Sculptures by Leonardo da Vinci. The Da Vinci Horse is an unusual masterpiece story. He was not the best role model

Reliable sculptures by Leonardo da Vinci have not been preserved at all. But we have a huge number of his drawings. These are either separate sheets, which are complete graphic works, or, most often, sketches interspersed with his notes. Leonardo drew not only designs of various mechanisms, but also captured on paper what his sharp, penetrating eye of the artist and sage revealed to him in the world. He, perhaps, can be considered perhaps the most powerful, the sharpest draftsman in all the art of the Italian Renaissance, and already in his time, many, apparently, understood this.

“... He made drawings on paper,” writes Vasari, “with such virtuosity and so beautifully that there was no artist who would equal him ... With a freehand drawing, he knew how to convey his ideas so perfectly that he won with his themes and led to embarrassment with his ideas, even the most proud talents ... He made models and drawings that showed the ability to easily tear down mountains and bore them with passages from one surface to another ... He wasted precious time on the image of a complex interweaving of shoelaces so that it all seemed continuous from one end to the other. to another and forms a closed whole.

This last remark by Vasari is particularly interesting. Perhaps the people of the XVI century. believed that famous artist wasted his precious time on such exercises. But in this drawing, where the continuous interweaving is introduced into the strict framework of the planned order, and in those where he depicted some kind of whirlwinds or a flood with raging waves, himself thoughtfully contemplating these whirlwinds and this whirlpool, he tried to decide whether or only to raise questions more important than which, perhaps, there is none in the world: the fluidity of time, perpetual motion, the forces of nature in their formidable emancipation, and the hope of subordinating these forces to human will.

He painted from nature or created images born of his imagination: rearing horses, violent fights and the face of Christ, full of meekness and sadness; marvelous female heads and terrible caricatures of people with bulging lips or monstrously overgrown noses; features and gestures of those sentenced to death or corpses on the gallows; fantastic bloodthirsty beasts and human bodies the most beautiful proportions; sketches of hands, in his rendering as expressive as faces; trees close by, with each petal carefully drawn out, and trees in the distance, where only their general outlines are visible through the haze. And he painted himself.

Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sculptor and architect, singer and musician, poet-improviser, art theorist, theater director and fabulist, philosopher and mathematician, engineer, mechanical inventor, forerunner of aeronautics, hydraulic engineer and fortifier, physicist and astronomer, anatomist and optician , biologist, geologist, zoologist and botanist. But this list is far from exhaustive of his activities.

Leonardo achieved true fame, universal recognition by completing the clay model of the equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza, i.e. when he was forty years old. But even after that, orders did not fall on him, and he still had to persistently seek the application of his art and knowledge.

Vasari writes:

“Among his models and drawings was one, by means of which he explained to all reasonable citizens, then at the head of Florence, his plan to raise the Florentine church of San Giovanni. It was necessary, without destroying the church, to bring a ladder under it, and with such convincing arguments he accompanied his idea that this matter really seemed to be possible, although, parting with him, everyone inwardly recognized the impossibility of such an undertaking.

This is one of the reasons for Leonardo's failure in the search for possible ways to apply his knowledge: the grandiosity of his ideas, which frightened even the most enlightened contemporaries, the grandeur that delighted them, but only as a brilliant fantasy, as a game of the mind.

Leonardo's main rival was Michelangelo, and the victory in their competition was for the latter. At the same time, Michelangelo tried to prick Leonardo, to make him feel as painfully as possible that he, Michelangelo, was superior to him in real, generally recognized achievements.

“Just as a well-lived day brings peaceful sleep, so a life lived well brings peaceful death.”

Leonardo da Vinci(ital. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, April 15, 1452, the village of Anchiano, near the town of Vinci, near Florence) - Painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist, all this is Leonardo da Vinci. Wherever such a person turns, his every action is so divine that, leaving behind him all other people, he is something given to us by God, and not acquired by human art. Leonardo da Vinci. Great, mysterious, attractive. So distant and so modern. Like a rainbow, bright, mosaic, multi-colored fate of the master. His life is full of wanderings, meetings with amazing people and events. How much has been written about him, how much has been published, but it will never be enough.

The mystery of Leonardo begins with his birth, in 1452 on April 15 in a town west of Florence. He was illegal born son a woman about whom almost nothing is known. We do not know her last name, age, or appearance, we do not know whether she was smart or stupid, whether she studied or not. Biographers call her a young peasant woman. Let it be so. Much more is known about Leonardo's father, Piero da Vinci, but also not enough. He was a notary and came from a family that settled in Vinci at least in the thirteenth century. Leonardo was brought up in his father's house. His education evidently was that of any boy from a good family who lives in a small town: reading, writing, beginning mathematics, Latin. His handwriting is amazing, He writes from right to left, the letters are reversed so that the text is easier to read with a mirror. In later years, he was fond of botany, geology, observing the flight of birds, the play of sunlight and shadow, the movement of water. All this testifies to his curiosity and also to the fact that in his youth he spent a lot of time in the fresh air, walking around the outskirts of the town. These neighborhoods, which have changed little over the past five hundred years, are now almost the most picturesque in Italy. The father noticed and taking into account the high flight of his son's talent in art, one fine day selected several of his drawings, took them to Andrea Verrocchio, who was his great friend, and urged him to say whether Leonardo would achieve any success by taking up drawing. . Struck by the huge inclinations that he saw in the drawings of the novice Leonardo, Andrea supported Ser Piero in his decision to devote him to this matter and immediately agreed with him that Leonardo enter his workshop, which Leonardo did more than willingly and began to practice not only in one area, but in all those where the drawing enters.

Early period of creativity. Leonardo's first dated work (1473, Uffizi) is a small sketch of a river valley seen from a gorge; on one side is a castle, on the other - a wooded hillside. This sketch, made with quick strokes of the pen, testifies to the artist's constant interest in atmospheric phenomena, about which he later wrote extensively in his notes. landscape depicted with high point view overlooking the floodplain, was a common device for Florentine art of the 1460s (although it always served only as a background for paintings). A silver pencil drawing of an ancient warrior in profile shows Leonardo's full maturity as a draftsman; it skillfully combines weak, sluggish and tense, elastic lines and attention to surfaces gradually modeled by light and shadow, creating a lively, quivering image.

