History - The Renaissance Man Flashcards
Who was the Renaissance Man? (short + long question answer)
Many men in the Renaissance were often very talented at a number of different things, for example - a single person could paint, make statues, design buildings, make jewellery and write poetry. The most famous of all these men was Leonardo da Vinci, and he was known as the Renaissance Man. - (2 marks)
Leonardo was one of the greatest painters and sculptors of all time. His painting of the Mona Lisa is one of the most famous in the world. He was also very famous as an architect, engineer and scientist. He cut up more than 30 dead people to see how the human body worked. He made wonderful medical drawings of the skeleton, muscles, nerves and other body [arts. He made models for a kind of flying machine - a helicopter, a submarine, a diving suit, and a car driven by springs. (none of these things worked because they were not very advanced yet and in the 16th century they didnt have the materials to make them)
Leonardo even invented machines for digging canals and making bridges and roads. He desgined simple engineering machines (gears, springs, pulleys, brakes) as well as all kinds of new weapons (machine guns, giant crossbows and a wooden tank). He had designed a simple air conditioner too, to blow cold air into his room in the hot italian summer.
Thus, we can see that Leonardo da Vinci was highly intelligent and multitalented and ahead of his time. This is why he is known as the Renaissance man.
