In modern times, we are creatures of specialization. Artists are no longer scientists; sculptors no longer theorize about nature. However, in the Renaissance, great minds could generalize, and none did so with more flair than Leonardo da Vinci, who designed and made sculptures; planned buildings; conceptualized a flying machine; speculated on human nature and anatomy; and made maps of the known world. The term “Renaissance man” has long meant a person of many interests, and none followed a broader spectrum.
Born in Anchiano, near Vinci, in the republic of Florence, on April 15, 1452, da Vinci was the illegitimate issue of Piero Frusioni di Antonio da Vinci and a peasant woman; as a result, he never used his own last name; instead, he referred to himself in terms of where he came from (Cremante, 2005). Leonardo went to study under Andrea de Verrochio, at the prodigious age of fifteen, and he would work under him for ten years, during which time he was invited to join the Florence painter's guild (Leonardo da Vinci's Life Biography). One of Leonardo's first works was the kneeling angel in Verrochio's painting “The Baptism of Christ.” This angel so badly outshone the rest of the painting that Verrochio walked away from painting for good.
Leonardo's reputation swept him into relationships with the most generous patrons of the time period, including Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, for whom Leonardo painted for seventeen years (Cremante, 2005). Leonardo left his service to work as a military consultant in Venice during the Second Italian War of 1499. Later in his life, Leonardo painted for the French king Francis I. In 1519, he died at his home in Clos Luce (Cremante, 2005). However, his most well-known patron was the Medici family, which sponsored many artists during the European Renaissance period. His time working for the Sforza family, in Milan, was when he completed two of his most famous paintings: “The Last Supper” and “Madonna o the Rocks.” When the French invaded, though, the Sforza family had to flee, and Leonardo returned to Milan, which is where he painted perhaps his best known work – the “Mona Lisa.” After this, he had developed such a reputation that he did not have to commit to work for just one family; instead, he had his choice of sponsors as he moved from project to project, until he went to work for Francis I.
Leonardo was closer to his students than to his peers – and even his relatives, except for his mother. He had a very private personal life, and he never married. No matter what role he was fulfilling at a given time, whether it was scientist, sculptor or painter, he followed his own path. There were some rumors during his lifetime about homosexuality (his mother lived with him all the way up until 1495), but nothing has ever been made certain about the way he lived.
Critically, Leonardo caused a stir in his own time, as he would continue to do throughout the following centuries. While he produced a prolific body of work, many critics have spent a great deal of time looking for an underlying theme for his creations. Because his notes were so disjointed, leading from thought to thought without following a primary idea, he has not been considered a philosopher (Bradley, 1984). Also, while his artistic works are indeed masterful, they do not show a philosophical unity like other, later, painters and sculptors would try to construct. If you analyze the sculptures of artists like Rodin or Alberto Giacometti, you'll see collections of works that follow a particular theme; with the work of Leonardo, he was a generalist – and a brilliant one.
One idea that Leonardo felt consistently was that painting was a superior form of art to other media, including music. As one might imagine, this idea led to significant resistance from those in other fields, as sculptors, architects and musicians all took issue with the alleged inferiority of their own individual art forms. While Leonardo contended that the superiority of painting came from its incorporation of scientific principles, it is hard to argue that the other media do not also incorporate science in their construction.
Looking at some of da Vinci's works, nowhere is more appropriate to begin that the “Mona Lisa.” Painted on poplar wood in oil, this work is most famed for the whimsical smile that graces the model's face – it is this smile that has bewitched viewing audiences for centuries. However, the possible inclusion of barely visible figures in the painting, as well as several questions about the woman who modeled for the painting, and other areas of trivia. For artistically inclined patrons, though, the most fascinating elements of the piece are the wondrous symmetry of the composition, the model's ambiguous facial expression, and its legendary placement in the Louvre in Paris. The composition consists of a pyramidal design. The hands of Mona Lisa are the corner facing outward, and the light that bathes her hands also gives her breast, neck and face a bright aura. She looks unusually alive for a painting subject of that period; Leonardo's secret was a refusal to paint the corners of the eyes and mouth. This painting is also groundbreaking in two other ways: first, she sits in front of a landscape that is clearly staged instead of authentic. Also, the aerial perspective that places the Mona Lisa above her natural surroundings was a new practice in art from those days. Because of the primacy that “Mona Lisa” has in the works of Leonardo, I would place this on a supporting column, in the center of the viewing space. This way, people would walk in and see it immediately; however, I would make it the last stop on an audio tour, to make it the climax.