Leonardo da Vinci was not only a great painter, sculptor and architect, but also a brilliant scientist who studied mathematics, mechanics, physics, astronomy, geology, botany, anatomy and physiology of humans and animals, consistently pursuing the principle of experimental research. In his manuscripts there are drawings of flying machines, a parachute and a helicopter, new designs and screw-cutting machines, printing, woodworking and other machines, anatomical drawings that are accurate, thoughts related to mathematics, optics, cosmology (the idea of the physical homogeneity of the universe) and other sciences.

By 1480, Leonardo was already receiving large orders, but in 1482 he moved to Milan. In a letter to the ruler of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, he introduced himself as an engineer and military expert, as well as an artist. The years spent in Milan were filled with varied pursuits. Leonardo painted several paintings and the famous fresco The Last Supper, which has come down to us in a dilapidated form. He painted this composition on the wall of the refectory of the Milanese monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Striving for the greatest colorful expressiveness in wall painting, he made unsuccessful experiments with paints and ground, which caused its rapid damage. And then the crude restorations and the soldiers of Bonaparte completed the job. After the occupation of Milan by the French in 1796. The refectory was turned into a stable, the fumes of horse manure covered the paintings with thick mold, and the soldiers who entered the stable amused themselves by throwing bricks at the heads of Leonard's figures. Fate turned out to be cruel to many of the creations of the great master. Meanwhile, how much time, how much inspired art and how much fiery love Leonardo invested in the creation of this masterpiece. But despite this, even in a dilapidated state, " The Last Supper"makes an indelible impression. On the wall, as if overcoming it and taking the viewer into the world of harmony and majestic visions, the ancient gospel drama of deceived trust unfolds. And this drama finds its resolution in the general impulse, striving for the main acting person- a husband with a mournful face, who accepts what is happening as inevitable. Christ had just said to his disciples, "One of you will betray me." The traitor sits with the others; the old masters depicted Judas seated separately, but Leonardo brought out his gloomy isolation much more convincingly, shrouding his features with a shadow. Christ is submissive to his fate, full of consciousness of the sacrifice of his feat. His tilted head with lowered eyes, the gesture of his hands are infinitely beautiful and majestic. A charming landscape opens through the window behind his figure. Christ is the center of the whole composition, of all that whirlpool of passions that rage around. His sadness and calmness are, as it were, eternal, natural - and this is the deep meaning of the drama shown.

The undated painting of the Annunciation (mid-1470s, Uffizi) was only attributed to Leonardo in the 19th century; perhaps it would be more correct to consider it as the result of a collaboration between Leonardo and Verrocchio. It has several weak points, for example, a too sharp perspective reduction of the building on the left or a poorly developed scale ratio of the figure of the Mother of God and the music stand. Otherwise, however, especially in the subtle and soft modeling, as well as in the interpretation of a foggy landscape with a mountain looming in the background, the picture belongs to the hand of Leonardo; this can be inferred from studying it more late works. The question of whether the compositional idea belongs to him remains open.

In Milan, Leonardo began making recordings; around 1490 he focused on two disciplines: architecture and anatomy. He made sketches of several variants of the design of the central-domed temple (an equal-ended cross, the central part of which is covered by a dome) - a type of architectural structure that he had previously recommended Alberti for the reason that it reflects one of the ancient types of temples and is based on the most perfect shape - a circle. Leonardo drew a plan and perspective views of the entire structure, in which the distribution of masses and the configuration of the internal space are outlined. Around this time, he obtained a skull and made a cross section, opening the sinuses of the skull for the first time. The notes around the drawings indicate that he was primarily interested in the nature and structure of the brain. Of course, these drawings were intended for purely research purposes, but they are striking in their beauty and similarity with the sketches of architectural projects in that they both depict partitions separating parts of the interior space. In addition to all this, he did not spare his time, even to the point that he drew ties from the ropes in such a way that it was possible to trace from one end to the other all their interlacing, which at the end filled the whole circle. One of these drawings, the most complex and very beautiful, can be seen in the engraving, and in the middle of it are the following words: Leonardus Vinci Academia.

He was not only a genius in art, but also very pleasant in communication, which attracted the souls of people. Having, one might say, nothing and working little, he always kept servants and horses, whom he loved very much, preferably over all other animals, proving this by the fact that often, passing through those places where birds were traded, he took them out with his own hands. cells and, having paid the seller the price he demanded, set them free, restoring their lost freedom. For which nature decided to favor him by the fact that wherever he turned his thoughts, his mind and his daring, he showed so much divinity in his creations that no one could ever equal him in the ability to bring to perfection his inherent spontaneity, liveliness, kindness, attractiveness and charm.

Mature period of creativity. Brought him the first commission in 1483, it was the manufacture of part of the altarpiece for the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception - Madonna in the Grotto (Louvre; the attribution of a later version to Leonardo from the London National Gallery is disputed). The kneeling Mary looks at the Christ Child and the little John the Baptist, while the angel pointing at John looks at the viewer. The figures are arranged in a triangle, in the foreground. It seems that the figures are separated from the viewer by a light haze, the so-called sfumato (vague and fuzzy contours, soft shadow), which now becomes feature painting by Leonardo. Behind them, in the semi-darkness of the cave, stalactites and stalagmites and slowly flowing waters shrouded in mist are visible. The landscape seems fantastic, but Leonardo's statement that painting is a science should be remembered. As can be seen from the drawings, simultaneous with the picture, he was based on careful observations of geological phenomena. This also applies to the depiction of plants: one can not only identify them with a certain species, but also see that Leonardo knew about the property of plants to turn towards the sun.

