drawing, Leonardo's father selected several of his drawings and took them to his friend, the painter Andrea Verrocchio, so that he could tell if Leonardo would reach heights in this field. Verrocchio was so impressed by the huge inclinations that he saw in the drawings of the young Leonardo that he immediately agreed to arrange Leonardo in his workshop. Here he studied drawing, chemistry, metallurgy, work with metal and plaster.

"Baptism of Christ"

6. Once Verrocchio received an order for the painting "The Baptism of Christ" and instructed Leonardo to paint one of the two angels. It was a time when painting was practiced in art workshops by the teacher, together with student assistants. The little angel holding clothes (left), which was painted by Leonardo, demonstrated the superiority of the student over the teacher. According to the great collection "Biographies of Illustrious Painters, Sculptors and Architects", amazed Verrocchio then abandoned the brush and never returned to painting.

7. Leonardo da Vinci carefully concealed his personal life, so there is no reliable information about his romances with women.

8. During his life, Leonardo achieved brilliant results in all areas of his activity, often far ahead of his time. For example, during his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci made thousands of notes and drawings on anatomy. According to professor of clinical anatomy Peter Abrams, da Vinci's scientific work was 300 years ahead of its time and in many ways surpassed the famous Grey's Anatomy.

9. The most famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci "Mona Lisa" is written on a tree (poplar), and has dimensions of only 77 × 53 centimeters.

One of the inventions - a crossbow

10. It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci was a vegetarian. One of the testimonies is given in a letter from the explorer Andrea Corsali, addressed to the ruler of Florence, Giuliano Medici: “Between Goa and Rosigud there is a land called Gambaya, where the Indus River flows into the sea. It is inhabited by the Gudzarati people, excellent merchants. Some of them dress in the apostolic way, and some as in Turkey. They do not feed on anything that contains blood, and do not allow themselves to harm anyone living, like our Leonardo Da Vinci. They live on rice, milk and other inanimate food.

11. Among Leonardo's hobbies were even cooking and serving art. For 13 years, the organization of court feasts lay on his shoulders. The original dish "from Leonardo" - thinly sliced ​​stew with vegetables laid on top - was very popular at court feasts.

12. During Leonardo's lifetime, many of his inventions remained unknown to the general public. The inventor encrypted his drawings and they were published only in the 19th century. The source of our knowledge of the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci is the Codex Atlantis, a manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci compiled by Pompeo Leoni.

"Savior of the World"

13. In November 2017, Leonardo da Vinci's The Savior of the World became the most expensive work art in history. It was sold at Christie's for a record $400 million.

14. Leonardo da Vinci tried to avoid people and spend time alone. Nevertheless, being in society, he kept himself open and could start a conversation on any topic.

15. The designs of a bicycle, a tank, a hang glider, a machine gun, a helicopter, a submarine, a parachute are only a small part of what Leonardo da Vinci invented or competently modified from his predecessors. But his only invention, which received recognition during his lifetime, was a wheel lock for a pistol.

16. Leonardo adored all animals without exception. Coming to the market, he bought birds from sole purpose: to release them into the wild - to their own delight and to the annoyance of merchants.

17. Leonardo da Vinci's the same degree He was good with both right and left hands. However, most of his works were written with his left hand from right to left, i.e. in a mirror position.

18. Realism in painting moved to a qualitatively new level thanks to the work of Leonardo da Vinci. On his canvases, he strove to soften the outlines and figures, since he was the first to realize that light is scattered in the air, so the human eye does not see clear boundaries and color contrasts. For other artists of that era, the lines in the paintings usually clearly outlined the subject, so the image often looked like a painted drawing.

19. The largest restoration famous work Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper took 21 years (1978-1999). The master himself created the fresco for 3 years: from 1495 to 1498.

20. The last years of his life, Leonardo da Vinci lived under the auspices of the French king Francis I in his castle Clos Luce. Two years before his death, the master's right hand went numb, and he could hardly move without assistance. Leonardo spent the last year of his life in bed. On April 23, 1519, he left a will, and on May 2, at the age of 67, he died surrounded by his students and his masterpieces at the Clos Luce castle in France.

"The Last Supper"

Sources:

1 en.wikipedia.org

2 smr.ru

3 veronavisita.it

4 louvre.fr

5en.wikipedia.org

6 en.wikipedia.org

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Leonardo da Vinci can be safely attributed to the unique people of our planet ... After all, he is known not only as one of the greatest artists and sculptors of Italy, as well as the greatest scientist, explorer, engineer, chemist, anatomist, botanist, philosopher, musician and poet. His creations, discoveries and research were ahead of their time by more than one era.

