Leonardo da Vinci is one of the famous artists and scientists. This great man was born in April 1452 near a town called Vinci. Parents were a notary named Pierrot and a simple peasant Katya. Almost all of his childhood, the boy spent with his mother. Father left them early and married another. But there were no children in the marriage, so Pierrot took the boy to his upbringing.
Leonardo almost all his life tried to recreate the image of his mother in many masterpieces. It is worth noting that many famous people in the city had a great influence on the boy.
When Leonardo was 13 years old, his stepmother died during a difficult birth. Soon, his father married again, but the marriage was again unsuccessful. Pierrot lived only 77 years, and during this time he had 12 children. Father very much wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and actively tried to introduce him to this. But Leonardo did not become interested in the life of his father.
Here is a list of the 10 most interesting facts from the life of Leonardo da Vinci - a biography of the famous artist, his invention.
10. Grandmother introduced Leonardo to creativity
Grandmother Leonardo for a long time was like a mother to him. It can be assumed that it was she who introduced him to the work. In the family of Lucia (that was the name of her grandmother) there were well-known notaries. Also, the woman was related to the masters of ceramics.
Among family values were various kilns for clay products. There is plenty of evidence that Leonardo himself practiced ceramic craft. This art especially left a mark in his work. In many figures, you can see that the figures are shown from different angles: from the back, from the side.
Leonardo tried to draw an analogy with the creation of ceramic products. For example, his painting entitled “Madonna Benoit” shows figures that are rotated in 3 quarters. Such an unusual study makes a person believe in the three-dimensionality of the image.
9. “Created Myself”
Very often, Leonardo da Vinci called himself an uneducated person. Sometimes he argued with various holders of higher academic degrees who argued for his self-education.
But Leonardo himself always proudly declared that he did not get knowledge from any books. And also did not study with famous teachers. Nature inspires him a lot.
Leonardo da Vinci has always acted as a person who created himself. Also, the artist always believed that experience is not as valuable as academic education. That is why art is simply not required to serve the interests of people.
8. Did not leave a single self-portrait (there are disputes over authorship)
Currently, there are disputes over the authorship of many works of Leonardo da Vinci. The painting, entitled "Turin Self-Portrait" is often attributed to the works of Leonardo. Now she is in Turin, in the royal library. Many believe that the great artist completed it when he was already about 60 years old.
This portrait is painted with special material for drawing, which is made in the form of sticks of kaolin and iron oxides. It is called - sanguine. It was he who made the artist’s self-portrait on paper.
In the portrait you can see a man in a rather old age. The work is done in thin lines, and the hatching goes from left to right. That is exactly what Leonardo himself did. The paper has a brownish tint. But from time to time it has faded significantly.
But even despite such fame, controversy constantly circulates around the self-portrait. Identification was carried out for the first time in the 19th century. One of the art historians believes that this is either a copy of this work, or a good fake.
There are also many versions regarding the date of creation. There are suggestions that the self-portrait was created in 1810 by the artist Giuseppe Bossi. But according to another version, the portrait was painted in 1515.
7. Actively studied anatomy
Few people know that Leonardo da Vinci was very interested in anatomy. It was he who created some discoveries in this area..
For some time he worked with corpses, opened them for a more detailed study. It is worth noting that he was able to create one of the great studies in his time.
His book was fully prepared for publication, but he could no longer carry it out. If it were published, then the study of the structure of man in the physical plane is much advanced.
6. Loved accuracy, always made calculations
Many people know the fact that Leonardo was very fond of accuracy. He liked to carry out various calculations.. Sometimes he did this in order to profit from his mechanical inventions.
Leonardo also developed a special distance measuring system not only on land, but even in water. It is worth noting that once he managed to measure the diameter of the Earth itself. He learned a lot from Luca Pacioli, with whom he is on friendly terms.
5. Had a mirror hand
Leonardo da Vinci had a mirrored handwriting. He took the pen in his left hand, and the lines at the same time began on the right side. Very often in notebooks he wrote first the right page, and then the left one.
Many graphologists believe that this feature speaks of a person's desire for power. But it is worth noting that the normal handwriting for the artist was very difficult.
4. Invented a device for immersion under water
Leonardo was constantly building something new. Among his inventions there are such things as a garlic squeezer, a bicycle, a searchlight, scissors, an aircraft and much more.
Leonardo da Vinci was very interested in issues related to water elements. He wanted a person to be able to study not only the land, but also the bottom of the sea ocean. He created means that would help hold his breath under water for a long time.
It was he who created a special apparatus for immersion in water. The invention is made of a large hose made of leather. Rings were often planted on it. Such an invention became very famous in Europe, but not many knew about what Leonardo himself created it.
3. Introduced the term "golden ratio"
The Golden Ratio is the ratio of two quantities, in which a larger value refers to a smaller one, just like the sum of the values in a larger.
The appearance of this term is associated with Leonardo da Vinci. It is believed that it was he who created this name in the 15th century.
But many argue that such a concept existed much earlier. Only not everyone gave him the exact name.
2. Left “identification marks” in the paintings
Leonardo da Vinci never signed his works, but put identification marks on them. If you carefully peer into his paintings, you can see, for example, a symbolically flying bird.
Many signs are discovered after many centuries. It is worth noting that Leonardo always spoke in riddles, and also constantly strewed with metaphorical prophecies.
1. The riddles of the Mona Lisa
A painting by Leonardo da Vinci called "The Mona Lisa" has always been controversial. Many puzzles were solved only in the 20th century, and only partially.
When writing such a picture, Leonardo used the sfumato technique, which is based on the principle of dispersion. Many people own such equipment, but it surpassed all. Thanks to a very soft gamut of shades that smoothly flow from one to another, the viewer does not have precise focusing of his eyes. That is why very often, it seems as if the girl in the portrait is smiling or arrogantly mocking.