FREE ESSAY ON LEONARDO DA VINCI

LEONARDO DA VINCI

Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, near the town of Vinci. His artistic talent revealed
itself early, for he was apprenticed in 1469 to a leading Renaissance master. In the
Florence workshop, where he remained until 1476, Leonardo acquired a variety of skills.
He entered the painters guild in 1472, and his earliest works date from this time. Works
such as the Madonna with the carnation which although are traditional, include detail
such as curling hair which only Leonardo could have done. 
In 1478 he was asked to paint an altar piece for the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Three
years later he painted the Adoration of the Magi for the monastery of San Donato a
Scopeto. It is the most important of all his early paintings. In it, Leonardo shows for
the first time his method of organizing figures into a pyramid shape, so that interest is
focused on the principal subject. This project was interrupted when Leonardo left
Florence for Milan about 1482. Leonardo worked for Duke Lodovico Sforza in Milan for
nearly 18 years. Although he was still an artist, painting portraits, he began to become
interested in the mechanic and scientific field. But these interests did not stop him
from completing his most famous work, The last supper.
In 1499 Leonardo left Milan to find another job. For about four years, he switched from
job to job. He returned to Florence in 1503, and attempted several significant artistic
projects, including the Battle of Anghiari mural for the council chamber of the Town
Hall, the portrait of Mona Lisa, and the lost Leda and the Swan. Around this time he
began to become more involved in anatomy and performed some dissections.
Leonardo returned to Milan in June 1506. He was called to work for the new French
government. He remained in Milan for 7 years. The artistic project on which he focused at
this time was the equestrian monument to Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, which was also never
completed. Around this time he became so involved in science that his art became a
reflection of it. In 1516, Leonardo left Italy forever to become the architectural
advisor to King Francis I of France, who greatly admired him. Leonardo died at the age of
67 on May 2, 1519 near Amboise, France. The life and work of the great Italian
Renaissance artist and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci has been fascinating later
generations for years. After his death, he became admired for his art and art theory.
Although now he is also recognized for his contributions to science.