Best artists of all time: Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1512)

Leonardo da Vinci is the most celebrated of all the great Renaissance artists. His works have come to be held in ever greater esteem as the centuries have passed. Interest in the creative oeuvre and personal life of this genius remains as strong as ever.

Leonardo da Vinci has taken up his place in our cultural history as the archetypal ‘Renaissance man’: he was a great painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. He spent the vast majority of his life in Italy, moving between the cities of Florence, Milan and Rome. He spent his final years in France, however, and it was there that he died and was laid to rest.

Leonardo da Vinci was born on 15 April 1452 in the village of Anchiano, near the town of Vinci, which was to be forever associated with the genius’s glory after he took it as his surname. His mother, Caterina, was a simple peasant girl, and his father, Piero, was a notary specializing in wills and testaments. Due to class prejudice, a marriage between his parents was unthinkable.

His father in fact married a noblewoman, but the marriage was childless, so he took the child he had had out of wedlock into his family. Leonardo showed no interest in getting into his father’s profession at all. Seeing that his son was drawn to art, Piero arranged for him to work in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence, Italy’s great intellectual center at the time. With his first and only mentor, Leonardo studied the rudiments of painting and sculpture, mastered the techniques involved in working with an array of materials, and acquired skills in jewelry making. At the age of 20, he qualified as a master in the painters’ guild.

Leonardo da Vinci’s life can be divided into several distinct periods of creativity associated with different cities. His first Florentine period (1464-1482) was followed by:

The first Milanese period (1482-1499)

Da Vinci spent these years at the court of Duke Ludovico Sforza, working as an artist and engineer. He was a consultant in the fields of architecture, military fortifications, hydraulics and mechanics. He had an extensive workshop and many pupils in Milan. His greatest artistic achievement in this period was The Last Supper (1495-1498), which he painted onto the wall of the monastery refectory.

The second Florentine period (1500-1508)

In this period, Leonardo da Vinci acted as an architectural expert on a committee investigating damage to a church. He conducted a large amount of scientific research in mathematics, studied human anatomy in the hospital, engaged in hydrological studies, and examined the flight of birds. His most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, was created during this period.

The second Milanese period (1508-1513)

Leonardo da Vinci was more engaged in scientific research in these years, particularly in the field of anatomy: as an artist, he needed to know as much as he possibly could about the structure of the human body. Among his other interests were mathematics, optics, mechanics, geology and botany.

In the final part of his life da Vinci had a brief spell living in Rome, and then from 1516 onwards he lived in France, after King Francis I invited him to be chief artist, architect and mechanic at his court. In addition to these duties, the great polymath did a lot of editing of his scientific research. After his right hand was afflicted by disease, he began to lose the ability to hold a brush, but he nonetheless managed to sketch costumes, a wide range of devices, and decorations for the palace celebrations.

Leonardo da Vinci died of a stroke on 2 May 1519.

Leonardo da Vinci took up his rightful place in our shared cultural history as a brilliant artist, scientist and engineer. He saw no need for any dividing lines between science and art, believing that it was his scientific pursuits that had made him a good artist. It was the 17 works of art by Leonardo that survived that were to bring him such great, unparalleled renown,  as the founder of the High Renaissance.

The Mona Lisa, or Gioconda, is the most mysterious painting of all time, around which legends have swirled for centuries. The smile on the face of the woman portrayed has remained an enigma down the ages. It has been described as elusive, wandering, demonic; it is said to reflect passions in what is otherwise a passionless image. It seems to disappear just as it flickers into being. Without question, the painting set the gold standard for all future portraits. Today, this masterpiece is housed at the Louvre, in Paris, where it is kept behind bulletproof glass.

The Last Supper was a mural with a turbulent fate. It was destroyed, and then endured several restorations, the last and most extensive of which took place in the twentieth century. Besides the fact that it shows a profound scene from the Gospels, the painting displays Da Vinci’s mastery of the technique of sfumato – creating a smoky effect.

The famous Vitruvian Man drawing shows the ideal proportions of the human figure. They fall into alignment with the shapes of a circle and a square, depending on how a person stands.

The painting Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’), which was rediscovered in the twenty-first century, sold at auction for more than $450 million. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that this sale price stands as a testament to the author’s enduring influence in art through the ages.

Leonardo da Vinci’s scientific endeavor, ingenuity, and inventiveness are revealed in the vast legacy he left behind. His graphic art, sketches and ideas were the fruit of the life of this titan of thought, serving as indisputable proof of his brilliant intellect.

In his scientific and engineering works, this era-defining genius and polymath focused especially on things that might facilitate and simplify human labor.

Among the inventions he designed, familiar to later generations, are the following:

– A blueprint for a metallurgical furnace and rolling mill.

– Designs for submarines, parachutes and bicycles.

– Textile and printing machines, milling equipment, and various tools, including the adjustable spanner.

– Combat vehicles and weapons: a prototype for a modern tank, helicopter, machine gun and multi-barrel cannon.

– A flying machine based on his studies of avian flight.

Many of the genius’s sketched designs were ahead of their time: the level of technological development in the Renaissance period was the only thing that prevented them from being turned into a reality. A number of the brilliant inventor’s drawings remain a mystery even now. Modern-day researchers believe that some of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions provided the impetus for subsequent advancements in mechanics and industry.

Leonardo da Vinci’s legacy is an important part of humanity’s shared cultural treasure trove. The greatness of his works has lived on for centuries and remains undiminished to this day.