All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
投稿類別:英文寫作
篇名:
All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
作者:
陳甄庭。國立台中家商。外三一班
指導老師:
李偉綾老師
All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
Abstract
Art has existed for a long time since human beings came into existence in the
world.
It has many forms; for instance, painting, sculpture, architecture and music,
all belong to a part of art. Art always has different stages of development following
the transition of mankind’s culture and thought.
Renaissance is an artistic significant
revolution in the fifteenth century in Europe and it is an important page in European
histories as well. At this time, countless great artists showed up.
Among these
people, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, and Michelangelo
di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni were the most well-known for people. They were
named as “the three man of the Renaissance.”
Above all, Leonardo not only was a
painter but had brilliant performance in many fields. His life was a legend and he was
also a unique role that could not be replaced.
Painting, music, mathematics,
architecture, sculpture and anatomy were all his research scopes. His curiosity and
creativity led his life to succeed and made a far-reaching impact on many fields.
Therefore, the research intends to explore all his life, his erudition, his versatility, his
achievement, and his influence on later centuries, and unveils the secret of his
legendary life and contributions to the world.
摘要
藝術從人類發源以來，長相左右。藝術有各式各樣的形式，無論是繪畫、雕
刻、建築、音樂等等，皆為藝術的一部分。藝術總是隨著文化和思想的變遷而有
不同的發展。文藝復興是十五世紀歐洲藝術重大的革命，也是歐洲歷史重要的一
頁。此時期傑出的藝術家多不勝數，其中最為人所知的莫過於達文西、拉斐爾以
及米開朗基羅，並稱為『文藝復興三傑』。其中，達文西不僅是個畫家，更在許
多不同的領域皆有不錯的表現。他的一生是個傳奇，他更是文藝復興時期無可取
代的角色，無論是繪畫、音樂、數學、建築、雕塑、解剖等等皆是他的研究範圍。
他的好奇心及創造力成就了他不凡的一生，也對各種不同的領域產生了深遠的影
響。因此，藉由此次機會，來探討他的一生、他的博學，他的多才，他的成就，
他的貢獻以及他對後世長久深遠的影響。
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All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
Table of Contents
English & Chinese Abstract……………………………………………………………i
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………...ii
I.
Introduction………………………………………………………………………1
1.1 Motivation of the study……………………………………………………..1
1.2 Purposes of the study………………………………………………………..1
II.
Thesis/Literature Review.…………………………………………………….......1
2.1 Methods……………………………………………………………………..1
2.2 Life experience of Leonardo da Vinci………………………………………1
2.2.1
Childhood of Leonardo (1452-1466) ……………………………1
2.2.2
The first Florence period (1466-1482) …………………………..1
2.2.3
The first Milan period (1482-1500) ……………………………...2
2.2.4
The second Florence period (1500-1506) ……………………….2
2.2.5
The second Milan period (1506-1513) …………………………..2
2.2.6
France period and the rest of Leonardo’s life (1516-1519)………2
2.3 Study fields of Leonardo da Vinci…………………………………………..4
2.3.1
Leonardo: inventor……………………………………………….4
2.3.2
Leonardo’s study of astronomy…………………………………..4
2.3.3
Leonardo: scientist……………………………………………….4
2.3.4
Leonardo’s study of anatomy…………………………………….4
2.4 World-known works of Leonardo da Vinci…………………………………5
2.4.1
The Virgin of the Rocks…………………………………………..5
2.4.2
The Last Supper…………………………………………………..5
2.4.3
Mona Lisa………………………………………………………...6
2.4.4
St. John the Baptist……………………………………………….6
III. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..6
IV. References………………………………………………………………………..7
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All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
I
Introduction
1.1 Motivation of the study
From the Discovery channel, I first knew “Leonardo da Vinci,” a great artist in
the Renaissance period. He was an all-around polymath, who had studied in
many-sided fields. He had multiple identities as an/a architect, anatomist, engineer,
mathematician, inventor, sculptor, painter, scientist, musician, geologist, cartographer,
botanist and writer, etc.
With his outstanding performance in history, I can’t help
wondering how he made it.
1.2 Purposes of the study
Judging from what is mentioned above, we can know Leonardo had numerous
interests and capabilities. Why did he want to acquire so much knowledge? Why
was he so diligent?
How did he learn so much and well in each field?
The
purposes of the study are elaborated as follows.
1.
To explore what attitude Leonardo da Vinci hold toward learning.
2.
To probe into Leonardo da Vinci’s contribution to various fields.
