The Ultimate Renaissance Man
During the middle of the fourteenth century in Europe, a love for learning began to flourish, resulting in an enormous intellectual and cultural growth known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance revived ancient Greek and Roman ways, including an interest in classical texts, more complex forms of architecture, and new styles of art. In this new era of education and sophistication, a “Renaissance man,” knowledgeable in a wide range of subjects, represented a core idea of Renaissance humanism by pursuing knowledge to his fullest capabilities in all areas. Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most notable men of the Renaissance era, embodied the image of a Renaissance man by being a life-long scholar and surpassing all others in a variety of fields.
Education being a fundamental aspect of a Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci was a scholar and artist from a young age. Leonardo was born in 1452 at Anchiano, a village near the town of Vinci, to a peasant mother and a notary father.1 Growing up in his father’s home, Leonardo had access to scholarly works owned by family and friends, and he learned arithmetic, geometry and Latin as a young boy.2 From the age of fourteen to twenty-five, Da Vinci worked as an apprentice under the famed artist Andrea del Verrocchi. Verrocchio taught Leonardo fundamental technical skills, which included painting, drawing, metalworking, and sculpting.3 As an apprentice, Leonardo helped with some of Verrocchio’s most well known works; Leonardo painted the young angel in Verrocchio’s “Baptism of Christ.”4 Da Vinci’s early education covered a variety of subjects, forming a firm foundation of knowledge, which he continued to expand throughout his life.
Following the Renaissance mindset, Leonardo da Vinci not only created his own magnificent artwork, but also expanded the boundaries of artistic knowledge. Building upon previously discovered artistic techniques such as linear perspective, Da Vinci strove to paint realistic artwork. When he realized that objects should not be drawn flat and outlined, he came up with a technique called chiaroscuro, which used lighting and shadow, as opposed to blunt outlines to make objects appear more life-like.5 Da Vinci also revived a Flemish technique called sfumato, in which an object’s details and colors gradually faded as it receded into the distance.6 Continuing to expand knowledge in all fields was a fundamental aspect of the Renaissance mindset, and da Vinci exemplified this by experimenting with and developing these new artistic techniques. Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, such as the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and Madonna on the Rocks, are, to this day, some of the most famous artistic works in the world due to their realistic appearance. In The Last Supper, the folds in the fabric of the men’s clothes are visible because of the shadow and lighting Da Vinci used, and the background in Madonna on the Rocks seems to extend far back because of Da Vinci’s skillful use of depth perception.
Leonardo da Vinci made advancements in science as well. During the Middle Ages, scientific study stalled, and, therefore, scientific discoveries were rare. Science came to be a fundamental aspect of the Renaissance, however, as people attempted to study and understand the world around them. Da Vinci emulated this central idea of the Renaissance by studying geology, anatomy, engineering, biology, and zoology.7 While many people during the Renaissance looked to the Bible and classic works for explanations of the natural world, Da Vinci used a system known today as the scientific method. Leonardo posed a question, observed the phenomenon or nature related to this question, and then took tedious notes along with detailed illustrations depicting his observations.8 Through this system, Leonardo produced about 13,000 pages of precise and comprehensive notes.9 Leonardo da Vinci studied a wide scope of sciences, but he made the most advancement in the field of anatomy. The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova granted Leonardo permission to dissect corpses, and through the dissection of these corpses, Leonardo drew accurate illustrations of muscles, tendons, the vascular system, sex organs, cervical vertebrae, and a fetus in utero.10 These discoveries not only advanced the field of medicine but also helped future artists draw more
accurate and proportional human bodies.
accurate and proportional human bodies.
The Renaissance was time of intellectual and cultural flourishing, where innovation and advancement in all fields was highly regarded. Leonardo da Vinci epitomized this era with his wide breadth of knowledge and wisdom, love for learning, and innovative thinking in the fields of art and science. It was men like Leonard da Vinci who fueled forward the Renaissance.
Arzu Singh
1 Kenneth Clark, Leonardo da Vinci: An Account of his Development as an Artist (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1939), 3.
2 “Leonardo da Vinci,” Museum of Science, http://legacy.mos.org/leonardo/bio.html (accessed April 9th, 2013).
3 Clark, Leonardo da Vinci, 5.
4 Ibid., 8.
5 Museum of Science, “Leonardo da Vinci.”
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Daniel Arrase, Leonardo da Vinci (New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1998).
10 Museum of Science, “Leonardo Da Vinci.”
