Leonardo+Da+Vinci

**Introduction[[image:da vinci.jpg align="left" caption="Leonardo Da Vinci" link="@http://www.customasapblog.com/leonardo-da-vinci-the-original-renaissance-man"]]**
“There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see” -Leonardo Da Vinci (Napolitano). This is one of the most famous sayings from Leonardo Da Vinci. He saw things in life that other people couldn’t see and his intellect was extraordinary. People call him the Renaissance man because he inspired us in so many ways. From his paintings to his theories and industrial designs, he helped our modern life today. Leonardo is one of the most inspiring, intelligent man that ever lived.

**Personal Background**
The great Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Wedlock (Write 12). “Da Vinci means ‘of Vinci’, the hill-town where he was born” (Napolitano). Leonardo was the son of a prominent attorney and a peasant girl. He had several stepmothers and was raised by Ser Piero, his dad (Zimmerman). He had only a little formal education (Write 7). Leonardo’s intelligence inspired his dad to send him to be an apprentice of a Florentine Artist (Napolitano). He was 14 or 15 when he became Andrea del Verrocchio’s apprentice, the Florentine Artist. Leonardo Da Vinci spent 6 years of his life learning his technical skills (Zimmerman).

Many of Leonardo’s studies and notebooks survive (Ackerman). He wrote 13,000 pages of notes, however in his notes there was little information about his life (Write 5). “His notebooks were full of inventions, from intricate gun parts to bicycles to automobile”. Scholars of Renaissance engineering discovered and use many of Leonardo’s achievements. One of Leonardo’s invention that was produced in his lifetime was the Wheelock (Foley). Throughout his lifetime Leonardo had made claims for experiment, experience, and observation.

Leonardo’s method is visual perception and anatomy, which he approach like a scientist and it help him with his art. He distance himself from scholastics and humanists because he wants to find information he needs to know without other people help (Ackerman). One of the many things people probably doesn’t know about Leonardo Da Vinci was that he was a vegetarian (Write 7). He would buy caged birds only to set them free (Napolitano). Leonardo died on May 2, 1519 in France (Zimmerman). Throughout Leonardo life he had accomplish many things that other people can’t accomplish.

**Personality Traits**
Leonardo was known for being an artist, architect, inventor, and chronicle of science. When he was young he didn’t receive a formal education (Zimmerman). However he still became a masterful painter (Write 7). His interest and intellect got his name the “The Renaissance Man” (Zimmerman). Leonardo was a man with extreme human intellect (Write 9). Da Vinci knew he had potential and he spent his whole life trying to pursue it (Napolitano). “He wanted to experience his life to the fullest”. Leonardo wanted to know everything there is in life (Write 7).

“His curiosity was voracious, and he rarely entered a field without mastering it” (Napolitano). Whenever he works on a subject he looks at it as if it had never been touch before (Napolitano). Leonardo was and empiricist which is someone who base their studies on their own experiments and experience (Ackerman). His art work looked life-like because he was an artist who was able to combine art and science together. Leonardo was the first artist who studied the human body and use his research to make his paintings look realistic (Beam).

People started to know about Leonardo more after his notebooks were found (Foley). Leonardo was open minded to many things. He scoured the world and saw opportunities in everything in life (Napolitano). Leonardo had the gift and patience for intensive observation for his art and scientific studies. Also he made an effort to try to master every field he was in (Ackerman). “He despised humanity but believed that form was the ultimate expression of divine” (Write 7). Leonardo is egalitarian, which means he believes that heaven, earth, man, and beast share and contribute to the same energy (Ackerman).

**Obstacles**
Even though he is intelligent, Leonardo faced many obstacles during his lifetime. Leonardo wouldn’t finish many of his paintings because his other interest would distract him (Zimmerman). He would get into a lot of trouble for not finishing his paintings (Napolitano). One of his project was to make a bronze equestrian statue to honor Francesco Sforza, which he worked on for twelve years but never finished (Zimmerman). Leonardo was not an efficient business man (Write 80).