Activities of Leonardo in the first decade of the 16th century. was as diverse as in other periods of his life. At this time the picture was created Madonna with Child and St. Anna, and around 1504 Leonardo began work on his famous painting Mona Lisa, portrait of the wife of a Florentine merchant. This portrait is a further development of the type that appeared in Leonardo's earlier: the model is depicted to the waist, in a slight turn, the face is turned towards the viewer, the folded hands limit the composition from below and are as beautiful as the slight smile on her face and the primitive rocky landscape in the misty distance. Gioconda is known as the image of a mysterious, even fatal woman, but this interpretation belongs to the 19th century. It is more likely that for Leonardo this painting was the most difficult and successful exercise in the use of sfumato, and the background of the painting is the result of his research in the field of geology. Mona Lisa was created at a time when Leonardo was so absorbed in the study of the structure of the female body, anatomy and the problems associated with childbearing that it is almost impossible to separate his artistic and scientific interests. During these years, he sketched a human embryo in the uterus and created the last of several versions of Leda's painting based on the ancient myth of the birth of Castor and Pollux from the union of the mortal girl Leda and Zeus, who took the form of a swan. Leonardo was engaged in comparative anatomy and was interested in analogies between all organic forms. Leonardo invented the principle of scattering (or sfumato). The objects on his canvases do not have clear boundaries: everything, as in life, is blurry, penetrates one into another, which means it breathes, lives, awakens fantasy. The Italian advised one to practice this scattering, looking at spots on the walls arising from dampness, ashes, clouds or dirt. He deliberately smoked the room where he worked in order to look for images in clubs. Thanks to the sfumato effect, a flickering smile of the Gioconda appeared, when, depending on the focus of the gaze, it seems to the viewer that the heroine of the picture either smiles gently or grins predatory. The second miracle of Mona Lisa is that she is "alive". Over the centuries, her smile changes, the corners of her lips rise higher. In the same way, the Master mixed the knowledge of different sciences, so his inventions find more and more applications over time. From the treatise on light and shadow come the beginnings of the sciences of penetrating power, oscillatory motion, and the propagation of waves. All of his 120 books have scattered (sfumato) around the world and are gradually being revealed to humanity.

Leonardo was never in a hurry to finish a work, for unfinishedness is an obligatory quality of life. To finish means to kill! The slowness of the creator was the talk of the town. He could make two or three strokes and leave the city for many days, for example, to improve the valleys of Lombardy or create an apparatus for walking on water. Almost every one of his significant works is unfinished. Many were spoiled by water, fire, barbaric treatment, but the artist did not correct them. The Master had a special composition, with the help of which he, on the finished picture, seemed to make "windows of incompleteness" on purpose. Apparently, in this way he left a place where life itself could intervene, correct something.

Finally reached old age; having been ill for many months and, feeling the approach of death, he began to diligently study everything related to religion, the true and holy Christian faith. When the king arrived, who used to visit him often and graciously, Leonardo, out of respect for the king, straightened up, sat up on his bed and, telling him about his illness, and about its course. At the same time, he proved how sinful he was before God and before people by the fact that he did not work in art as it should. Then he had a seizure, a harbinger of death, during which the king, rising from his seat, held his head in order to alleviate his suffering and show his favor. His most divine soul, realizing that it could not be more honored, flew away in the arms of this king - in the seventy-fifth year of his life.

Leonardo died at Amboise on May 2, 1519; his paintings by this time were scattered mainly in private collections, and the notes lay in various collections almost in complete oblivion for several more centuries.

The loss of Leonardo beyond measure saddened everyone who knew him, because there was never a person who would bring so much honor to the art of painting. This is a master who truly lived his whole life with great benefit for mankind.

Yes, all his work - solid questions, which can be answered all his life, and will remain for subsequent generations.

List of inventions, both real and attributed Leonardo da Vinci:

Parachute - 1483
wheel lock
Bike
Tank
Lightweight portable bridges for the army
spotlight
Catapult
Robot
double lens telescope

Irina Nikiforova Bibliotekar.Ru

Illustrations: "Leonardo da Vinci Architect" State publishing house of literature on construction and architecture. Moscow 1952

“He was released by nature with a vengeance:
With just a glance, the whole district is striking ... "
(Michelangelo about Leonardo)

Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 near the town of Vinci (hence his surname). Even in early childhood, Leonardo showed himself noticeably in arithmetic, while he studied music, sang beautifully and played the lyre, but most of all his imagination was excited by drawing and modeling. Looking at the drawings of the boy, the well-known painter and sculptor Verrocchio in Florence immediately accepted him as a student in his workshop. And very soon the student surpassed the teacher. Leonardo's range of interests was truly limitless. It included painting, sculpture, architecture, pyrotechnics, engineering, mathematics and science, medicine, and music.

The genius of the Renaissance was a man of encyclopedic knowledge, his whole life was spent in the observation and study of the world around him. Nothing fascinated him so much as nature. The creator of undeniable masterpieces, an inspired artist, he suddenly lost interest in art, leaving his paintings unfinished. His student and biographer Vasari wrote that Leonardo's soul "urged him to seek superiority over perfection, so that any work of his slowed down from an excess of desire."

Contemporaries rank Leonardo da Vinci among the great artists, but he considered himself a scientist. His innate curiosity and craving for science led to amazing discoveries and, as a result, inventions. For example, all modern underwater equipment is based on the ideas of da Vinci, it was he who first invented and described a device for diving under water, as well as a breathing apparatus that can be used for scuba diving. He studied hydraulics, the laws of fluids, developed the theory of sewage ports and locks, always testing hypotheses in practice. He devoted much of his time to the development of aircraft, and his numerous drawings of a fully controlled airplane and a vertical take-off and landing vehicle survive. In the structure of man, he was interested in absolutely everything, he worked especially fruitfully on the study of the human eye. Among his notes are the most valuable observations on anatomy, sketches, drawings. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with many inventions far ahead of his time.

He had devoted students, including Raphael and Michelangelo. He spoke with the same dignity and attention to the interlocutor with common people and with all-powerful sovereigns. And as soon as he spoke, everyone around fell silent: Leonardo was a wonderful storyteller, thanks to him many parables and legends have come down to us, most of which are defined as folk art without an author.

