Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci, Italy in 1452. He apprenticed under the artist Andrea del Verrocchio and by age 20 had surpassed his master's abilities. Da Vinci excelled at many disciplines including painting, sculpture, engineering, science and more. Some of his most famous works include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Da Vinci kept thousands of pages of notes on his many interests but often used mirror writing, making his writings difficult to decipher. He was also known for frequently not completing his many ambitious projects.
4. Early Life
Leonardo was born in Vinci, a
short distance from Florence.
His father married four times and
had 11 children – but Leonardo
was 20 before the 2nd
child was
born
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5. Training
• His father apprenticed
him to Andrea del
Verrocchio (True Eyes) in
Florence.
• Leonardo was likely the
model for Verocchio’s
David.
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6. A Young Master
By the age of 20 he
surpassed his master,
painting The Baptism of
Christ in 1472.
It is rumored that Verrochio
never painted again after
this.
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7. A Young Master
• By 1474 he had
his own
workshop,
producing The
Adoration of the
Magi, which
artists studied
from his time
onward.
Preliminary Sketch for the painting
The Adoration of the Magi
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8. A Genius Man
• There was little that Leonardo
did not excel at.
• He was a painter, a sculptor, an
engineer, a musician, a singer, a
mathematician, a physicist, a
botanist, an anatomist, a
cartographer, a geologist, a
geographer, a poet, a town
planner and an athlete.
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9. A Universal Man
• He always wanted to
write a treatise on
painting (like Alberti),
but never did.
• He seems to have not
mastered Latin, the
language of
scholarship.
• - or perhaps he was
simply too busy.
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10. Mona Lisa
• Leonardo Da Vinci painted
the Mona Lisa on a piece of
pine wood in the year 1506.
Never in the history of Art
has one painting been so
admired. This is due largely
to the enigmatic smile,
which has caused much
speculation. Some people
have even suggested that it
is a self-portrait.
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11. The Last Supper
idered by many to be
ardo’s greatest
ing, The Last Supper
oys all of his
omical work in the
essions of Christ and
postles.
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12. The Notebooks
• Leonardo kept notes on
everything.
• Around 5,000 pages still
exist.
• However, he used
mirror-writing to ensure
privacy while and after
he wrote.
• More mundanely,
perhaps he did so
because he was left
handed and found this
easier.
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13. The Codes
onardo wrote in Italian using a special kind of
rthand that he invented himself. People who study
notebooks have long been puzzled by something
e, however. He usually used "mirror writing,"
rting at the right side of the page and moving to the
. Only when he was writing something intended for
er people did he write in the normal direction.
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14. Poor Completion Record
• He had a reputation for
not completing works.
• Involved in so many
things, he could not
manage his time.
• When given the
commission for the Virgin
of the Rocks, he promised
it within 7 months but did
not deliver it until 25
years later.
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