Renaissance - Da Vinci Flashcards
What time period is da Vinci associated with
High renaissance, 1500s, Cinquecento
When and where was he born
Born in 1452
Town of Vinci, in Tuscany, Italy
He was a radical. What was that
He disagreed with the authorities of the time
How many painting did he make
15
He was a polymath. What was that
Someone who was skilled in many things
What was da Vinci highly skilled in
Scientist, sculptor, artist, musician, inventor, architect, anatomist, botanist, geologist
What are common techniques he used in his paintings
Chiaroscuro Sfumato Triangular composition Atmospheric perspective Linear perspective Balanced harmonious composition Carefully proportioned sculptural figures Precise detailed drawings Pictures lit from one light source Tone more important than colour Slowly executed layers of paint and transparent glazes Gestures and facial expression used to dramatise a story
What is common subject matter of his paintings
Religion (the last supper, the lady on the rocks)
Portraits of women (Mona Lisa, the lady with the ermine)
What did Leonardo believe about distance and colour
He believed that the closer an object was the truer it’s colour and the further away it got the object appeared bluer.
What did he do to find out why distance changed the colour of objects
Experiments with smoke and vapor
Leonardo kept a notebook. Give some information about it
He wrote backwards (from right to left instead of from left to write)
He had drawings of inventions
He believed in drawing and writing
He was ahead of his time (sketches of machinery that wasn’t manufactured for years after)
What did KC say about Leonardo
“the most relentlessly curious man at ever lived”
What did Leonardo observe
People, animals, landscape (in great detail)
Give a quote to back up how Leonardo was a polymath
“Learning Never exhausts the mind” - Leonardo
Give a quote that backs up his belief in freedom of expression and thought
“Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art” - Leonardo
Give a quote that backs up his simpler paintings
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” - Leonardo
Give a quote that backs up/describes his sketchbook
“Art is never finished, only abandoned” - Leonardo
Discuss Leonardo and anatomy
Dissected more than 30 corpses in his lifetime
Left the Vatican to avoid persecution
Layer the foundation for modern scientific illustration
First known artist to draw the bones of the hand and the muscles of the facial structure correctly
Some of his studies are still used in medical books today
Dissected a 100 year old man to see how his body worked and how he lived so long
Quote to describe how Leonardo felt that art is individual
“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt. Poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen” - Leonardo
Who taught Leonardo
Andrea del verrocchio
Describe his apprenticeship
Learned superb craftsmanship - painting and sculpting
Said to have painted the angel in the lower left hand corner of the painting the “baptism of Christ”
What is the name of the first art history book and what does it say
Vasari
Says that after verrocchio saw the excellence of his young students work he never painted again
What type of things was Leonardo curious about
Nature and the human body (weather/water/plants/human/anatomy)
What did Leonardo invent and study
Invented machinery
Studied the Bible as Giotto had done before
What happened to Leonardo’s sculptures and architecture
None remains that we can definitely acquire to Leonardo
Hunt museum in limerick displays what is believed to be one of his bronze horses
What themes are associated with Leonardo’s work
Religion
Portraiture
Family
What did Leonardo invent in terms of technique
Aerial / atmospheric perspective
He was obsessed with the way things got bluer in the distance when you looked at nature
What is Leonardo sometimes called
The universal man
Who were Leonardo’s patrons
Medici Family
Pope Leo x
French king, Francis I
Leonardo’s choice of media
Fresco - the last supper Tempera - the last supper Oils - the last supper/Mona Lisa Pen and ink - notebooks Clay/bronze - horses/human figures
What is sfumato
Allowing tones and colors to gradually face into each other creating softened outlines or hazy tones
Smokey effect
What is chiaroscuro
Dramatic contrasts between light and dark
What is contrapposto
Gentle twist in the body
One half of the body is facing one way and the other half is facing the other way
What is aerial perspective
Creating the illusion of depth in a painting by modulating colors
