[Vasari, "Lives of the Artists". ] ]Portraits
Leonardo's face is best known from a drawing in red chalk that appears to be a self portrait. However, there is some controversy over the identity of the subject, because the man represented appears to be of a greater age than the 67 years lived by Leonardo. A solution which has been put forward is that Leonardo deliberately aged himself in the drawing, as a modern forensic artist might do, in order to provide a model for Raphael's painting of him as Plato in "The School of Athens". A profile portrait in the Ambrosiana Gallery in Milan is generally accepted to be a portrait of Leonardo, and also depicts him with flowing beard and long hair. This image was repeated in the woodcut designed for the first edition of Vasari's "Lives". [Angela Otino della Chiesa, "Leonardo da Vinci", Penguin, 1967, ISBN 0-14-00-8649-8]
Personal habits and talents
Character
Leonardo was a man with great personal appeal, kindness and generosity and was generally well-loved by his contemporaries.
According to Vasari "Leonardo's disposition was so lovable that he commanded everyone's affection". He was "a sparkling conversationalist" who charmed Ludovico il Moro with his wit. Vasari sums him up by saying "In appearance he was striking and handsome, and his magnificent presence brought comfort to the most troubled soul; he was so persuasive that he could bend other people to his will. He was physically so strong that he could withstand violence and with his right hand he could bend the ring of an iron door knocker or a horseshoe as if they were lead. He was so generous that he fed all his friends, rich or poor.... Through his birth Florence received a very great gift, and through his death it sustained an incalculable loss."
Some of Leonardo's personal wisdom is to be found in a series of fables that he wrote. A prevalent theme is the mistake of placing too high esteem upon one's self, and the benefits to be gained through awareness, humility and endeavour.
Child prodigy
Vasari says of the young Leonardo "He would have been very proficient in his early lessons, if he had not been so volatile and flexible; for he was always setting himself to learn a multitude of things, most of which were shortly abandoned. When he began the study of arithmetic, he made, within a few months, such remarkable progress that he could baffle his master with the questions and problems that he raised....All the time, through all his other enterprises, Leonardo never ceased drawing..."
Leonardo's father, Ser Piero, realising that his son's talents were extraordinary, took some of his drawings to show his friend, Andrea del Verrocchio, who ran one of the largest artists' workshops in Florence. Leonardo was accepted for apprenticeship and "soon proved himself a first class geometrician". Vasari says that during his youth Leonardo made a number of clay heads of smiling women and children from which casts were still being made and sold by the workshop some 80 years later. Among his earliest significant known paintings are an Annunciation in the Uffizi, the angel that he painted as a collaboration with Verrocchio in the Baptism of Christ, and a small predella of the Annunciation to go beneath an altarpiece by Lorenzo di Credi. The little predella picture is probably the earliest.
Diverse interests
The diversity of Leonardo's interests, remarked on by Vasari as apparent in his early childhood, was to express itself in his journals which record his scientific observations of nature, his meticulous dissection of corpses to understand anatomy, his experiments with machines for flying, for generating power from water and for besieging cities, his studies of geometry and his architectural plans, as well as personal memos and creative writing including fables.
Musical ability
It appears from Vasari's description that Leonardo first learnt to play the lyre as a child and that he was very talented at improvisation. In about 1479 he created a lyre in the shape of a horses head, which was made "mostly of silver", and of "sonorous and resonant" tone. Lorenzo de'Medici saw this lyre and wishing to better his relationship with Ludovico Sforza, the usurping Duke of Milan, he sent Leonardo to present this lyre to the Duke as a gift. Leonardo's musical performances so far surpassed those of Ludovico's court musicians that the Duke was delighted. Sample [A sample of Leonardo's music can be heard- [http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/link3.htm Leonardo da Vinci's Music] ]
Love of nature
Leonardo always loved nature. One of the reasons was because of his childhood environment. Near his childhood house were mountains, trees, and rivers. There were also many animals. This environment gave him the perfect chance to study the surrounding area; it also may have encouraged him to have interest in painting. The two earliest memories of his childhood were of a kite hovering over his cradle, and of a cave in the woods. [Bortolon]
Edward MacCurdy wrote:
"…The mere idea of permitting the existence of unnecessary suffering, still more that of taking life, was abhorrent to him. Vasari tells, as an instance of his love of animals, how when in Florence he passed places where birds were sold he would frequently take them from their cages with his own hand, and having paid the sellers the price that was asked would let them fly away in the air, thus giving them back their liberty." [Edward MacCurdy, "The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci" (1928), quoted at [http://www.ivu.org/history/davinci/hurwitz.html Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism] ]
Vegetarianism
Leonardo loved animals and has been consistently described, since the 16th century, as refusing to eat meat. This is mentioned in a letter by Andrea Corsali to Guiliano de' Medici, a patron of Leonardo and son of Lorenzo de' Medici. The relevant passage, translates as:
"Certain infidels called Guzzarati [Hindus] do not feed upon anything that contains blood, nor do they permit among them any injury be done to any living thing, like our Leonardo da Vinci."
