Leonardo da Vinci, the true Renaissance man.
No doubt you'd recognize the Mona Lisa and you've
probably seen a model of one of his countless inventions. These are all the work of
Leonardo da Vinci. The celebrated painter and inventor
was born in 1452 in Vinci, Italy.
And those were only two of his many talents. He was also a sculptor,
architect, philosopher, engineer and scientist.
His portrait, the Mona Lisa, is the best known painting in the world.
He painted it between 1503 and 1506,
and the identity of the woman behind that mysterious smile
is still disputed today. Almost as famous
is his mural "The Last Supper", which portrays Jesus with his disciples.
Leonardo experimented with a new type of paint
for the mural – which is why it's unfortunately very faded.
Typical for the Renaissance, his subjects were mostly religious.
Yet his work demonstrates that his true fascination was with nature:
why clouds form, how plants grow,
or how the human body is put together. Anatomy is also the focus of
"The Vitruvian Man": a human being standing in the center of a circle and a square.
Leonardo's groundbreaking drawing
depicts the ideal human body measurements and proportions:
Today, the drawing is featured on Italy's 1 euro coin.
One of Leonardo's greatest dreams was to fly.
By observing the movements of birds,
he invented the very first flying machines. A parachute was later assembled
by scientists
in the year 2000 using his original design
– and it worked!
The sky wasn't the limit for Leonardo, who was fascinated with water, too.
He studied the flowing motions of the waves and applied his discoveries to
technological innovations:
including diving gear, irrigation systems, and the very first water meter.
As an engineer,
Leonardo was centuries ahead of his time. As early as 500 years ago
he designed the first precursors of the tank and the automobile,
and even a solar reflector. He spent his final years in France.
By his death in 1519, he had developed a legendary reputation
as a “uomo universale”, or Jack of all trades.
To this very day, Leonardo da Vinci is widely considered
to be one of the most extraordinary people of all time.