Have you ever seen the Mona Lisa? I’m sure you have, but what you probably didn’t know was that the Mona Lisa was actually created during The Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time full of change. Europe was coming out of the Dark Ages, and into the modern world. Professions like artists and scientists were very popular during this period. The Renaissance was a time for experimenting, and living your modern life to the fullest. One man who really exemplifies the Renaissance is Leonardo Da Vinci. Not only did he create the Mona Lisa, but he also had a pretty interesting life story that really paints a picture of what living in the Renaissance was all about. Today, I’m going to prove to you that Da Vinci was important to the Renaissance by telling you about Da Vinci’s life story, some of Da Vinci’s most famous paintings, and why Da Vinci is a good example of a Renaissance artist.
Da Vinci’s life began on April 15, 1452 in the town of Vinci. Nobody knows too much about his early childhood, but we do know that at age 14 he went to apprentice for Verrocchio. Verrocchio was a sculptor, painter, and goldsmith, so Da Vinci learned a lot about art from working at his shop. Da Vinci worked for 9 years, and helped create many artworks during that time. In 1473, he created his “first artwork” called Landscape Drawing for Santa Maria della Neve. We’ll get into it more later when we talk more about his artworks. After working for Verrocchio, Da Vinci decided to head out into the world to make a life for himself as an artist. He opened his own studio where he was free to paint. Many of his artworks featured religious figures, but he didn’t just paint whatever he wanted all the time. Many people paid him to paint what they wanted In fact, a lot of Da Vinci’s works, including the Mona Lisa, were works that he was commissioned to paint for other people. Eventually, he became such a popular artist that he got commissioned to paint in all different places. He continued traveling and painting until May 2, 1519 when he died at Clos Lucé. He had lived to the age of 67, and created 318 paintings throughout the course of his life.
To truly understand Da Vinci, you have to look closely at some of his artworks. So, we’re going to look at a few of Da Vinci’s artworks, starting with the first one. Like I mentioned earlier, the Landscape Drawing for Santa Maria della Neve (shown below at Visuals 1) is considered to be Da Vinci’s first artwork. Whether, that was actually his very first individually created artwork or not, no one knows for sure, but it is credited with being Da Vinci’s first piece of art. It is actually quite different than what you would typically think of as Da Vinci’s art. Da Vinci is usually thought of as a painter, so it’s interesting that his “first artwork” was a drawing. If you look closely though, this drawing resembles not only Da Vinci’s other artwork, but other artwork of the Renaissance.
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You can see the depth of the picture, something that wasn’t really used in 2-dimensional art until the Renaissance. You can also see how he was experimenting with the different textures. Experimenting was a HUGE part of the Renaissance because they were rediscovering what they had forgotten during The Dark Ages, and were also discovering completely new things. Another famous piece of Da Vinci art was The Last Supper (shown below at Visuals 2). The Last Supper was Da Vinci’s interpretation of what it would have been like to eat with Jesus just before he died. Unlike many of his other paintings, this one was a mural. It was commissioned to be painted in a Monastery. Unfortunately, Da Vinci had little experience with painting murals, so he aimed to make it beautiful rather than make it last. Needless to say, it did not stand the test of time so well. Da Vinci had to keep fixing this mural, and it has had to be restored several times since then. Now, as I’ve already told you, Da Vinci created a lot of different artworks during his time, and I only have time to talk about a few.
So, lastly, we’re going to talk about Da Vinci’s most famous artwork, the Mona Lisa (show below at Visuals 3). The Mona Lisa is not only Da Vinci’s most famous artwork, it is probably the most famous artwork. The Mona Lisa was supposedly a piece commissioned by Francesco del Giocondo, who wanted Da Vinci to paint a portrait of his wife. However, in recent years it has been disputed who the woman in the portrait actually is. Regardless of who the woman in the portrait is, the portrait itself was groundbreaking at the time. It depicted women in a way nothing else of the time did. The woman in the portrait was calm and confident. Da Vinci also exercised great technique in the way he used color and depth to make a realistic looking portrait. It’s because of these things that the Mona Lisa has become a timelessly classic artwork.
So I’ve given you some information on Da Vinci and his art, and now I’m going to explain not only how Da Vinci was important to the Renaissance, but how the Renaissance was important to Da Vinci. First of all Da Vinci is definitely a Renaissance artist. He wasn’t just an artist who happened to live during the Renaissance, his art exhibits the qualities of art from the Renaissance. For example, all of his art has depth. You can look at them and tell where the focus is. You can look at them and almost feel the texture. This was something that art didn’t really do before the Renaissance. His paintings also had bright colors, which was a major Renaissance technique. Many of his artworks even featured an important classical figure, like The Last Supper featuring Jesus. Studying the classics and basing modern creation on them was big deal during the Renaissance, since they were rediscovering the history of humankind.
The Renaissance artwork is so groundbreaking, that it was said to be the start of modern art. If so, Da Vinci definitely helped with that. Some of his artworks, like the Mona Lisa, were so famous that they are still considered to be an important part of artistic culture today. Leonardo Da Vinci had such an outstanding impact on art that leonardodavinci.net says his impact on art was as big as Shakespeare’s on literature, or Freud’s on psychology. So, Da Vinci was clearly a major contributor to the Renaissance, but the Renaissance also impacted him. Had Da Vinci not grown up in an era where exploration in art, science, and many other areas were so highly encouraged, would he have ever became such a significant artist? Probably not. The Renaissance was an exciting time full of art, and I think that that impacted Da Vinci greatly. If he had grown up in the Dark Ages, would he have ever even thought of becoming an artist? I don’t think so. So, the Renaissance was just as important to Da Vinci as he was to it.
In conclusion, I’ve told you about Da Vinci’s life, Da Vinci’s art, and Da Vinci and the Renaissance. I hope that I have proved to you that Leonardo Da Vinci is an important historical figure. He didn’t just live during the Renaissance, he exemplifies it. Now, if I didn’t convince you that Da Vinci is great, then you don’t have to take my word for it. Get out there and do some research for yourself. I guarantee you’ll discover that Da Vinci is an interesting guy who was very important to the Renaissance, and he still impacts our society today.