The sculpture of Leonardo da Vinci has replenished the collection of great monuments on the territory of ETNOMIR. Before us is the harmonious personality of the creator, a beautiful, insightful and strong-willed man. Leonardo valued freedom above all else and did not understand how a person could combine his freedom with keeping birds in cages. Traders in the market always rejoiced at the arrival of Leonardo, he bought all the birds from them, immediately releasing them into the wild. It was this moment that the sculptor Alexei Leonov depicted in the bronze portrait of the great representative of the Renaissance.

As part of educational activities aimed at strengthening peace, friendship and harmony between peoples, the International Charitable Public Foundation "Dialogue of Cultures - United World" erects monuments to great figures of science and art around the world. The monument to Leonardo da Vinci occupies a place of honor on the pedestal between the pavilions "Around the World" and, and with the opening of the ethno-court of Italy, it will be installed on its territory.

Italian painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, engineer.

Combining the development of new means of artistic language with theoretical generalizations, Leonardo da Vinci created an image of a person that meets the humanistic ideals of the High Renaissance. In the painting "The Last Supper" (1495-1497, in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan), a high ethical content is expressed in strict patterns of composition, a clear system of gestures and facial expressions of characters.

Humanistic ideal female beauty embodied in the portrait of Mona Lisa ("La Gioconda", circa 1503). Numerous discoveries, projects, experimental research in the field of mathematics, natural sciences, mechanics. Defended the decisive experience in the knowledge of nature notebooks and manuscripts, about 7 thousand sheets).

Leonardo was born into the family of a wealthy notary. He was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl.; was brought up in his father's house and, being the son of an educated man, received a thorough primary education in reading, writing and counting.

Perhaps in 1467 (at the age of 15) Leonardo was apprenticed to one of the leading masters early renaissance in Florence, Andrea del Verocchio. In 1472, Leonardo joined the guild of artists, having studied the basics of drawing and other necessary disciplines. In 1476 he was still working in Verrocchio's workshop, apparently in collaboration with the master himself.

The methods of work in the Florentine workshop of that time, where the artist's work was closely associated with technical experiments, as well as acquaintance with the astronomer P. Toscanelli, contributed to the emergence of young Leonardo's scientific interests. In his early works (the head of an angel in the Baptism by Verrocchio, after 1470, the Annunciation, circa 1474, both in the Uffizi, the Benois Madonna, circa 1478, the Hermitage) enriches the traditions of Quattrocento painting, emphasizing the smooth volume of forms with soft chiaroscuro, enlivening faces thin, barely perceptible smile.

After the expulsion of Lodovico Sforza from Milan by the French in 1499, Leonardo left for Venice, visiting Mantua on the way, where he participated in the construction of defensive structures, and then returned to Florence; it is reported that he was so absorbed in mathematics that he did not want to think about picking up a brush. For twelve years, Leonardo constantly moved from city to city, working for the famous Cesare Borgia in Romagna, designing defenses (never built) for Piombino. In Florence he entered into a rivalry with Michelangelo; this rivalry culminated in the enormous battle compositions that the two artists painted for Palazzo della Signoria (also Palazzo Vecchio). Then Leonardo conceived a second equestrian monument, which, like the first, was never created. All these years, he continued to fill his notebooks with a variety of ideas on subjects as diverse as the theory and practice of painting, anatomy, mathematics, and the flight of birds. But in 1513, as in 1499, his patrons were expelled from Milan.

Leonardo went to Rome, where he spent three years under the auspices of the Medici. Depressed and distressed by the lack of material for anatomical research, Leonardo fiddled with experiments and ideas that led nowhere.

French, first Louis XII , and then Francis I , admired the works of the Italian Renaissance, especially last supper Leonardo. Therefore, it is not surprising that in 1516 Francis I , well aware of the various talents of Leonardo, invited him to the court, which was then located in the castle of Amboise in the Loire Valley. Although Leonardo worked on hydraulic projects and plans for a new royal palace, it is clear from the writings of the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini that his main occupation was the honorary position of court sage and adviser. Leonardo died at Amboise on May 2, 1519; his paintings by this time were scattered mainly in private collections, and the notes lay in various collections almost in complete oblivion for several more centuries.

"The Last Supper"

In the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Leonardo creates the painting “The Last Supper” (1495-97; due to the risky experiment that the master went through, using oil mixed with tempera for the fresco, the work has come down to us in a very damaged form). The high religious and ethical content of the image, which presents the stormy, contradictory reaction of Christ's disciples to his words about the coming betrayal, is expressed in clear mathematical patterns of the composition, imperiously subjugating not only the painted, but also the real architectural space. The clear stage logic of facial expressions and gestures, as well as the excitingly paradoxical, as always with Leonardo, combination of strict rationality with an inexplicable mystery made The Last Supper one of the most significant works in the history of world art.

Being also engaged in architecture, Leonardo develops various versions of the "ideal city" and the central-domed temple. The following years the master spends in constant travel (Florence - 1500-02, 1503-06, 1507; Mantua and Venice - 1500; Milan - 1506, 1507-13; Rome - 1513-16). From 1517 he lives in France, where he was invited by King Francis I.

"Battle of Angyari". Gioconda (Portrait of Mona Lisa)

In Florence, Leonardo is working on a painting in the Palazzo Vecchio ("The Battle of Anghiari", 1503-1506; not finished and not preserved, known from copies from cardboard, as well as from a recently discovered sketch - a private collection, Japan), which stands at the origins of the battle genre in the art of modern times; the deadly fury of war is embodied here in the frenzied battle of horsemen.

In the most famous painting Leonardo's portrait of the Mona Lisa (the so-called "La Gioconda", circa 1503, Louvre), the image of a wealthy townswoman appears as a mysterious personification of nature as such, without losing purely feminine cunning; The internal significance of the composition is given by the cosmically majestic and at the same time disturbingly alienated landscape, melting in a cold haze.

