Leonardo Di Vinci: The Original

Leonardo Di Vinci: The Original Renaissance Man

Leonardo di Vinci is no doubt the Ultimate Renaissance Man because he not only embodied everything that the Renaissance was all about, he helped spur the movement into action with his innovative ideas and techniques. While many may only think of Leonardo as a painter, he was much more, most notably an original thinker that propelled fantastic ideas regarding science and nature from his imagination to paper. His sketches reveal a mind constantly at work observing the world around him and his paintings are regarded as the forerunners a new technique that brings art to life. Leonardo was not just a man of the Renaissance, he was responsible for determining the definition of what Renaissance meant.

More than anything, Leonardo's mind shaped the ideas of the Renaissance. As a scientist, he "bridged the gap between the shockingly unscientific medieval methods and our own trusty modern approach" (MoS Scientist). Leonardo's experiments were unorthodox for their time. It is recorded that his study of fluids "absolutely blew away the accomplishments of his predecessors" (MoS Scientist). He studied "loads of subjects, including nature, flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal construction, canals and architecture (designing everything from churches to fortresses)" (MoS Renaissance). In addition, he also considered things that would seem completely out of place in his world such as designs for "advanced weapons, including a tank and other war vehicles, various combat devices, and submarines" (MoS Renaissance). Apparently, he used the same method of scientific inquiry, which included "close observation, repeated testing of the observation, precise illustration of the subject object or phenomenon with brief explanatory notes" (MoS Scientist). Notes abound on his many topics including the "sun, moon and stars to the formation of fossils and, perhaps most notably, the mysteries of flight" (MoS Scientist). Here we see how Leonardo embodies the Renaissance in his exploration of new things. He was not satisfied with what the world had postulated before him and set out discover more about all that he could.

Even his paintings are different in that he took painting to another level. We read that Leonardo believed that "art should be considered a form of creative knowledge, on the same level as science and philosophy" (Pedretti). As a result of this different approach to painting, Leonardo's art stands out because his method was that of a master. He incorporated sfumato in his painting, which is the technique of "placing colours next to one another rather than demarcating contours with clear cut lines" (Leonardo Online) and by doing so, he reached a "point that nobody before had reached: a way of representing living and vivacious reality" (Leonardo Online). The Mona Lisa, Leda and the Swan, and the Virgin of the Rocks illustrate Leonardo's technique that brings his subjects to life. His genius was not limited to thought and because he was able to organize his thoughts and put them on paper, he was part of a new generation that would leave a lasting imprint on the world.