Leonardo receive little education during his lifetime (Write 7). His low social status made it hard for him to get into a good school (Napolitano). In the beginning of his career he wasn’t able to read words. Also he struggled with Latin and had a hard time improving it (Ackerman). From birthright, Leonardo was excluded from almost all professions (Write 7). Leonardo didn’t have a lot choices on professions because they were blocked to him (Napolitano).

He is always observing but he rarely found the causes and effects of the things he is trying to learn about (Ackerman). Leonardo was disappointed for the achievements he would make during his life (Napolitano). His assistant, Francesco Melzi, says that Leonardo spent his last few years unhappy (Zimmerman). Leonardo regretted that he didn’t accomplish more during his lifetime. Some historians would also say that Leonardo was just a derivative figure which means that they think most of his inventions were copied from other people (Foley).

**Historical Significance**
Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Engineer, Inventor, Musician, Scientist, Mathematician, Anatomist, Geologist, Cartographer, Botanist, and Writer was all the things Leonardo was (Napolitano). The 3 main things he is known for was art, engineering, and science (Write 7). “Leonardo da Vinci lit up the world of the renaissance” (Write xiii). He showed us what the human brain was capable of doing (Napolitano).

Leonardo painted many magnificent paintings and portraits during his life. His best known painting is the “Mona Lisa”. The first painting he was assigned to do was “The Adoration of the Magi” but he never finish it. One of his work a “portrait of a man in red chalk” is believe to be how Leonardo looks like in 1510. His painting “Last Supper” was painted on a dining room wall in Milan (Zimmerman). In his paintings he used his observations to make his paintings look real (Beam).

Leonardo produce a lot of images like the skull and heart while studying anatomical investigation (Ackerman). He experimented with light and shadow to create 3 dimensional pictures (Beam). Leonardo started as a nobody in society and became one of the most famous artist ever (Napolitano). Da Vinci used his artistic imagination and his intellect to his investigation about the world around him (Ackerman).

Leonardo’s inventions weren’t built until hundreds of years after he designed them. Historians found a lot of his original designs and experimental work in his notebooks (Foley). All his observations and everything he analyzed were recorded into his notebooks (Beam). “He was also a technological virtuoso: he designed a helicopter, a tank, a calculator, concentrated solar power, and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics” (Napolitano). Leonardo Da Vinci also helped with designing the bicycle. He used door locks and bicycles parts to create the Wheelock (Foley). “Many of his drawings are considered the initial blueprints for machines that exist today” (Beam). Leonardo was a protoscientist and he used science to make his art. He discovered universal analogies in the behavior of moving matter (Ackerman). Even though he made great discoveries he never published them. To hide his work from everyone he would write shorthand or backwards. “He embodied the spirit of the Renaissance through his intellectual pursuits and desire to use his talents for the good of society” (Beam).

**Reference**
Ackerman, S, James.. "Leonardo da Vinci: Art in science." //Daedalus// 1(1998):207. //eLibrary//. Web. 15 Oct. 2014. **SE#3**

Beam, Liane. "The Original Renaissance Man." //Leonardo Da Vinci//. Faze Magazine.Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

Foley, Vernard., Narashima, Tomo. "Leonardo and the Invention of the Wheellock." //Scientific American 278//. (1998):96-101. //eLibrary//. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. **SE#5**

Good Reads. //2015 Goodreads Inc//. Web. 5 Feb. 2015*

Napolitano, Ann. "Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)". //Ann Napolitano//. 2011. //Annnapolitano.// Web. 10 December 2014. **SE#6**

Write, Micheal. //Leonardo the First Scientist.// Great Britian: Little, Brown, 2000. 369. Print. **SE#2**

Zimmerman,Kim Ann. "Leonardo Da Vinci: Facts & Biography." //LiveScience Contributer//. 2013. //LiveScience.// Web. 15 October 2014.**SE#4**