People In History ~ Leonardo da Vinci Flashcards
Paragraph 1 ~ early life
Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest Renaissance geniuses. He was born in 1452 in Vinci near Florence. That is where he got his name. Leonardo’s father wanted him to become a lawyer, but Leonardo was interested in painting. At 15 years of age he was apprenticed to Verrochio, A leading Florentine artist and learned to paint. It soon became clear that Leonardo was better than Verrochio.
Paragraph 2 ~ paintings
After Florence became involved in war, Leonardo moved to Milan. There he painted ‘The last supper’ on the wall of the convent church. It was a fresco, but Leonardo tried out a new recipe for making the paint. Soon after the picture was done, the paint began to peel away. Leonardo was the first artist to use sfumato. You can see this in his most famous picture, the Mona Lisa. People have argued about the expressions on her face. There is also theories that Leonardo painted himself
Paragraph 3 ~ inventions and notebooks
In Milan Leonardo worked for the Duke of Milan. He invented several weapons of war for the duke such as a tank and a cannon. His notebooks where full of new ideas including designs for a helicopter, a submarine and a parachute. But Sforza was not interested in this and would not give any funding.Leonardo wrote in Italian using a special kind of shorthand writing he invented himself. He used mirror writing. Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction
Paragraph 4 ~Science and nature
Leonardo had a great interest in nature, plants and animals. He made great discoveries. He worked out how to tell the age of a tree by counting the rings.he also had a fascination in people and the human body. If he saw an interesting face in the street, he would draw it in his notebook. Sometimes he followed the person home. So that he could finish The drawing. He dissected more than 30 bodies of men and women in order to study the human form more closely
Paragraph 5 ~ later life
When a French army Captain Milan, Leonardo had to leave. He went to Florence and Rome, but younger artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael were more popular than he was. The king of France invited Leonardo To France to work for him. He died there three years later. Leonardo was a true Renaissance man. He had great abilities in lots of different areas and a wide range of interests in all aspects of humanity.