Eugene Muntz wrote, "It appears from Corsali’s letter that Leonardo ate no meat, but lived entirely on vegetables, thus forestalling modern vegetarians by several centuries."
Leonardo loved animals so much that he even refused to drink milk. He once said:
"Of the beasts from whom cheese is made, the milk will be taken from the tiny children." [Eugene Muntz, "Leonardo da Vinci Artist, Thinker, and Man of Science" (1898), quoted at [http://www.ivu.org/history/davinci/hurwitz.html Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism] ]
Left-handedness
It has been written that Leonardo "may be the most universally recognized left-handed artist of all time", a fact documented by numerous Renaissance authors, and manifested conspicuously in his drawing and handwriting. In his notebooks, he wrote in mirror image because of his left handedness (it was easier for him), and he was falsely accused of trying to protect his work. [ [https://www.metmuseum.org/special/Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/draftsman_left_essay.asp Bambach, Carmen C., "Leonardo, Left-Handed Draftsman and Writer", Metropolitan Museum of Art.] ] Early Italian connoisseurs were divided as to whether Leonardo also drew with his right hand; more recently, Anglo-American art historians have for the most part discounted suggestions of ambidexterity. [ [https://www.metmuseum.org/special/Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/draftsman_left_essay.asp Bambach.] ]
Leonardo da Vinci fingerprint reconstructed
Anthropologists in Italy claim that they have pieced together a reconstruction of Leonardo da Vinci's left index fingerprint. The reconstruction of the fingerprint is the result of three years of research and could also help attribute disputed paintings or manuscripts, said Luigi Capasso, director of the Anthropology Research Institute at Chieti University in central Italy. "It adds the first touch of humanity. We knew how Leonardo saw the world and the future … but who was he? This biological information is about his being human, not being a genius," Mr Capasso said.
The discovery could help shed light on a wealth of information including the food the artist ate and whether his mother was Arab. The research was based photographs of about 200 fingerprints—most of them taken from about 52 papers handled by Leonardo in his life. The artist often ate while working and Mr Capasso and other experts said his fingerprints could include traces of saliva, blood or the food he ate the night before—information that could help clear up questions about his origins.
For instance, experts determined that the fingerprint suggested Leonardo's mother was of "oriental origin". "It's not like every population has typical fingerprints, but they do have specific proportions among their signs. The one we found in this fingertip applies to 60 per cent of the Arabic population, which suggests the possibility that his mother was of Middle-Eastern origin," Mr Capasso said. [Rossella Lorenzi, [http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/10/28/leonardoprint_his_print.html Da Vinci Fingerprint Reveals Arab Heritage?] "Discovery News", Discovery Channel, October 28, 2006.] [Marta Falconi, [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1962373,00.html Da Vinci's print may paint new picture of artist] , Rome, "The Guardian", December 2, 2006.] The idea that Leonardo's mother could have been a slave who came to Tuscany from Constantinople — now Istanbul, Turkey — is not new and has been the object of separate research. [ [http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=1358398 We've got Da Vinci's fingerprint] "MSN News", Microsoft MSN]
Personal relationships
In 1476, while in the workshop of Verrocchio, Leonardo was accused anonymously of sodomy with a male model and prostitute, Jacopo Saltarelli. After two months he was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. [Saslow, "Ganymede in the Renaissance: Homosexuality in Art and Society," 1986, p.197] Sodomy was an extremely serious offense, carrying the death penalty; but its very seriousness made it equally difficult to prove. False denunciations were quite common at that time especially via anonymous reports by one's enemies. Such may have been the case here. In his long career after leaving Florence, no further such charges were laid against Leonardo.