II Thesis/Literature Review
2.1 Methods
First, I borrowed books about Leonardo from the library and referred to it to
translate Leonardo’s life experience into English. Second, I compared the books with
network resources and summarized the information concerning his research field.
Third, I acquired pictures of his works from a website and then briefly narrated
pictures. Finally, a conclusion of this subject was drawn to summarize the thesis.
2.2 Life experience of Leonardo da Vinci
2.2.1
Childhood of Leonardo (1452-1466)
Leonardo da Vinci, whose full name is “Leonardo di ser Piero
da Vinci,” was a wealthy notary and a peasant woman’s illegitimate
son, born on April 15, 1452, at the small town of Vinci, in the area
of Florence, Italy.
When he was young, he was interested in
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Fig 1. Leonardo’s self-portrait,
finished in Rome.
All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
botany, geology, birds, sunshine and water.
He took much of his time to observe
nature (He, 1999).
2.2.2
The first Florence period (1466-1482)
In 1466, he was given art education in the Andrea del Verrocchio’s studio.
Verrocchio was a famous Florentine painter at that time.
In the workshop, what
Leonardo learned was not simply limited to painting, because his teacher, Verrocchio,
was not only a painter but a metalworker and a sculptor. Because of so, Leonardo
also needed to learn the making of brass balls and so on.
2.2.3
The first Milan period (1482-1500)
Leonardo left for Milan palace to have a new
boss, Ludovico il Moro, in 1486. Six years later, he
accomplished a model of a walking horse which made
him known to the whole Italy.
He was also a royal
Fig 3. A horse sketch
painter, so he drew a portrait of Ludovico il
Moro’s wife. This painting was well-known as
《The Lady with the Ermine》. In 1499, French
Fig 2. 《St. Jerome》
portrayed around 1482.
occupied Milan so Leonardo returned to Florence
(Wasserman, 1969).
2.2.4
The second Florence period (1500-1506)
In 1502, Leonardo did a job as Cesare Borgia’s military engineer for eight
months. Later, he was hired to paint a mural for Palazzo Vecchio. At the same
time, Leonardo began to draw 《Mona Lisa》. In these years, Leonardo’s creativity
kept growing; he conducted the research of anatomy, mathematics and geometry in
the meantime (Capra, 2007).
2.2.5
The second Milan period (1506-1513)
According to Debolini (2000), Leonardo was invited to Milan
for jobs in 1506. He participated in the design of a villa and
fountain as well as portrayed 《The Virgin and Child with St
Anneand St John the Baptist》 for Louis XII, the king of France.
He continued working on his long-term research simultaneously.
2
Fig 4. 《The Virgin and Child
with St Anneand St. John the
Baptist》
All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
In 1512, French was chased away from Milan; therefore, Leonardo went to Rome.
2.2.6
France period and the rest of Leonardo’s life (1516-1519)
In 1516, Leonardo accepted the invitation of France king, Francis I, to the palace
as a chief painter and engineer and the king’s architect. The year before he died, he
ordered his the most intimate disciple, Francesco Melzi to inherit all his painting and
research notes.
Leonardo da Vinci died at the age of 67 (Romei & Sergio &
Ricciardi, 2000).
In view of plentiful experience Leonardo had, I simplified it as the following:
Table 1.
Leonardo’s life experience chronology (Huang, 2000)
Era
Age
Event
1452
0
1466
14 He entered Andrea del Verrocchio’s workshop.
1472
20 He had the membership of Corporation of St. Luke.
1476
24 He left Verrocchio’s workshop.
1482
30 He migrated to Milan.
1483
31
1495
43 He began to paint The Last Supper.
1498
44 The Last Supper was finished.
1499
47 He departed Milan with the mathematician, Luca Pacioli.
1500
48 He returned to Florence.
1502
50 He worked for Cesare Borgia as an engineer and architect.
1503
51 He started to paint The Mona Lisa.
1506
56 He left for Milan again.
1513
61 He moved away Milan and went to Rome.
1516
64
1519
67 He died at Clos Lucé.
He was born on April 15, in a small town of Vinci, in the area of
Florence.
He painted the Virgin of the Rocks for Brotherhood of the
Immaculate Conception.
He migrated to France for the invitation of France’s new king,
Francis I.
2.3 Study fields of Leonardo da Vinci
In terms of Otto’s word (2000), when Leonardo was 30 years old, he wrote a
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All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
famous letter to Lodovico Sforza.
In the letter, Leonardo listed his 36 specialties
which exactly reflected his diverse interests.
Since Leonardo was interested in so many fields, some representative art were
listed and further discussed below.