Later paintings

The later works of Leonardo include: projects of the monument to Marshal Trivulzio (1508-1512), the painting "Saint Anna with Mary and the baby Christ"(about 1500-1507, Louvre). The latter, as it were, sums up his searches in the field of light-air perspective, tonal color (with a predominance of cool, greenish hues) and harmonic pyramidal composition; at the same time, this is harmony over the abyss, since a group of holy characters, soldered by family closeness, is represented on the edge of the abyss. Leonardo's last painting, "Saint John the Baptist" (circa 1515-1517, ibid.), is full of erotic ambiguity: the young Forerunner here does not look like a holy ascetic, but like a tempter full of sensual charm. In a series of drawings depicting a universal catastrophe (the cycle with the "Flood", Italian pencil, pen, circa 1514-1516, Royal Library, Windsor), reflections on the frailty and insignificance of man in front of the power of the elements are combined with rationalistic ones, anticipating the "vortex" cosmology R. Descartes ideas about the cyclic nature of natural processes.

"Treatise on Painting"

The most important source for studying the views of Leonardo da Vinci are his notebooks and manuscripts (about 7 thousand sheets), written in colloquial Italian. The master himself did not leave a systematic presentation of his thoughts. "Treatise on Painting", prepared after the death of Leonardo by his student F. Melzi and had a great influence on the theory of art, consists of passages largely arbitrarily taken from the context of his notes. For Leonardo himself, art and science were inextricably linked. Giving the palm to painting in the “dispute of the arts” as the most intellectual, in his opinion, type of creativity, the master understood it as a universal language (similar to mathematics in the field of sciences), which embodies the entire diversity of the universe through proportions, perspective and chiaroscuro. “Painting,” Leonardo writes, “is a science and the legitimate daughter of nature ..., a relative of God.” By studying nature, the perfect naturalist thereby comes to know the "divine mind" hidden under appearance nature. Involving in creative competition with this divine-intelligent principle, the artist thereby affirms his likeness to the supreme Creator. Since he "has first in his soul and then in his hands" "everything that exists in the universe", he is also "a kind of god."

Leonardo is a scientist. Technical projects

How the scientist and engineer Leonardo da Vinci enriched almost every field with insightful observations and conjectures knowledge of that time, considering his notes and drawings as sketches for a giant natural-philosophical encyclopedia. He was a prominent representative of the new natural science based on experiment. Leonardo paid special attention to mechanics, calling it the "paradise of mathematical sciences" and seeing in it the key to the secrets of the universe; he tried to determine the coefficients of sliding friction, studied the resistance of materials, and was enthusiastically engaged in hydraulics. Numerous hydrotechnical experiments were expressed in innovative designs for canals and irrigation systems. The passion for modeling led Leonardo to amazing technical foresights, far ahead of his time: such are the sketches of projects for metallurgical furnaces and rolling mills, looms, printing, woodworking and other machines, a submarine and a tank, as well as the designs of aircraft and aircraft developed after a thorough study of bird flight. parachute.

Optics

The observations collected by Leonardo on the influence of transparent and translucent bodies on the color of objects, reflected in his painting, led to the establishment of the principles of aerial perspective in art. The universality of optical laws was associated for him with the idea of the uniformity of the universe. He was close to creating a heliocentric system, considering the Earth "a point in the universe." He studied the structure of the human eye, speculating about the nature of binocular vision.

Anatomy, botany, paleontology

In anatomical studies, summarizing the results of autopsies of corpses, laid the foundations of modern scientific illustration in detailed drawings. Studying the functions of organs, he considered the body as a model of "natural mechanics". First described a series of bones and nerves, Special attention devoted to the problems of embryology and comparative anatomy, trying to introduce the experimental method into biology. Having established botany as an independent discipline, he gave classical descriptions of leaf arrangement, helio- and geotropism, root pressure and the movement of plant sap. He was one of the founders of paleontology, believing that the fossils found on the tops of the mountains refute the notion of a "global flood".
Revealing the ideal of the Renaissance "universal man", Leonardo da Vinci was comprehended in the subsequent tradition as a person who most clearly outlined the range of creative quests of the era. In Russian literature, the portrait of Leonardo was created by D.S. Merezhkovsky in the novel "The Resurrected Gods" (1899-1900).

Significance of scientific heritage

the works of any scientist must be considered in comparison with the achievements of his predecessors and contemporaries and in the light of their influence on the subsequent development of science. Due to the secrecy of Leonardo and the discovery of part of his manuscripts only 300 years after they were written, naturally, one does not have to talk about the influence of these notes on the subsequent development of the natural sciences and technology. A serious comparison of the texts of Leonardo da Vinci with the surviving manuscripts and even with the publications of contemporaries and predecessors until the second half of the 20th century. almost never carried out. Professor Truesdell, who was not afraid to challenge traditional views, approached the scientific and technical heritage of Leonardo with an open mind and critically. He pointed out the obvious exaggeration by many modern historians of the depth of a number of Leonardo's statements, the inconsistency, inconsistency and speculation of many of his remarks, the almost complete absence of a description of his own experiments, and the widespread use of borrowed materials. Truesdell stressed the need for a serious historical and critical analysis of Leonardo's notes, comparing their content with other materials of his era, in order to isolate truly original and unambiguously formulated judgments. This is a grandiose work, which is just beginning now and requires highly qualified specialists who own both the relevant natural and technical sciences, and knowledge of medieval printed and manuscript sources.

Unfortunately, we do not know exactly whose works Leonardo read. Mentions of other scientists are extremely rare in him, moreover, he rejected on principle any blind adherence to authorities. In Leonardo there are (as a rule, outside the scientific context) references to Aristotle, Archimedes and Theophrastus - from the ancient authors (IV-III centuries BC), Vitruvius, Heron, Lucretius and Frontinus - the heyday of the Roman Empire (I century BC - I century AD), Sabita ibn Korru - from Arab scientists (IX century), Jordan Nemorarius and Roger Bacon (XIII century), Albert of Saxony, Swainshead and Haytesbury (XIV century), Alberti and Fossambrone (XV century). Almost the only exception in Leonardo's notes was his direct polemic with Albert of Saxony on the movement. However, we do not know what he actually read. This can only be determined by painstakingly comparing Leonardo's notes with the texts of his predecessors and contemporaries, often preserved only in manuscripts.

It is known that in Leonardo there are free retellings of certain authors. So, according to various sources, we know that he was familiar with the teachings of the Parisian school of the XIV century on the nature of movement and the theory of the lever. However, Leonardo did not add anything significant: his statements here are fuzzy and inconsistent. But, perhaps, he was the first who became interested in movement on an inclined plane.

