makers of The middle Ages and Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci Artist, Inventor, and Renaissance Man Chaucer Celebrated Poet and Author Dante Poet, Author, and Proud Florentine Eleanor of Aquitaine Heroine of the Middle Ages Galileo Renaissance Scientist and Astronomer Machiavelli Renaissance Political Analyst and Author The Medicis ARuling Dynasty Michelangelo Painter, Sculptor, and Architect Thomas More and His Struggles of Conscience Queen Elizabeth and England’s Golden Age Leonardo da Vinci Artist, Inventor, and Renaissance Man makers of The middle Ages and Renaissance makers of The middle Ages and Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci Artist, Inventor, and Renaissance Man Rachel A. Koestler-Grack COVER: Anonymous portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. Uffizi, Florence, Italy. CHELSEA HOUSE PUBLISHERS VP, NEWPRODUCTDEVELOPMENT Sally Cheney DIRECTOROFPRODUCTION Kim Shinners CREATIVEMANAGER Takeshi Takahashi MANUFACTURINGMANAGER Diann Grasse Staff forLeonardo da Vinci EXECUTIVEEDITOR Lee Marcott EDITORIALASSISTANT Carla Greenberg PRODUCTIONEDITOR Noelle Nardone COVERANDINTERIORDESIGNER Keith Trego LAYOUT 21st Century Publishing and Communications, Inc. © 2006 by Chelsea House Publishers, a subsidiary of Haights Cross Communications. All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. www.chelseahouse.com First Printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Koestler-Grack, Rachel A., 1973– Leonardo da Vinci: artist, inventor, and Renaissance man/Rachel Koestler-Grack. p. cm.—(Makers of the Middle Ages and Renaissance) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7910-8626-7 (hard cover) 1. Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452–1519—Juvenile literature. 2. Artists—Italy— Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. Inventors—Italy—Biography—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. N6923.L33K645 2005 709'.2—dc22 2005007490 All links and web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. Contents 1 Renaissance Man 1 2 A Lonely Genius 8 3 The Young Apprentice 21 4 First Paintings 38 5 Leonardo da Vinci’s Studio 50 6 In Milan 68 7 Going Home 83 8 Taking Flight 104 9 Entering the Great Sea 115 Chronology & Timeline 128 Notes 132 Bibliography 134 Further Reading 135 Index 136 Renaissance Man A s Leonardo da Vinci walked into the damp dining room of the Convent of Santa Marie delle Grazie, he could smell a trace of linseed oil in the air. A half- painted mural covered one of the walls. He stood about ten feet back from the wall and gazed at his work. For a long time, he studied the images. He shuffled to the 1 2 Leonardo da Vinci other side of the room and, again, stood staring for several minutes. He then paced to the opposite side of the room and continued the process of reviewing his work. Finally he shook his head in disapproval and leaned in close to the painting. Raising one corner of his mouth in a smile, he nodded. He quickly picked up his brush and began retouching his previous day’s work. Perhaps the shading was not quite right. Maybe the folds in a cloak did not show the outline of an arm. He liked his work to shine with magnificence. If something were not quite right, he would change it. On this day, Leonardo da Vinci was working on his famous mural—The Last Supper. He would labor with brush strokes and colors from dawn until dark. Then, for three or four days, he would not step foot in the convent. This was how he worked. Although his methods frustrated his employers, few dared to argue with the master. Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452, in the middle of the Italian Renaissance—a time of great discovery and rebirth in the arts, literature, and the sciences. Because the Italian peninsula juts out into Renaissance Man 3 Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous mural was The Last Supper. This detail of that mural shows the apostles to the far left of the painting. the Mediterranean Sea, the sea had long been the main trading route between Europe and the East Indies. Trade with distant lands brought with it new ideas. During the Renaissance, Italy became the center of fresh thoughts, while Italian artists set new trends in painting, architecture, and sculpture. Many artists and scholars traveled to Italy to study and learn. 4 Leonardo da Vinci The Renaissance marked a rebirth in many subject areas. Europeans took a new interest in ancient Greek scholars, writers, and teachers, while a fresh study of religion helped start the Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther and others who questioned the teachings of the Catholic Church. As artists began painting more realistic scenes, they discovered that they could create depth by painting faraway objects smaller. In order to do this, they drew diagonal lines into the picture. Next they painted objects in the background increasingly smaller as they got further away. Artists also used light and shading to give their paintings texture and shine. They could make a velvet cloak shimmer in a painting just as it did in life. The Renaissance was also a time of European exploration and discoveries about the world. Explorers found sea routes to Asia and new lands in the West, including North America and the Caribbean. Inventors discovered how to create new navigational instruments, such as the compass. Leonardo da Vinci was a true Renaissance man. He had many talents and accomplishments. He was gifted in so many areas, it was difficult for him to