Leonardo Renaissance Man Essay Research Paper The

Leonardo: Renaissance Man Essay, Research Paper

The great turning point of Western civilization called the Renaissance, the rebirth of literature, art, architecture, and philosophy in Europe, marked the emergence of the modern world from the dark ages (Aston 11). The Renaissance caused educated Europeans to develop new attitudes about themselves and the world around them. This intellectual cultural awaking influenced European thinking by a concept of humanism, which emphasized the worth of an individual (Aston 12). This attention given to the development of an individual.s potential during the Renaissance brought with it a new emphasis on education. The people of the Renaissance believed a person should not be bound to one specific discipline. Thus, the goal of education was to develop the individual.s talents in all the intellectual and physical areas, ranging from scholarship to the writing of sonnets and swordsmanship. In the Renaissance, people from various segments of society, from kings and nobles to merchants and soldiers, studied classical literature and art; though, most of these people were amateurs who studied for pleasure. As well, the Renaissance spirit of curiosity, experimentation, and objectivity were also important to the development of science in Europe (Aston 13).

In the first city-states of Italy, Italian Renaissance paintings soon began to evolve from the flat, symbolic style of medieval paintings to a more realistic style. To make their creations lifelike and captivating, artists experienced with new techniques, such as creating a sense of perspective that gave their paintings depth (Wallace 15). This new form of painting through perspective lead Renaissance artists to study anatomy, which is the science of dissecting the different parts of any organized body to discover their structure. This allowed artisans to portray human figures more accurately and naturally (Wallace 57). Leonardo da Vinci not only mastered the newly discovered science of perspective in art through anatomy, but also, he advanced the idea that an artist be a creative thinker then only a mere artisan (Costantino 1).

When Leonardo used the words .art,. .science,. and .mathematics. his definitions were somewhat different from those in use today (Wallace 104). According to Leonardo.s definition, art, especially painting, was a science; actually it was .the Queen of all sciences,. (Wallace 104). In his view, the science of art provided not only the means of obtaining knowledge but of .communicating it to all the generations of the world. (Wallace 104). Although Leonardo da Vinci is most commonly known for his paintings such as the Mona Lisa, he was not a painter but rather an engineer, by practice. This is clearly evident when one compares the number of da Vinci.s scientific studies and inventions to the number of his paintings.

In 1482, Leonardo entered the service of the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, having written the duke an astonishing letter in which he stated that he could build portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines; and that he could complete sculptures in marble, bronze, and clay (Brown 72). He served as the principal engineer in the duke’s numerous military enterprises and was active also as an architect. By this time, comparatively an early stage in his career, Leonardo was far interested in more than just painting (Brown 97).

Though many of his works were never published, Leonardo wrote books on astronomy, mathematics, and anatomy. His handwriting is extraordinary. It runs from right to left across the page and its letters are reversed, so that it can be read only with the aid of a mirror (Wallace 8). There are many notions why he wrote as so, the most logical explanations of his hand writings is that he was left handed and found it more convenient, and that he wished to protect his scientific ideas, especially from accusations that might be brought against him (Wallace 10). Writing in such a fashion gives support to the argument that Leonardo was clearly an intellect.

Furthermore, in anatomy he studied the circulation of the blood and the action of the eye. Leonardo was the first to recognize the moderator bands of the right ventricle of the heart, which bear his name (Wallace 107). He also understood the advanced circulation of the blood and knew a great deal about the heart and wrote of its pulsations and valves (Wallace 107). In addition, Leonardo went deeply into the subject of optics. He understood that images are reversed on the human retina, and is credited with the invention of the camera obscura, Latin meaning “dark room” (Brown 170). He noted that from a distance a brightly lit object appears larger than an identical object dimly lit, concluding the theory still used today in physics that .the angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection,. (Brown 170).

Leonardo da Vinci also made discoveries in meteorology and geology, learned the effect of the moon on the tides, foreshadowed modern conceptions of continent formation, and concluded the nature of fossil shells. Leonardo concluded that the prehistoric oceans must have once covered all places where marine fossils are found; which idea was very contrary to the teachings of the Church (Aston 313). In the f