In a famous passage from the "Notebooks" Leonardo says: "The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions". [As quoted by Sigmund Freud, "Gesammelte Werke", bd VIII, 1909–1913] Leonardo never married, and his closest personal relationships were with two pupils, Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed "Salai" or "Il Salaino" ("The Little Unclean One" i.e., the devil), who entered his household in 1490 at the age of 10, [ [http://www.oreno.it Oreno website (Italian)] ] and Count Francesco Melzi, the son of a Milan aristocrat who became apprenticed to Leonardo in 1506.
Salai was described by Giorgio Vasari as "a graceful and beautiful youth with fine curly hair," and his name appears (crossed out) on the back of an erotic drawing (ca. 1513) by the artist, "The Incarnate Angel;" rediscovered in 1991 in a German collection, it is one of the number of erotic drawings of Salai (and others?) by Leonardo once in the British Royal Collection, and is possibly a humorous take on his "St. John the Baptist". [Sewell, Brian. Sunday Telegraph, April 5, 1992] The "Little Devil" lived up to his nickname: a year after his entering the household Leonardo made a list of the boy’s misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton." But despite Salai's thievery and general delinquency - he made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions, spent a fortune on apparel, including twenty-four pairs of shoes, and eventually died in a duel - he remained Leonardo's companion, servant, and assistant for thirty years, and at Leonardo's death he was bequeathed the Mona Lisa, a valuable piece even then, valued in Salai's own will at the equivalent of £200,000.
Twenty years later the count Melzi was a far more sedate, although perhaps less exciting, companion for the older Leonardo. In a letter Melzi described the closeness of their relationship as "sviscerato et ardentissimo amore" ("deeply felt and most ardent love"), and it was he, rather than Salai, who accompanied Leonardo in his final days in France. [Michael Rocke, "Forbidden Friendships" epigraph, p. 148 & N120 p.298] [Crompton, Louis: Homosexuality and Civilization. NY, 2003. p.269] Melzi subsequently played an important role as the guardian of Leonardo's notebooks, preparing them for publication in the form enjoined by his master. Nevertheless, although it was Melzi who was with Leonardo at his deathbed, one of the two paintings which Leonardo kept with him in his last days was the portrait of Salai as John the Baptist, smiling enigmatically, one finger raised and pointing towards Heaven.
Patrons, friends and colleagues
*His patrons included the Medici, Ludovico Sforza and Cesare Borgia, in whose service he spent the years 1502 and 1503, and King Francis I of France.
*He had working relations with two other notable scientists, Luca Pacioli and Marcantonio della Torre, and was a close friend of Niccolò Machiavelli.
*He had a close, long-lasting friendship with Isabella d'Este, a renowned patroness of the arts, whose portrait he drew while on a journey that took him through Mantua.
*The de Predis brothers and collaboration on "Virgin of the Rocks".
*Feud with Michelangelo
ee also
* Leonardo da Vinci
* Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci
* Leonardo da Vinci - scientist and inventor
* Bacchus (Leonardo)
* St. John the Baptist (Leonardo)
References
Additional reading
*
External links
*ws|"" in the 1913 "Catholic Encyclopedia"
*gutenberg | no=7785 | name=Leonardo da Vinci" by Maurice Walter Brockwell'
* [http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/Vasari_daVinci.htm Vasari Life of Leonardo] : in "Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects".
* [http://www.thedavincisite.com/ Leonardo's Paintings and Drawings (flash format]
* [http://www.leonardo-history.com/life.htm?Section=S6 Leonardo's Will]
* [http://news.aol.co.uk/world-news/leonardo-da-vinci-fingerprint-reconstructed/article/20061201063609990001 Leonardo da Vinci fingerprint reconstructed]