2.3.1
Leonardo: inventor
Leonardo’s inventions were known to people
after many centuries. All of these were a shock to
later generations. The categories of his inventions
were very diverse, from bicycles to tanks or
automatic machines, etc.
Leonardo was also
Fig 5. A tank sketch
interested in flying; however, though he didn’t
Fig 6. A helicopter sketch
succeed in the end, he inspired later people to construct parachutes
and helicopter (Otto,2000).
2.3.2
Leonardo’s study of astronomy
Leonardo had some extraordinary observations about astronomy which was
different from Copernicus’s.
Leonardo found that earth is a planet similar to the
moon and earth isn’t the center of the solar system. This viewpoint was put in use in
one of his inventions (Otto, 2000).
2.3.3
Leonardo: scientist
As a scientist, Leonardo theorized on mechanics, gravity, movement and shaking.
He ever built a bridge whose structure complete conformed to modern designing
patterns. His achievement released the science out of constraint, setting a way of
researching which began with observation from nature (Otto, 2000).
2.3.4
Leonardo’s study of anatomy
The original intention that Leonardo
investigated bodies’ construction was to paint
portraits more precisely. Since 1488, Leonardo
had begun to research bodies’ organs. At that
Fig 7. 《Vitruvian Man》 Fig 8. Embryo sketch
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All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
time, he had anatomized over 30 bodies. To have further understanding about the
function of organs, he started to anatomize large-sized mammals to compare with
bodies’ construction. It is also an important breakthrough in biology nowadays (Otto,
2000).
2.4 World-known works of Leonardo da Vinci
2.4.1
The Virgin of the Rocks
This work was painted in 1483 to
1485. It combined imagination with
naturalism and seemed to show a
mysterious wonderland which had a cave
with running water. The cave was
connected to the sky, to protect the
Virgin, the son of God, St. John and
angel. These four people formed a
structure of a pyramid. The figures
were depicted by chiaroscuros. The
flowers and plants signified Jesus’
suffering spirit.
2.4.2
Fig 9. 《The Virgin of the Rocks》
The Last Supper
Fig 10. 《The Last Supper》
This work was drawn from 1495 to1498. At《The Last Supper》, Leonardo
didn’t paint Judas who sat on the edge of table as Andrea del Castagno had down.
The figures diverse body movements and multiple facial expressions had never
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All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
been seen in the past. Although 12 followers were divided into 4 groups,
Leonardo made the ambiance nature.
2.4.3
Mona Lisa
Since 1503, it took Leonardo four
years to finish this work.
Leonardo used
gradation to create comparison of light
and shadow. Three-dimension space
was created by shadow. The work made
people impressing even if the size of the
painting was not big enough. This
should be attributed to Leonardo’s
painting skills in figures and backgrounds.
2.4.4
Fig 11. 《Mona Lisa》
St. John the Baptist
This painting was painted in 1513
to1516. It was the last work in existence
in Leonardo’s life. St. John’s body faced
left side and leaned backward. The
whole painting had rotary dynamic owing
to the angle that St. John’s right hand
pointed upward. His head just looked at
viewers and the mysterious gesture meant
Fig 12. 《St. John the Baptist》
Jesus would come on the world.
III Conclusion
After researching into Leonardo’s whole life, I realize Leonardo was a person,
who extremely owned characteristics like observation, curiosity, aspiration for
knowledge, thinking, and the most important executive ability. These characteristics
led him to continually seek new knowledge. Though he was not proficient in every
field, it was no doubt that he had deeply influenced later generations.
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All-round genius: Leonardo da Vinci
IV References
1.
Capra, F. (2007). The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius
of the Renaissance. New York: Doubleday.
2.
Jack, W. (1969). Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
3.
法蘭切斯卡‧達柏里尼 (民 89 )。達文西。(貓頭鷹出版社譯)。臺北市：貓
頭鷹。(原著出版年：2000 年)
4.
何政廣 (民 88 )。達文西：全能的天才畫家。臺北市：藝術家。
5.
林泊佑 (主編) (民 89)。達文西：科學家、發明家、藝術家。臺北市：國立
歷史博物館。
6.
Wikipedia. Leonardo da Vinci. Retrieved October 8, 2010, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
7.
張哲融 (無日期)。全能天才－達文西。民國 99 年 10 月 15 日，取自：
http://www.csps.kh.edu.tw/sp5/5st/5e1/e1da.htm
8.
涂先生 (無日期)。名畫檔案。民國 99 年 10 月 12 日，取自：
http://www.ss.net.tw/list1.asp?num=136
7