Leonardo DaVinci; Writings from his undated manuscripts

Leo DaVinci was brilliant. Perhaps most famous for the "Mona Lisa" which hangs in the Lourve in Paris and the fresco entitled "The Last Supper" C.1495-1498 that is painted over the door in the Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, he was a painter, sculptor, engineer, musician, architect, and always a scientist. Leonardo was born in 1452 in the town of Vinci in the Tuscan region of Italy. He was taken from his mother at the age of 5 and was also left handed. He wrote backwards probably because he was left handed. He trained under Verrocchio as an apprentice painter in his Florence workshop. He was constantly curious of the hman body and frame and even observed and participated in Autopsies which were outlawed by the Catholic Church at the time. DaVinci created many great works throughout his life and travels. He was truly and literally a "Renaissance Man." Probably a little less know were some of his sketch journals and writings. Amongst his sketches of the human body and figure, were studies of flowing water, rocks, war machines and UFOs. Thanks to patrons like Bill Gates who recently paid $35 Million USD for one of Leonardo's notebooks, we, the general public are able to see some of these on display.


Self Portrait (1512)
Leonardo wrote about many different topics, truly a "Renaissance Man". Paragone was a common subject in High Renaissance Scholarship. The following writings are from some of his undated manuscripts containing sketches of studies of the human form, the way water relates to rock as it falls over the edges of it, architectural drawings along with musings on how he saw the world around him.

WRITING FROM AN UNDATED MANUSCRIPT

He Who Depreciates Painting Loves Neither Philosophy nor Nature

If you despise painting, which is the sole imitator of all visible works of nature, you will certainly be dispising a subtle invention of all forms -- Sea and land, plants and animals, grasses and flowers-- which are enveloped in shade and light. Truly painting is a science, the true-born child of nature. For painting is born of nature; to be more correct we should call it the grandchild of nature, since all visible things were brought forth by nature and these, her children, have given birth to painting. Therefore we may justly speak of it as the grandchild of nature and as related to God.

Of the Sculptor and Painter

The sculptor's art requires more physical exertion than the painter's. That is to say, his work is mechanical and entails less mental effort. Compared with painting, there is little scientific research; for the sculptor's work consists only of taking off from the same material, while the painter is always putting on a variety of materials. The sculptor gives all his attention to the lines that circumscribe the material which he is carving and the painter studies these same lines, but he has besides to study the shade and light, the color and the foreshortening. With respect to these the sculptor is helped throughout by nature, which supplies the shade and light and the perspective. While the painter has to acquire these by dint of his ingenuity and has himself to play the part of nature, the sculptor always finds them ready made.

~Leonardo Da Vinci (1452- 1519)