In general, in sections of science that require generalizations, Leonardo does not show much insight, apparently due to poor general natural science training. Where a sharp eye is needed, he is unsurpassed and ingenious. Unprepared for a serious study of the dynamics of processes, he is brilliant in observing their kinematics.

Leonardo's attitude to mathematics is peculiar. The following words are often quoted from his notes: “Let no one who is not a mathematician read me.” It is not clear how to understand this statement and whether it is a transcription of the words of the Greek authors. Elsewhere, Leonardo writes: "Mechanics is the paradise of the mathematical sciences; through it one achieves mathematical fruit." But it must be borne in mind that Leonardo almost did not know mathematics: he added fractions, but he barely knew the rudiments of algebra, he could not solve even the simplest linear equations and used only proportions. Therefore, the above statements about mathematics are, perhaps, purely apologetic in nature.

Leonardo formulated all laws only in the form of simple proportions. Sometimes they could coincide with reality, sometimes not. And it is difficult to judge when he comes to the correct conclusion consciously, and when accidentally.

It is curious, however, that by considering some geometric problems that he could not solve analytically, Leonardo came up with mechanical devices that provided solutions. In terms of what can be considered and designed, he was certainly a genius.

Leonardo constantly talks about experiments, about the need to set them up. But we do not know how often he actually performed them. Leonardo's only remark, indisputably based on experiment, is the assertion that the friction force is proportional to the load, with the coefficient of friction being one quarter. This is the first known and fairly plausible estimate of the coefficient of friction. In this respect, Leonardo certainly anticipated the work of Guillaume Amontons of the late seventeenth century, who is usually credited with discovering the laws of friction.

A large number of Leonardo's notes are devoted to the strength of columns, beams and arches. In support of his judgments, he sometimes refers to an experiment, but more often he suggests that the reader himself be convinced by experience. Leonardo's conclusion that the strength of the supports is inversely proportional to their height is unnatural, although he repeatedly refers to thought experiments. Based on a careful analysis of all the notes on the strength of structures, Truesdell came to the conclusion that Leonardo did not have a single correct result in this area, except for the obvious position that strength is proportional to the section of the column (beam), - the position, a priori intuitively known to any builder.

On the contrary, where knowledge is achieved by observation, Leonardo is brilliantly insightful. So, obviously on the basis of observations, he establishes the break points of arches and vaults when they are loaded. He discovered resonant excitation of vibrations in bells, the appearance of wave patterns on vibrating plates covered with fine dust - phenomena that were described only in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The movement of waters represented a particularly wide field of observation for Leonardo. Here much is noticed by him for the first time. He described the movement of waves on water and, in particular, the propagation of circular waves on the surface and their mutual unhindered passage. He noted the formation of bottom sand ridges in streams and similar ridges due to the action of wind on land. He observed and sketched the trajectories of particles as they flowed out of orifices and through weirs. Remarkable are his schematic sketches of pictures of secondary flows in a liquid when the flow leaves the bottom stage. He observed the movement of water in rivers and, apparently, was the first to note the law of continuity - the inverse proportionality of velocities to cross-sectional areas.

Apparently, Leonardo not only proposed and described a flat slotted tray for studying the movement of fluid, but actually used it to observe flow trajectories by placing suitable tracers in the fluid, for which he used dry grains.

Thus, Leonardo discovered a lot of new things in the movement of waters, although, as always, he did not bring his broad plans to fruition. It is no coincidence that in the middle of the 17th century Cardinal Barberini commissioned to prepare for him, based on the notes of Leonardo da Vinci, the Treatise on the Movement and Measurement of Waters, which has survived to this day, published for the first time in 1826.

Such is Leonardo da Vinci in all his contradictions. He knew how to correctly pose questions, sometimes pointing out possible ways to find solutions. Of course, this was the genius of Leonardo. He did not become a pathfinder in science, but he could have been a guide, if not for his painful secrecy and self-conceit, which deprived the next generations of acquaintance with his notes.

Leonardo da Vinci lived in the era of the formation of a new science, which was emerging just at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. And although he did not lay down any of the trends in the natural sciences of that era, he remains for us the most astute observer of nature, striking with the incredible versatility of his interests and conjectures, intuition and providence.

Leonardo as a person

Leonardo was one of the most legendary and prolific figures of the entire Renaissance. According to some estimates, up to 20,000 publications are devoted to him, of which the vast majority are in the second half of the 20th century. This literature, predominantly of an idolatrous nature, created in society the image of a brilliant artist, sculptor and scientist. The fact that Leonardo was an outstanding painter was recognized during his lifetime, but he also openly claimed the title of engineer and architect and, moreover, was a hidden naturalist, which he did not publicly declare at all. His interests were all-encompassing. They covered all areas of wildlife - anatomy, physiology, biomechanics (the movement of animals and the flight of birds) and botany, as well as geology, orography, meteorology and a wide range of natural sciences - primarily mechanics (including the strength of structures and the movement of water), optics and partly astronomy and chemistry. He also showed a deep interest in technology - mechanical engineering and especially aircraft.

Leonardo was an astute observer: he had a sharp eye, masterfully wielded a pen, fixing everything he saw. Not having received a good education and not fully knowing the language of science of that time - Latin, he wrote thousands of sheets in Italian on various topics, supplementing them with drawings depicting what he saw and independently invented.

Leonardo wrote down all his thoughts in secret writing - in a mirror image, hiding them from others. He had exceptional self-esteem. Let us give, for example, one of his laudatory notes addressed to him, related to an unfeasible aircraft project: “The big bird will begin its first flight from the back of its gigantic swan, filling the universe with amazement, filling all scriptures with rumors about itself, with eternal glory to the nest where it was born!”

