How Leonardo Da Vinci became the most famous italian artist in France

Leonardo da Vinci’s Childhood

Leonardo Piero da Vinci is the result of an illegitimate love affair between Mr Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a notary, and a poor 22 year old woman, Caterina. To avoid gossip about this relationship, her father arranged for Caterina to be married quickly to a local farmer, a friend of da Vinci’s family, Antonio di Piero del Vaccha. His father married 5 times and in total, Leonardo had 10 brothers and 2 sisters!

Leonardo was not raised by his parents: his father lived mainly in Florence and his mother took care of the five other children she had after her marriage. It is therefore rather his uncle Francesco and his paternal grandparents who ensure his education.

Leonardo could not attend one of the large Latin schools. Consequently, he received a free education with the other villagers of his age. Around the age of ten, in 1462, he entered a “school of arithmetic” for the sons of merchants and artisans.

At the age of 15, Leonardo entered the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence, where he met Sandro Botticelli and learnt how to paint. In 1472, Leonardo completed his apprenticeship and became a master at the age of 20.

How Leonardo da Vinci’s career began

He was a fan of the new art of chiaroscuro, he perfected his sfumato (misty) technique which softens contrasts and improves the realism of landscapes or portraits. He already produced exceptional works, including The Baptism of Christ, painted between 1472 and 1475.

In 1481, he left for Milan and entered into the service of Duke Ludovico Sforza. At the time he was working on several topics: he was paiting the last supper which he started in 1494 but he also worked as an engineer.

A passion for anatomy, physics and sciences

He worked on various technical projects, from the weaving loom to the improvement of clocks and was interested in mathematics. He conceived projects for flying machines and hydraulic machines, imagining the concepts of the diving suit, the helicopter, the parachute… We also find him in a study on the irrigation of crops by rivers and canals. Urbanist before the time, he thought about an ideal city.

After the invasion of Tuscany by the French, he went to Venice. He first entered into the service of the Venetian government as an engineer, to develop a defense of the city against potential invaders. It was there that he designed a helmeted diving suit to evolve under water which was never tested.

In the 1500s, he returned to Florence and took part in hydraulic works. But painting was always at the center of his work and it was in 1503 that he began the Portrait of Mona Lisa, which would become “La Joconde”, a painting that would never leave him. It is said to have been commissioned by the merchant Francisco del Giocondo to Leonardo da Vinci.

At that time, Leonardo was a science enthusiast. He studied mathematics, animal and human anatomy, as well as the flight of birds. Between 1508 and 1510, he carried out several studies that were brought together in a single document, the Codex Leicester. This 72-page work is written in specular script (from left to right, which can be read with the help of a mirror). It summarizes scientific observations in several fields.

In all these studies, Leonardo da Vinci followed a rational and rigorous method based on observation. Untiring and eclectic, he drew, as the documents that have come down to us testify, almost everything he encountered, humans, animals, plants, mechanisms… He had the rare privilege of having access to human cadavers, whose internal anatomy he studied in detail, such as the famous Vitruvian Man. In geometry, he explored new forms. His drawing of the rhombicuboctahedron became famous.

Leonardo lived his last Italian years in Rome, in the service of the Medici, and had long protected the artist. But the competition from Raphael and Michelangelo, rising stars of painting and sculpture, is tough…