Top 10 interesting facts from the life of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the famous artists and scientists. This great man was born in April 1452 near a town called Vinci. Parents were – a notary named Pierrot and a simple peasant woman Katya. Almost all of his childhood, the boy spent with his mother. The father left them early and married another. But there were no children in the marriage, so Piero took the boy to his upbringing.

Leonardo spent most of his life trying to recreate the image of his mother in many masterpieces. It is worth noting that many famous people in the city had a great influence on the boy.

When Leonardo was 13 years old, his stepmother died during a difficult childbirth. Soon the father married again, but the marriage was again unsuccessful. Piero lived only 77 years, and during that time he had 12 children. The father very much wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and actively tried to introduce him to this. But Leonardo did not become interested in his father’s life’s work.

We present you a list of the 10 most interesting facts from the life of Leonardo da Vinci – a biography of the famous artist, his inventions.

10 Grandmother introduced Leonardo to creativity

Leonardo’s grandmother was like a mother to him for a long time. It can be assumed that it was she who introduced him to creativity. In the family of Lucia (that was the name of her grandmother) there were famous notaries. Also, the woman was related to the masters of ceramics.

Among the family values ​​were various kilns for firing clay products. There is plenty of evidence that Leonardo himself practiced the ceramic craft. This art especially left a mark in his work. In many drawings, you can see that the figures are shown from different angles: from the back, from the side.

Leonardo tried to draw an analogy with the creation of ceramic products. For example, his painting called Benois Madonna shows figures that are rotated in 3 quarters. Such an unusual study makes a person believe in the three-dimensionality of the image.

9. “I created myself”

Very often Leonardo da Vinci called himself an uneducated person. At times he argued with various holders of higher academic degrees, who argued for his self-education.

But Leonardo himself always proudly declared that he did not receive knowledge from any books. And also did not study with famous teachers. Nature itself inspires him a lot.

Leonardo da Vinci has always acted as a man who created himself. Also, the artist has always believed that experience is not as valuable as academic education. That is why art is simply not obliged to serve the interests of people.

8. Did not leave a single self-portrait (there are disputes over authorship)

Currently, there are disputes over the authorship of many works by Leonardo da Vinci.. The painting called “Turin Self-Portrait” is very often attributed to the works of Leonardo. Now it is in Turin, in the royal library. Many believe that the great artist completed it when he was already about 60 years old.

This portrait was painted with a special drawing material, which is made in the form of sticks from kaolin and iron oxides. It’s called Sangin. It was he who made a self-portrait of the artist on paper.

In the portrait you can see a man at a rather advanced age. The work is done with thin lines, and the shading goes from left to right. This is exactly what Leonardo did. The paper has a brownish tint. But it has faded considerably over time.

But even despite such fame, disputes constantly circulate around the self-portrait. Identification was carried out for the first time in the 19th century. One of the art historians believes that this is either a copy of the real work, or a good fake of it.

There are also many versions regarding the date of creation. There are suggestions that the self-portrait was created in 1810 by the artist Giuseppe Bossi. But according to another version, the portrait was painted in 1515.

7. Actively studied anatomy

Few people know that Leonardo da Vinci was very interested in anatomy. It was he who made some discoveries in this area..

For some time he worked with corpses, opened them up for a more detailed study. It is worth noting that he was able to create one of the great studies of his time.

His book was fully prepared for publication, but he was no longer able to carry it out. If it had been published, then the study of the human structure in the physical plane would have advanced much further.

6. Loved accuracy, always made calculations

Many are aware of the fact that Leonardo was very fond of precision. He liked to carry out various calculations. Sometimes he did this in order to profit from his mechanical inventions.

Leonardo also developed a special system for measuring distances not only on land, but even in water. It is worth noting that once he managed to measure the diameter of the Earth itself. He learned a lot from Luca Pacioli, with whom he is on friendly terms.

5. Had mirror handwriting

Leonardo da Vinci had a mirror hand. He took the pen in his left hand, and the lines at the same time began on the right side.. Very often in notebooks, he wrote first the right page, and then the left.

Many graphologists believe that this feature speaks of a person’s desire for power. But it is worth noting that normal handwriting was very difficult for an artist.

4. Invented the submersible

Leonardo was constantly building something new. Among his inventions are such things as a garlic press, a bicycle, a searchlight, scissors, an aircraft and much more.

Very much Leonardo da Vinci was interested in issues related to the water elements. He wanted a person to be able to explore not only the land, but also the bottom of the ocean. He created tools that would help to keep breathing under water for a long time.

It was he who created a special apparatus for immersion in water.. The invention was made from a large hose made of leather. Rings were often impaled on it. Such an invention became very famous in Europe, but not many people knew that Leonardo himself created it.

3. Introduced the term “golden ratio”

The golden ratio is the ratio of two quantities, in which the larger value is related to the smaller one, just like the sum of the values ​​​​in the larger one..

The appearance of this term is associated with Leonardo da Vinci. It is believed that it was he who created this name in the 15th century. But many argue that such a concept existed much earlier. Only not everyone gave him the exact name.

2. Left “identification marks” on the paintings

Leonardo da Vinci never signed his works, but put identification marks on them. If you look closely at his paintings, you can see, for example, a symbolically taking off bird.

Many signs are found after many centuries. It is worth noting that Leonardo always spoke in riddles, and also constantly poured metaphorical prophecies.

1. Riddles of Gioconda

Leonardo da Vinci’s painting called “Gioconda” has always caused controversy. Many mysteries were solved only in the 20th century, and then only in part.

When writing such a picture, Leonardo used the sfumato technique, which is based on the principle of dispersion. This technique is owned by many, but he surpassed all. Due to the very soft range of shades that smoothly flow from one to another, the viewer does not have an accurate focus of the eye. That is why very often, it seems as if the girl in the portrait is smiling or arrogantly mocking.