According to legend, Leonardo systematically lacked sleep, giving himself entirely to work. His notes have survived only partially, mostly in an unsystematic placer. In them, he asked nature thousands of questions, receiving almost no answer to any of them. He pointed out possible experimental routes to many of the answers, but practically did not use them himself. We find Leonardo repeatedly mentioning grandiose plans for writing treatises on various topics, although he understood their complete unreality. Alas, a brilliant projector, he undertook everything, but he hardly fulfilled even an insignificant fraction of what was planned. Having lived a relatively long life (67 years), he never came close to completing any of his ideas. The inability to set realistic goals was the life tragedy of this great genius.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci is a man of Renaissance art, sculptor, inventor, painter, philosopher, writer, scientist, polymath (universal man).

The future genius was born as a result of a love affair between the noble Piero da Vinci and the girl Katerina (Katarina). According to the social norms of that time, the marriage union of these people was impossible due to the low birth of Leonardo's mother. After the birth of her first child, she was given in marriage to a potter, with whom Katerina lived the rest of her life. It is known that from her husband she gave birth to four daughters and a son.

Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

The first-born Piero da Vinci lived with his mother for three years. Immediately after his birth, Leonardo's father married a rich representative of a noble family, but his legal wife was never able to give birth to an heir. Three years after the marriage, Piero took his son to him and took up his upbringing. Stepmother Leonardo died after 10 years, trying to give birth to an heir. Pierrot remarried, but was quickly widowed again. In total, Leonardo had four stepmothers, as well as 12 paternal half-siblings.

Creativity and inventions of da Vinci

The parent gave Leonardo as an apprentice to the Tuscan master Andrea Verrocchio. During his studies with a mentor, Piero's son learned not only the art of painting and sculpture. Young Leonardo studied the humanities and technical sciences, the skill of leather dressing, the basics of working with metal and chemical reagents. All this knowledge was useful to da Vinci in life.

Leonardo received confirmation of the qualifications of the master at the age of twenty, after which he continued to work under the supervision of Verrocchio. The young artist was involved in small work on the paintings of his teacher, for example, he prescribed background landscapes and clothes. minor characters. Leonardo had his own workshop only in 1476.

Drawing "Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo da Vinci

In 1482, da Vinci was sent by his patron Lorenzo de' Medici to Milan. During this period, the artist worked on two paintings that were never completed. In Milan, Duke Lodovico Sforza enrolled Leonardo in the court staff as an engineer. A high-ranking person was interested in defensive devices and devices for entertaining the court. Da Vinci had the opportunity to develop the talent of an architect and the ability of a mechanic. His inventions turned out to be an order of magnitude better than those offered by contemporaries.

The engineer stayed in Milan under the Duke of Sforza for about seventeen years. During this time, Leonardo painted the paintings “Madonna in the Grotto” and “Lady with an Ermine”, created his most famous drawing “Vitruvian Man”, made a clay model of the equestrian monument of Francesco Sforza, painted the wall of the refectory of the Dominican monastery with the composition “The Last Supper”, made a number of anatomical sketches and drawings of devices.

Leonardo's engineering talent was useful to him after returning to Florence in 1499. He got a job with Duke Cesare Borgia, who counted on da Vinci's ability to create military mechanisms. The engineer worked in Florence for about seven years, after which he returned to Milan again. By that time, he had already completed work on his most famous painting, which is now stored in the Louvre Museum.

The master's second Milan period lasted six years, after which he left for Rome. In 1516, Leonardo went to France, where he spent his last years. On the journey, the master took with him Francesco Melzi, a student and main heir to the artistic style of da Vinci.

Portrait of Francesco Melzi

Despite the fact that Leonardo spent only four years in Rome, it is in this city that the museum named after him is located. In the three halls of the institution you can get acquainted with the devices built according to the drawings of Leonardo, look at copies of paintings, photos of diaries and manuscripts.

The Italian devoted most of his life to engineering and architectural projects. His inventions were both military and peaceful. Leonardo is known as a developer of tank prototypes, an aircraft, a self-propelled cart, a searchlight, a catapult, a bicycle, a parachute, a mobile bridge, a machine gun. Some drawings of the inventor still remain a mystery to researchers.

Drawings and sketches of some of the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci

In 2009, the Discovery TV channel aired a series of films called Da Vinci Apparatus. Each of the ten episodes of the documentary series was dedicated to the construction and testing of mechanisms according to Leonardo's original drawings. The film's technicians tried to recreate the inventions of the Italian genius using materials from his era.

Personal life

The personal life of the master was kept by him in the strictest confidence. For entries in his diaries, Leonardo used a cipher, but even after decoding, the researchers received little reliable information. There is a version that da Vinci's unconventional orientation was the reason for the secrecy.

The basis of the theory that the artist loved men was the guesswork of researchers based on circumstantial facts. At a young age, the artist appeared in a case of sodomy, but it is not known for certain in what capacity. After this incident, the master became very secretive and stingy with comments about his personal life.

Possible lovers of Leonardo include some of his students, the most famous of which is Salai. The young man was endowed with an effeminate appearance and became a model for several paintings by da Vinci. The painting "John the Baptist" is one of the surviving works of Leonardo, for which Salai posed.

There is a version that "Mona Lisa" was also written from this sitter, dressed in a woman's dress. It should be noted that there is some physical similarity between the people depicted in the paintings "Mona Lisa" and "John the Baptist". It remains a fact that da Vinci bequeathed his artistic masterpiece to Salai.

Historians also rank Francesco Melzi as a possible beloved of Leonardo.

There is another version of the secret of the Italian's personal life. There is an opinion that Leonardo had a romantic relationship with Cecilia Gallerani, who, presumably, is depicted in the portrait "Lady with an Ermine". This woman was the favorite of the Duke of Milan, the owner of the literary salon, the patroness of the arts. She introduced the young artist to the circle of Milanese bohemia.

Fragment of the painting "Lady with Ermine"

Among da Vinci's notes, a draft letter was found addressed to Cecilia, which began with the words: "My beloved goddess ...". Researchers suggest that the portrait of the "Lady with an Ermine" was painted with clear signs of unspent feelings for the woman depicted on it.

Some researchers believe that the great Italian did not know carnal love at all. Men and women were not physically attracted to him. In the context of this theory, it is assumed that Leonardo led the life of a monk who did not give birth to descendants, but left a great legacy.