“The Last Supper” is also a masterwork of composition, with several different sets of lines that end up meeting at the head of Jesus Christ, who is hosting this supper despite the fact that he is about to die. An interesting fact about this painting is that it shows each disciple's reaction based on Jesus' prediction about the ways they would react, when Jesus told them that they had betrayed him. In his notebooks, Leonardo leaves behind the names of the apostles in the painting. The disciples are grouped into three: Bartholomew, James, and Andrew; Judas, Peter and John; Jesus (alone in th emiddle); Thomas, James the Greater and Philip; and Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot. Unlike other representations of this event, Judas is not isolated by sitting by himself or by being the only one without a halo; instead, he merely leans back into shadow, reaching for the same piece of bread that Jesus wants. Jesus is the clear focus of the painting, while all lines heading toward his head. The painting was done on a wall (dry, so it's not an actual fresco). I would place this on the back wall of the exhibit, by itself, behind the column. This way, when visitors entered the second half of the room, it would have its own visual space, and the lines could extend outward from the painting (in the viewer’s eye) to the edges of the walls, even further heightening the composition.
“The Virgin of the Rocks” actually refers to two different paintings by Leonardo, both about the same subject. While the coloring, lighting, and plant life vary, the paintings are very similar – both of them in oil on a panel and moved over to canvas. Prior Bartolomeo Scorlione hired Leonardo to design and paint the panels with this scene. The topic of this painting is an apocryphal meeting between Jesus and John the Baptist, as both are very small children, when Joseph and Mary take baby Jesus and fly with him into Egypt. I would place these two as the second and third stops on the audio tour, on the left wall, but before the column. This would give the viewer two different looks at the same painting, and I would include comparison/contrast information in the audio text.
Many painters took on the concept of the “Adoration of the Magi” – since most painting had a religious theme during that time period, most patrons would want a painting of this subject. The composition of this work owes a debt to the Nordic artist Rogier van der Weyden, whose notions about the ways figures should interact, how the viewer's standpoint can help him, were valuable additions in Leonardo's late years. I would place this as the fourth stop, further down the left wall, past the column. This would build the idea of composition going into “The Last Supper,” which would be the fifth stop.
“Head of a Woman” is one of the most attractive still lifes that Leonardo produced. This idea of “Head of a Woman” was replicated to so many people that it is now a common Halloween party theme. This is one of the first paintings to come out of ancient control, and everyone wants a piece of it – whether for money or for superficial reasons. This would be the first stop, on the left. Because of its popularity, it would engage all levels of knowledge in the exhibit.
“Virgin and Child with Saint Anne” shares the same pyramidal composition as “Mona Lisa,” although with more people. This painting was commissioned for the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence – and it would be one of his more famous costumes when it was done. I would place this as the sixth stop, on the right wall, coming back toward “Mona Lisa,” which would be the seventh stop. The right wall, continuing back toward the entrance from the column, would be where I would put several text boxes and photographs of Leonardo’s sketches and inventions.
The sheer universality shown in da Vinci's interests marks him as a man interested in knowing everything – one of the more attractive notions attached to the promise of the Renaissance.
Works Cited
Bradley, J. (1984). Ruskin: The Critical Heritage. New York: Routledge.
Cremante, S. (2005). Leonardo da Vinci. Florence: Giunti.
The life of Leonardo da Vinci. Web. Retrieved 4 December 2011 from
http://www.leonardo3.net/leonardo/leonardo_eng.htm
