Leonardo da Vinci

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Leonardo da Vinci

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Title: Leonardo da Vinci
Author: Maurice W. Brockwell
Release Date: March, 2005 [EBook #7785] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 16, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
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[Illustration: Plate 1—MONA LISA. Frontispiece
In the Louvre. No. 1601. 2 ft 6 ? ins. By 1 ft. 9 ins. (0.77 x 0.53)]

LEONARDO DA VINCI

By MAURICE W. BROCKWELL

Illustrated With Eight Reproductions in Colour
[Illustration]
"Leonardo," wrote an English critic as far back as 1721, "was a Man so happy in his genius, so consummate in his Profession, so accomplished in the Arts, so knowing in the Sciences, and withal, so much esteemed by the Age wherein he lived, his Works so highly applauded by the Ages which have succeeded, and his Name and Memory still preserved with so much Veneration by the present Age--that, if anything could equal the Merit of the Man, it must be the Success he met with. Moreover, 'tis not in Painting alone, but in Philosophy, too, that Leonardo surpassed all his Brethren of the 'Pencil.'"
This admirable summary of the great Florentine painter's life's work still holds good to-day.

CONTENTS
His Birth His Early Training His Early Works First Visit to Milan In the East Back in Milan The Virgin of the Rocks The Last Supper The Court of Milan Leonardo Leaves Milan Mona Lisa Battle of Anghiari Again in Milan In Rome In France His Death His Art His Mind His Maxims His Spell His Descendants

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate I. Mona Lisa In the Louvre II. Annunciation In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence III. Virgin of the Rocks In the National Gallery, London IV. The Last Supper In the Refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan V. Copy of the Last Supper In the Diploma Gallery, Burlington House VI. Head of Christ In the Brera Gallery, Milan VII. Portrait (presumed) of Lucrezia Crivelli In the Louvre VIII. Madonna, Infant Christ, and St Anne. In the Louvre

HIS BIRTH
Leonardo Da Vinci, the many-sided genius of the Italian Renaissance, was born, as his name implies, at the little town of Vinci, which is about six miles from Empoli and twenty miles west of Florence. Vinci is still very inaccessible, and the only means of conveyance is the cart of a general carrier and postman, who sets out on his journey from Empoli at sunrise and sunset. Outside a house in the middle of the main street of Vinci to-day a modern and white-washed bust of the great artist is pointed to with much pride by the inhabitants. Leonardo's traditional birthplace on the outskirts of the town still exists, and serves now as the headquarters of a farmer and small wine exporter.
Leonardo di Ser Piero d'Antonio di Ser Piero di Ser Guido da Vinci--for that was his full legal name--was the natural and first-born son of Ser Piero, a country notary, who, like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, followed that honourable vocation with distinction and success, and who subsequently--when Leonardo was a youth--was appointed notary to the Signoria of Florence. Leonardo's mother was one Caterina, who afterwards married Accabriga di Piero del Vaccha of Vinci.
[Illustration: Plate II.--Annunciation
In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. No. 1288. 3 ft 3 ins. By 6 ft 11 ins. (0.99 x 2.18)
Although this panel is included in the Uffizi Catalogue as being by Leonardo, it is in all probability by his master, Verrocchio.]
The date of Leonardo's birth is not known with any certainty. His age is given as five in a taxation return made in 1457 by his grandfather Antonio, in whose house he was educated; it is therefore concluded that he was born in 1452. Leonardo's father Ser Piero, who afterwards married four times, had eleven children by his third and fourth wives. Is it unreasonable to suggest that Leonardo may have had these numbers in mind