Leonardo da Vinci as an artist

Leonardo da Vinci - the greatest artist, sculptor, architect, scientist and engineer of the Renaissance, was born near Florence on April 15, 1452 - died in the castle of Cluvo France on May 2, 1519.

Leonardo da Vinci is known not only for his artistic masterpieces, but also for sketches of various devices that became the prototypes of cars, hang gliders, helicopters and many other technical means created in the future.

Leonardo da Vinci went down in history as the greatest artist of the Renaissance, but, in addition to fine art, he was interested in mechanics, mathematics, architecture, and the natural environment. Among his most unusual designs and ideas are an aircraft with flapping wings, special shoes for walking on water, gloves with webbed swimming, a diving suit. In addition, L. da Vinci described the valve of the right ventricle of the heart, discovered that the age of a tree can be determined from the annual rings of a tree, created a camera obscura, designed canals and dams.

The first works of Leonardo

Leonardo at the age of 17 was sent to the studio of the artist Andrea del Verrocchio, where he began by grinding paints. In 1472, L. da Vinci was accepted into the guild of painters. Around 1476, he painted the figure of an angel in the picture of his teacher "Baptism", and this immediately attracted general attention to the young artist. Among the first works of L. da Vinci are the drawing “View of the Arno Valley”, the paintings “Annunciation” and “Portrait of Ginevra de Benci”. The most famous works of the early period are also the Madonna with a Flower (Benois Madonna), written around 1478 (now kept in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg) and the Adoration of the Magi (1481-82).

"Madonna Benois" or "Madonna with a Flower"

Since 1482, L. da Vinci has been living and working in Milan, under the auspices of Lodovico Sforza, from whom he immediately received an order to make an equestrian statue in honor of Francesco Sforza. The artist set to work with great enthusiasm, drew up sketches, made a life-size model, but the bronze statue was never cast. In 1483-84. he is working on the famous painting "Madonna in the Rocks", depicting the infants Jesus and John the Baptist in the arms of the Madonna.

"Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper"

In 1495, L. da Vinci began work on The Last Supper in the monastery of Santa Maria del Grazie in Milan. The dimensions of the fresco were 4.5 m by 8.6 m and it was placed at a height of 3 m from the floor. The artist decided to show the moment when Jesus says that one of the disciples will betray him. Jesus himself is in the center of the picture, and the disciples are located around him, only Judas is, as it were, on the side, this makes the viewer understand who this traitor is.

The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1503-1505. in Florence.

The famous "Mona Lisa" L. da Vinci wrote around 1503-1506. The wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo posed for him. This picture gained great fame thanks to the bewitching smile of the girl and the wonderfully painted landscape in the background. The only self-portrait of L. da Vinci was painted in 1514. In 1515, he created one of the last paintings - “St. John the Baptist”. Leonardo da Vinci died, leaving behind great works, amazing projects, discoveries in many sciences and even more mysteries.