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Cambria Jensen
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 in Anchiano, Tuscany. He went from being an
illegitimate child with a limited amount of future opportunities and growth, to a now world
famous artist and creative genius. He was a painter, inventor, architect and studied science. He is
known for painting two of the most famous ever creator artworks, the Mona Lisa, and The Last
Supper.
There isnt very much known history of Leonardos early life. His parents were from
different classes, his mother being from the lower class, and his father was part of the middle
class. During this time in history being from a certain class meant everything. But being
illegitimate was unacceptable. He lived with his mother, Caterina. She was single, then got
married to man of her own class and started living with him. When Leonardo was around the age
of 5 he went to live with his dad, Ser Piero. His father was a notary, who often worked in
Florence. Leonardo spent time with his uncle Francesco, who was a farmer. He would wander
the farmland alone, finding animals and caves. His time spent on the land probably sparked his
interest in landscape and animals and gave him time to sketch. He did not receive education
beyond basic reading and math and writing. He taught himself most of the stuff he had learned
after the basics. Even though he had these family members in his life he was quite neglected.
When he was sixteen his father got married to Margherita di Guglielmo, was his third wife, and
they had six children together. Then he had another six children with his fourth wife. Altogether

he had 12 half-siblings, but they were much younger than him. The youngest child of the group
was born when Leonardo was 40.
His father took special interest in his artistic abilities when Leonardo was in his teens.
His dad knew Verrocchio, a well-known sculptor close to their town, the man was the personal
artist for the Medici family at the time. The Medici family were powerful bankers and
politicians. His father helped Leonardo get an apprenticeship with Verrocchio around the age 15.
At first he was simply a servant and would help clean, then he would mix pigments for paint and
prepare canvases. In his spare time he would draw sketches of Verrocchios artwork. After
seeing his work Verrocchio started to see the artist Leonardo could become. He started to work
with the other artists in the shop on projects under the master, which was common during the
renaissance period.
He started to grow in the field of art and strive for greater achievements.
Verrocchio knew he had wonderful talent, and put him to work. He finally painted with
Verrocchio on the Baptism of Christ, which was probably a humbling experience. He painted the
angel on the far left. If a person looks at the painting they would notice the different style.
Leonardo had painted an obvious angel, with soft details, flowing hair, which was altogether
radiant.
Leonardo continued to work under Verrocchio, and he would sometimes get to go to
festivals with him. One of his earliest remaining works of art is a sketch of a mountainside, the
inscription on the paper said (feast) of Saint Mary of the Snow/ - day of August 5th, 1473, he
was 21 when he drew this piece. This piece was probably sketched in situ then ink was used over
it. When Leonardo was 20 he was accepted into an artist guild, The Guild of Saint Luke. He
qualified to be a master and his father set him up with his own shop, but that still didnt stop him

from collaborating with Verrocchio, there was a great bond between each other. In 1478
Leonardo left Verrocchio and was commissioned to do his first independent work, to paint an
altarpiece in the Chapel St. Bernard. A second piece, The Adoration of the Magi, was
commissioned for monks in San Donato. Leonardo did not finish either pieces because he left to
Milan. He worked in Milan from 1482 to 1499. He was commissioned to paint Virgin of the
Rocks an oil on canvas, then do a mural, The Last Supper, which is located in the refectory of
Santa Maria delle Grazie. Leonardo became the engineer and artist for the Duke, Ludovico
Sforza.
The second Italian War happened in 1499. Ludovico was overthrown, so Leonardo, his
assistant Salai, and a friend, Luca Pacioli fled from Milan to Venice. Leonardo spent time
working as an engineer and military architect, in case the city was attacked.
After the war ended Leonardo returned to Florence for a short time, he rejoined the Guild
of Saint Luke on October 13th, 1503. While he was there he designed and painted the mural The
Battle of Anghiari, for Signoria, which took two years. During this time he also created many
portraits, but only the Mona Lisa survives from this part of his career.
Leonardo had many sketch books filled with drawings and writing. It is hard to read what
they say but the pictures are quite clear. One of his fascinations was with flying, he created a
flying machine, which depicted wings of some sort of animal and mechanical parts attached to
a person. He also drew parachutes, airplanes and helicopters. Another drawing is of a bicycle.
These are all inventions that he thought of at least 500 years before they actually appeared.
Leonard artwork has been noted during the high renaissance period, but he started
artworks in the renaissance period. The high renaissance period started in the 1490s which

