Chapter 2
Discussion
A.
Life
of Leonardo Da Vinci
Discussing about Leonardo Da Vinci’s life is
a little bit hard but interesting. The fact that he gave a lot for the human
civilization makes it hard to research about. From his early age to his death,
he gave a life fulfilling.
According to an article entitled “Leonardo Da
Vinci Biography” by an unknown author of leonardoda-vinci.org Leonardo spent
his early life mysteriously. When he reached the age of 14, he entered a
workshop with one of the most successful artists of his day, Andrea di Cione,
known as Verrocchio.According to the author, Leonardo did his first painting
work with Verocchio during his baptism of Christ. He first painted Jesus in
robes. In the article, it was stated that Leonardo started his professional
career at 1947. He collaborated with 3 more artist to make a sodomy. His first
work as a professional is “The Adoration of the Magi”. At 1482 to 1499,
Leonardo’s career is at its peak. He began painting “The Last Supper”. At the
start of the Second Italian War in 1499, the invading French troops used the
life-size clay model for the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. With
Ludovico Sforza overthrown, Leonardo, with his assistant Salai and friend, the
mathematician Luca Pacioli, fled Milan for Venice, where he was employed as a
military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval
attack. This is when Leonardo began exploring the word of Mathematics, Science
and Technology. The author also added that on his return to Florence in 1500, Leonardo
created the cartoon of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the
Baptist, a work that won such admiration that "men and women, young and
old" flocked to see it "as if they were attending a great
festival". At 1513 to 1516, he began to rest back at Belvedere in Rome
near Michael Angelo’s house. Leonardo died at Clos Lucé, France, on May 2,
1519.
The author also quoted “There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as
Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he
was a very great philosopher." (http://www.leonardoda-vinci.org/biography.html)
Indeed, Leonardo shared a lot to our world.
People are not actually aware of what really happened in his life. Only remnants
of memories with other people he bonded with are the transcripts on what
happened in his life. It was never clear how he lived his life personally.
B.
The
greatest works of the greatest Man
What’s amazing about Da Vinci is that he was
able to dedicate his life by doing what his profession needed. Unlike others in
his same profession, he was able to come up with ideas and made it look
different and unique.
Leonardo indeed is unquestionably good at
being a painter and scientist.
1. In the field of arts
He was known as one of the greatest painters
and yes, he has one of the famous and expensive artworks.
In an article entitled, “List of 5 Most
Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci” by an unknown author of historylists.org
Leonardo has 5 famous artworks that have been patronized by a lot of artists,
due to its deep conveyance. First is the ever famous “Mona Lisa”: A portrait of
a woman smiling mysteriously. Second is “the Last Supper”: the religious view
of Jesus and his apostles on their last dine together. Vitruvian Man is next on
the list. This artwork of Leonardo in a paper is a depiction of two
superimposed positions within a square and circle named after an architect
Vitruvius. Fourth is the “Lady with an Ermine” this painting has been identified
as Cecilia Gallerani who was a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Last
is his “Self-portait in Red Chalk” wherein he drew himself.
The author also said “His artworks, characterized by extraordinary lively yet harmonic
composition and subtle technique of shadowing had an enormous influence on the
following generation of artists.” (http://historylists.org/art/list-of-5-most-famous-artworks-by-leonardo-da-vinci.html).
These artworks were actually appreciated by
people after Leonardo Da Vinci passed away. These artworks received a lot of
speculation and controversies that will soon be tackled on the latter part of
this chapter.
2. In the field of Science
and Technology
Leonardo, as a scientiss, gave a lot of
proofs and his curiosity lead to answers that were soon became benefit to us.
Some of his works soon came to life because of some inventors who idolized his
works.
According to an article entitled “The top 10
Leonardo Da Vinci inventions” by Christopher Lampton of geniusstuff.com, named
the “Ball bearing”. Ball bearings make it possible for drive shafts to rotate,
for goods to roll along ramps in a factory or store, and for mechanical devices
in general to operate. By placing a smoothly rolling sphere between moving
surfaces, ball bearings eliminate friction. “The Parachute” : a flying device
used by a lot of people today for safety and entertainment purposes. “The
Ornitopther” : device conceived by da Vinci that would theoretically have
allowed humans to soar through the air like birds. “The Machine gun”: which is
soon used for wars. “The diving suit” : very useful for mariners nowadays. “The
armored Tank” and others like “Self-propelled Cart”, “City of the future”,
“Aerial Screw” and “Robotic Knight”.
Lampton also said “In recent years, however, engineers have begun to construct models of
da Vinci's amazing machines and most of them actually work. In the following
pages we'll look at some of the most imaginative -- and coolest -- of the
designs that da Vinci sketched out in his notebooks.” (http://www.geniusstuff.com//blog/list/10-leonardo-da-vinci-inventions/).
Da
Vinci may not be able to alter technology in his time but he sure did well on
influencing the people of the 20th and 21st century.
C.
The
controversies
Here comes the excited part. Leonardo lived
his life mysteriously and despite the positive contributions given by this
great man, people still questioned and talked about him.
What is Da Vinci code? Why doesn’t Mona Lisa
have eyebrows? Why are there letters on some of his paintings? Thousands of
questions have been raised and theories were made.
1. The never ending mystery
of Mona Lisa
Ask the most famous controversy about Da
Vinci and they will answer you with “Mona Lisa”. This painting of a beautiful
admirable girl smiling simply ate the viewer is rather worthy for a lot of
questions.