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 near Florence, in the city of Vinci (Italy). Quite a bit of information is known about da Vinci's mother, only that she was a peasant woman, was not married to Leonardo's father, and until the age of 4 she was engaged in raising her son in the village, after which he was transferred to his father's family. But Leonardo's father, Piero Vinci, was a fairly wealthy citizen, worked as a notary, and also owned land and the title of messer.

Leonardo da Vinci received his primary education, which included the ability to write, read, the basics of mathematics and Latin, at home. For many, his manner of writing in mirror image from left to right was interesting. Although, if necessary, he could write traditionally without much difficulty. In 1469, the son moved with his father to Florence, where Leonardo began to study the profession of an artist, which was not the most revered at that time, although Piero had a desire for his son to inherit the profession of a notary. But at that time an illegitimate child could not be a doctor or a lawyer. And already in 1472, Leonardo was accepted into the painters' guild of Florence, and in 1473 the very first dated work by Leonardo da Vinci was written. This landscape depicted a sketch of a river valley.

Already in 1481 - 1482. Leonardo was hired by the ruler of Milan at that time, Lodovico Moro, where he acted as the organizer of court holidays, and part-time military engineer and hydraulic engineer. Being engaged in architecture, da Vinci had a huge impact on the architecture of Italy. In his writings, he developed various options for a modern ideal city, as well as projects for a central-domed church.

At this time, Leonardo da Vinci tries himself in various scientific directions and almost everywhere achieves unprecedented positive results, but he can’t find the favorable situation in Italy of that time that he needs so much. Therefore, with great pleasure in 1517 he accepts the invitation of the French king Francis I to the post of court painter and arrives in France. During this period, the court of France is trying quite actively to join the culture of the Italian Renaissance, so the artist is surrounded by universal reverence, although according to many historians, this reverence was rather ostentatious and was of an external nature. The undermined forces of the artist were at the limit, and after two years, on May 2, 1519, Leonardo da Vinci died in, near Amboise, in France. But despite the short life path, Leonardo da Vinci became a recognized symbol of the Renaissance.

Leonardo da Vinci considered one of the brightest representatives of the Renaissance. This "universal man" was far ahead of his time with his brilliant creativity, discoveries, and research. After himself, the master left a lot unsolved mysteries, including the place of his burial. Da Vinci died not at all in Italy, as many believe, but in France. However, many scientists are still arguing whose remains are actually buried under a granite slab with the name of the great master.

After the death of Giuliano Medici, Leonardo da Vinci lost his powerful patron. When in 1516 he was invited by the French king Francis I to take the place of the court painter, the aged da Vinci agreed without a drop of doubt. At that time, France was actively joining the Renaissance, so da Vinci expressed universal reverence. However, the artist at that time was already 65 years old. Forces left the master, the right hand went numb. He rarely took paint in his hands. Fate measured him to live in France for only a couple of years.

According to legend, the French king Francis I was at the deathbed of da Vinci when he departed for another world. In the castle of Cloud (Clos-Luce), where the great master died, the room in which Leonardo da Vinci lived is now open to the public. The interior of the apartment is different from general style castle, because historians have tried to reconstruct the interior in the Renaissance style to the smallest detail.

According to the will, Leonardo da Vinci was buried in the church of Saint-Floratin in the city of Amboise. This is confirmed by an entry made in the church register in 1519: “Mr. Leonardo da Vinci, a Milanese nobleman, the first painter, engineer and architect of the king, state master of mechanics and former painter of the Duke of Milan, was buried in the gallery of this church.”

As a result of the long Huguenot wars that took place in the second half of the 16th century, the church of Saint-Floratin was gradually destroyed. The poor took away the sarcophagi of aristocrats, among whom was the grave of Leonardo da Vinci. Even the lids of the coffins were taken away, dumping the remains of the dead in one heap

In 1863, thanks to the energy of the French critic Arsène Gousset, excavations were carried out on the site of the church. The found remains of the deceased were mixed, and the bones of Leonardo da Vinci were chosen at random. The critic Gusse was guided by a lifetime description of the artist's appearance - big stature, massive skull, high forehead. Near the "suitable" remains, stones with fairly worn letters INC were found. The explorer then discovered slabs with the inscriptions LEO and DUS. Arsene Husse rejoiced: the fragments formed the name of the great master LEOnarDUS vINCius.

In 1874, the alleged remains of Leonardo da Vinci were reburied in the Saint-Hubert chapel. And at the original place of his burial after the First World War, a granite monument was erected.

In the chapel of Saint-Hubert there is a granite slab with the name of Leonardo da Vinci. An epitaph hangs on the wall nearby, which speaks of the last years of the master's life and the transfer of his bones from the Saint-Floratin church. However, no one can reliably say whose remains rest under da Vinci's tombstone.