Death and grave

Modern researchers have concluded that the probable cause of the artist's death is a stroke. Da Vinci died at the age of 67 in 1519. Thanks to the memoirs of contemporaries, it is known that by that time the artist was already suffering from partial paralysis. Leonardo could not move his right hand, as researchers believe, due to a stroke in 1517.

Despite the paralysis, the master continued active creative life, resorting to the help of a student of Francesco Melzi. Da Vinci's health was deteriorating, and by the end of 1519 it was already difficult for him to walk without assistance. This evidence is consistent with the theoretical diagnosis. Scientists believe that a second attack of cerebrovascular accident in 1519 completed life path famous Italian.

Monument to Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, Italy

At the time of his death, the master was in the Clos Luce castle near the city of Amboise, where he lived for the last three years of his life. In accordance with Leonardo's will, his body was buried in the gallery of the church of Saint-Florentin.

Unfortunately, the master's grave was devastated during the Huguenot wars. The church, in which the Italian rested, was plundered, after which it fell into severe disrepair and was demolished by the new owner of the Amboise castle, Roger Ducos, in 1807.

After the destruction of the Saint-Florentin chapel, the remains from many graves from different years were mixed and buried in the garden. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, researchers made several attempts to identify the bones of Leonardo da Vinci. Innovators in this matter were guided by the lifetime description of the master and chose the most suitable fragments from the remains found. They have been studied for some time. The work was led by archaeologist Arsen Usse. He also found fragments of a tombstone, presumably from the grave of da Vinci, and a skeleton, in which some fragments were missing. These bones were reburied in the reconstructed tomb of the artist in the chapel of Saint Hubert on the grounds of the Château d'Amboise.

In 2010, a team of researchers led by Silvano Vincheti was about to exhume the remains of a Renaissance master. It was planned to identify the skeleton using genetic material taken from the graves of Leonardo's paternal relatives. Italian researchers failed to obtain permission from the owners of the castle to carry out the necessary work.

In the place where the Church of Saint-Florentin used to be, at the beginning of the last century, a granite monument was erected, marking the four hundredth anniversary of the death of the famous Italian. The reconstructed tomb of the engineer and the stone monument with his bust are among the most popular sights of Amboise.

Secrets of da Vinci paintings

Leonardo's work has occupied the minds of art historians, religious researchers, historians and the public for more than four hundred years. The works of the Italian artist became an inspiration for people of science and creativity. There are many theories that reveal the secrets of da Vinci's paintings. The most famous of them says that when writing his masterpieces, Leonardo used a special graphic code.

With the help of a device of several mirrors, the researchers managed to find out that the secret of the views of the characters from the paintings "La Gioconda" and "John the Baptist" lies in the fact that they are looking at a masked creature resembling an alien alien. The secret cipher in Leonardo's notes was also deciphered using an ordinary mirror.

Mystifications around the work of the Italian genius led to the emergence of a number of works of art, the author of which was the writer . His novels have become bestsellers. In 2006, the film The Da Vinci Code was released, based on the work of the same name by Brown. The film was met with a wave of criticism from religious organizations, but set box office records in its first month of release.

Lost and unfinished works

Not all of the master's works have survived to our time. Works that have not survived include: a shield with a painting in the form of the head of Medusa, a sculpture of a horse for the Duke of Milan, a portrait of the Madonna with a spindle, the painting "Leda and the Swan" and the fresco "Battle of Anghiari".

Modern researchers know about some of the master's paintings thanks to the preserved copies and memoirs of da Vinci's contemporaries. For example, the fate of the original Leda and the Swan is still unknown. Historians believe that the painting may have been destroyed in the mid-seventeenth century on the orders of the Marquise de Maintenon, wife of Louis XIV. Sketches made by Leonardo's hand, and several copies of the canvas made by different artists.

The painting depicted a young naked woman in the arms of a swan, at whose feet babies hatched from huge eggs play. When creating this masterpiece, the artist was inspired by a famous mythical story. It is interesting that the canvas based on the story of the copulation of Leda with Zeus, who took the form of a swan, was written not only by da Vinci.

Leonardo's lifetime rival also painted a picture dedicated to this ancient myth. The painting by Buonarotti suffered the same fate as the work of da Vinci. Paintings by Leonardo and Michelangelo simultaneously disappeared from the collection of the French royal house.

Among the unfinished works of the brilliant Italian, the painting "The Adoration of the Magi" stands out. The canvas was commissioned by the Augustinian monks in 1841, but remained unfinished due to the departure of the master to Milan. The customers found another artist, and Leonardo saw no reason to continue working on the painting.

Fragment of the painting “The Adoration of the Magi”

Researchers believe that the composition of the canvas has no analogues in Italian painting. The painting depicts Mary with the newborn Jesus and the Magi, and behind the backs of the pilgrims are horse riders and the ruins of a pagan temple. There is an assumption that Leonardo depicted in the picture among the men who came to the son of God, and himself at the age of 29 years.

Researcher of religious mysteries Lynn Picknett published the book Leonardo da Vinci and the Brotherhood of Zion in 2009, naming the famous Italian as one of the masters of a secret religious order.
It is believed that da Vinci was a vegetarian. He wore clothes made of linen, neglecting outfits made of leather and natural silk.
A team of researchers plans to isolate Leonardo's DNA from the surviving personal belongings of the master. Historians also claim they are close to finding da Vinci's maternal relatives.
The Renaissance was the time when noble women in Italy were addressed with the words "my mistress", in Italian - "Madonna" (ma donna). In colloquial speech, the expression was reduced to "monna" (monna). This means that the name of the painting "Mona Lisa" can literally be translated as "Madame Lisa".

Raphael Santi called da Vinci his teacher. He visited the studio of Leonardo in Florence, tried to adopt some features of his artistic style. Raphael Santi also called Michelangelo Buonarroti his teacher. The three artists mentioned are considered the main geniuses of the Renaissance.
Australian enthusiasts have created the largest traveling exhibition of the inventions of the great architect. The exposition was developed with the participation of the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Italy. The exhibition has already visited six continents. During its operation, five million visitors were able to see and touch the works of the most famous engineer of the Renaissance.