According to an article entitled “9
Conspiracy Theories about Mona Lisa” by Anwesha of boldsky.com, Mona Lisa has 9
abruptly questionable parts that have been analyzed by debaters a few years after
it became famous. First is the mysterious smile of the lady. It is the smile
that led the conspiracy theorist to deduce that there are secret clues in the
Mona Lisa. People are also asking if Mona Lisa is pregnant because she was
rather hiding her stomach in the painting. Also people are asking if the “She”
is actually a “He”. Some theorists have found the stature of Mona Lisa overtly
manly. The fact that she has no hint of bosom has led many people to believe
that Mona Lisa was actually an effeminate man. Some say that she was Da Vinci’s
mom. Some said that the painting is his depiction of himself. Some historians
have also claimed that Mona Lisa is a combination of a man and woman. The Latin
words Amon and Elisa combine to form Mona Lisa. That makes Mona Lisa a
hermaphrodite. Also, why doesn’t she have eyebrows? Some historians say that it
was customary for noble women to shave their eyebrows in the 16th century
though. Lastly, some theorists believe that the Mona Lisa is perfect in terms
of symmetry. It forms the ancient symbol of the chalice that is an indirect
hint to the mystical holy grail. Dan brown has elaborated about this theory in
his bestseller book, 'Da Vinci Code'.
The author also said, “The Mona Lisa is also famous because it is rumoured to be legendary
painter Leonardo Da Vinci's favourite work. In fact, he carried it wherever he
went. This painting's proximity to its creator has given rise to many
conspiracy theories. These conspiracy theories range from the identity of the
woman in the painting to the presence of secret clues in the Mona Lisa.” (http://www.boldsky.com/insync/pulse/2013/mona-lisa-secret-conspiracy-theories-032144.html).
Certainly, Mona Lisa has a lot of
controversies, but what if Leonardo just painted it because he wants to. People
kept on raising and raising their own theories but in the end, Mona Lisa is
just a masterpiece made by a master.
2. The Da Vinci Code
Ever heard of it? The famous author Dan Brown
dedicated a year or more just to explain this and tell the people how Leonardo
Da Vinci made the code.
According to an article entitled “Cracking
the Da Vinci code” by an unknown author of catholic.com, The novel of Dan Brown
“Da Vinci Code” is the best novel explaining the said controversy. Da Vinci is
portrayed as a former head of the conspiracy guarding the "truth"
about Jesus Christ. In the novel he is said to have planted various codes and
secret symbols in his work, particularly in his painting of the Last Supper.
According to the novel, this painting depicts Jesus' alleged wife, Mary
Magdalene, next to him as a symbol of her prominence in his true teaching. In
reality, the figure that Dan Brown identifies as Mary Magdalene is John the
Evangelist, who traditionally has been regarded as the youngest of the apostles
and so is often pictured in medieval art without a beard.
The author also raised the points of what
Leonardo is doing in his works in the article. The author enumerated it as the
following:
a. Jesus
is not God; he was only a man.
b. Jesus
was married to Mary Magdalene.
c. She
is to be worshiped as a goddess.
d. Jesus
got her pregnant, and the two had a daughter.
e. That
daughter gave rise to a prominent family line that is still present in Europe
today.
f. The
Bible was put together by a pagan Roman emperor.
g. Jesus
was viewed as a man and not as God until the fourth century, when he was
deified by the emperor Constantine.
h. The
Gospels have been edited to support the claims of later Christians.
i. In
the original Gospels, Mary Magdalene rather than Peter was directed to
establish the Church.
j. There
is a secret society known as the Priory of Sion that still worships Mary
Magdalene as a goddess and is trying to keep the truth alive.
k. The
Catholic Church is aware of all this and has been fighting for centuries to
keep it suppressed. It often has committed murder to do so.
l. The
Catholic Church is willing to and often has assassinated the descendents of
Christ to keep his bloodline from growing.
Da Vinci code is the reason of the uprising
controversies raised against Leonardo. These issues regarding him being in the
Priory of Sion makes people dislike him. Some people even tried to unlock the
real meaning of his paintings. In the future, everybody knows that the
conspiracy behind Da Vinci code will remain unanswered.
3. Various lost paintings
As an artist, Leonardo has been referred by
different people. Since he was very talented, a lot people hired him. And as
time goes by, as his artworks went viral, different painting and artworks
claimed to be made by Leonardo Da Vinci.
According to an article entitled “'Lost' Da
Vinci Portrait, and its Origins, Stir Controversy” by Jennifer Welsh of
livescience.com there’s a new artwork being claimed to be made by Leonardo Da
Vinci. The artwork is included in a 500 year old book of the family history of
the Duke of Milan. In 2010, first suggestions that da Vinci painted the
portrait were released. Since then, art historians have debated over both its
origin and the painter. In fact, several art historians contacted by
LiveScience said they wouldn't comment on the piece or didn't return emails. An
earlier examination of the artwork by a gallery in Vienna led the director
there to say it was not a da Vinci, and they are unswayed by the new evidence.
art
historians there suggesting the piece came from 19th-century German artists
called the Nazarenes, who mimicked the Renaissance style. (This was disproved
after carbon dating estimated the portrait's creation between 1440 and 1650.)
It was titled "Head of a Young Girl in Profile to the Left in Renaissance
Dress.” In fact, the author’s agency contacted different art historians.
Welsh also said “Many of the historians
contacted by LiveScience refused to comment on the piece.” (http://www.livescience.com/16549-lost-davinci-portrait.html).
Up until now, debates regarding lost
paintings and artwork belonging to Leonardo are still alive. The fact that he
was the best Renaissance painter, every Renaissance looking painting are all
being referred to him.
Even if Leonardo is not with us anymore, the
fact that people are still talking about him and his works prove that he was
rather controversial for us.
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