appeared in Italy. The high renaissance period focused on large scale paintings and sculptures
and architecture. The artworks focused on realism and small features of the human body. Linear
perspective was a technique used, which made artwork appear three-dimensional, this technique
created depth in the paintings, even though it was on a flat surface. The objects in artwork were
foreshortened, in the front of the artwork appeared larger and the objects in the back appeared
smaller. Another focus for artists in this period was beauty. Artists wanted to capture natural
beauty from the world and find the meaning of beauty in their artwork. They wanted their pieces
to capture the perfection of beauty and display it within their own creations. Leonardo is mostly
known as a painter, but he also did drawings and diagrams and murals.
In his painting the Mona Lisa (one of his most famous pieces) he demonstrated a
technique called sfumato, which is described by himself (as a painting) Without lines or
borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane.1 The Mona Lisa displays soft
features, the edges are not sharp, and sort of disappear altogether into the painting. It flows
nicely and blurs into the next part of the painting. The technique uses fine shading that gradually
goes from lighter shades to darker without a drastic shadow. He used natural hues, nothing too
loud. His paintings were mostly oil on canvas. Millions of people visit the Mona Lisa every year.
Only fifteen of his paintings remain, but surely that is enough to show how truly amazing his
work is and how it has inspired others.
Leonardo was fascinated with anatomy. He dissected animals, such as oxen, horses, a
bear and birds, then he would draw his findings. He also drew human anatomy, but it was
inaccurate because he based the drawings off of tips he received about the body and observations

Earls, Irene (1987). Renaissance Art: A Topical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. p. 263

without dissection. Before he dissected a human he acquired a human skull, which he drew in
1489. He waited until 1506 to dissect his first human. and He learned his early drawings of
human anatomy were wrong by dissecting a 100 year old man, who had passed away peacefully.
He had observed his death, maybe that sparked an interest in how our body works while we are
alive. He had an anatomist friend who served as a guide, named Professor Marcantonio della
Torre. He dissected around 30 bodies, and sketched out his findings. He seemed to want to find
what our natural beauty is on the inside, he studied anatomy, and apparently grave robbed, so he
could be accurate in his studies. Some say he had permission by the Catholic Church to dissect
bodies, because at the time it was illegal to dos so. Whether it was for arts sake or science, he
truly found beauty in the human form. There was been multiple sketch books found with his
scientific studies of the human body and drawings of body parts. His illustrations helped the
world understand human anatomy.
Leonardo da Vinci died in France at the Clos Luce on May 2nd, 1519. His life was filled
with adventure and creativity. Although he is known as a great painter, he was also known for
many other things outside of the field of art. The fact that he was an artist and focused on
designing architecture, military weapons, studied anatomy and physics, makes him even more
interesting. He remains as one of the most famous and well praised artists in history. His
nickname has become the Renaissance man. His artwork is known all over the world and is
displayed in various places in the world, such as the Lurve. He is probably at his prime of fame
right now. His artistic abilities grew and reached a different standard, one that the world had
never seen.

Leonardo Da Vinci is one of my favorite artists. I believe he is one of the best artists to
have ever lived. I think his paintings are exceptionally beautiful, I feel like the colors are warm
and the technique is executed in a way most artists couldnt achieve. I love that his artwork
draws the audience in and makes you ask why did he choose to draw this?. When I was
younger I wanted to be a doctor, but I was also fascinated with drawing, specifically anatomy. I
grew a connection with his art work. He was an artist and science-enthusiast. I was infatuated
with his anatomy studies. I copied his sketches over and over in art class. I probably ended up
filling two 50-page sketch books within one school year. I even have prints hung up on the walls
of my room. I thought it was amazing that he could convey the inside of a human body in such a
beautiful way. I loved seeing how the muscles and bones worked together in unity, both being so
important. Drawing anatomy wasnt a common thing, I felt a little strange. But my art teacher
pushed me to be different and I felt like drawing bones and muscles gave me a sense of direction.
I strived to become a doctor and eventually wanted to publish my own book of human anatomy
illustrations. That was only a dream, it hurt to figure out I wanted to be a business major, but I
am glad I discovered new interests, I do not feel like I chose the wrong path after all. I think find
Leonardo Da Vinci helped me through hard times and I could take my stress out by drawing. I
assume he was under much stress, maybe he even drew for the same reasons I did. Because of
him the world could see anatomically correct drawings of the insides of humans, the muscles, the
bones, the ligaments. Its wonderful. I will always appreciate his art work and what he has done
for the world. I bet dissecting a human wasnt the most pleasant thing, but he still eagerly
accomplished it. I hope one day I can see his artwork in person, specifically his sketchbook
drawings. I think they are very underrated. He drew out what people hadnt before been able to

see or understand. He created so many beautiful pieces and found a way to show the world
through art.

Works Cited:
Universal Leonardo. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2016, from http://universalleonardo.org/
History.com (2009). Leonardo da Vinci. history.com. Retrieved from
http://www.history.com/topics/leonardo-da-vinci
LLC, S. (2016). Leonardo da Vinci. Retrieved November 18, 2016, from
http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/davinci/timeline.html
Leonardo Da Vinci Timeline. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from
http://www.davincilife.com/timeline.html