May 2, 2019 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci - a man whose name everyone knows without exception. The greatest representative of the Italian Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, passed away in 1519. He lived only 67 years - not so many by today's standards, but then it was old age.
Leonardo da Vinci was a real genius, and equally talented in almost all areas of science and art in which he was engaged. And he did a lot. Artist and writer, musician and sculptor, anatomist and architect, inventor and philosopher - all this is Leonardo da Vinci. Today, such a range of interests seems surprising. Indeed, geniuses like Leonardo are born more than once in a century.
Son of a notary and apprentice artist
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the village of Anchiano in the vicinity of the town of Vinci, not far from Florence. Actually, "da Vinci" means "from Vinci". He was the son of a 25-year-old notary, Piero di Bartolomeo, and his beloved peasant woman, Caterina. Thus, Leonardo was not born in wedlock - the notary was not going to marry a simple peasant woman. Leonardo spent the first years of his childhood with his mother. His father Pierrot, meanwhile, married a rich girl of his circle. But they did not have children, and Piero decided to take three-year-old Leonardo for upbringing. So the boy was forever separated from his mother.
Ten years later, Leonardo's stepmother died. The father, remaining a widower, remarried. He lived 77 years, had 12 children, was married four times. As for the young Leonardo, Piero first tried to introduce his son to the profession of lawyer, but the youth was completely indifferent to it. And his father, in the end, resigned himself and gave 14-year-old Leonardo to Verrocchio's workshop as an apprentice to the artist.
The workshop was located in Florence - the then center of arts and sciences, the cultural capital of Italy. It was here that Leonardo da Vinci comprehended not only the foundations of the fine arts, but also the humanities and technical sciences. The young man was interested in drawing, sculpture, drafting, metallurgy, chemistry, studied literature and philosophy. In addition to Leonardo, Agnolo di Polo, Lorenzo di Credi studied in Verrocchio's workshop, and Botticelli often visited. After completing a course of study, in 1473, 20-year-old Leonardo da Vinci was accepted by the master into the Guild of St. Luke.
Thus, the visual arts can still be considered the main profession of Leonardo. He was engaged in it all his life and it was drawing that was the main source of livelihood.
Living in Milan: becoming a genius
At the age of twenty, Leonardo began to work independently, since there were all the possibilities for this. In addition to the obvious talent for painting and sculpture, he had a broad outlook in the humanities and natural sciences, was distinguished by excellent physical training - he skillfully fenced, demonstrated great strength. But in Florence, which was oversaturated with talented people, there was no place for Leonardo. Despite Leonardo's talents, Lorenzo Medici, who ruled the city, had other favorite artists. And Leonardo da Vinci went to Milan.
Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Milan
It was in Milan that the next 17 years of the great artist's life passed, here he turned from a young man into a mature husband, and gained wide fame. It is interesting that here da Vinci realized himself as an inventor and engineer. So, on behalf of the Duke of Milan, Lodovico Moro, he took up the laying of water supply and sewerage. Then da Vinci began to work in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie on the fresco "The Last Supper". This was one of his most successful works.
An interesting work was also a sculpture depicting a horseman - Duke Francesco Moro, father of Lodovico. This statue, unfortunately, has not survived to this day. But there is a drawing by da Vinci, by which you can imagine how she looked. In 1513, da Vinci came to Rome, participated in the painting of the Belvedere Palace, and then moved to Florence. Here he painted the Palazzo Vecchio.
Da Vinci's inventions
Very interesting are the revolutionary ideas of Leonardo da Vinci for their time, each of which can be called a brilliant futuristic project. So, Leonardo da Vinci developed the concept of Vitruvian man, based on the proportions of the Roman mechanic Vitruvius. Da Vinci's sketch is now recognizable all over the world - it depicts a serious man with perfect muscles.
Another brilliant invention of Leonardo is a self-propelled carriage. Even then, more than five hundred years ago, da Vinci thought about how to create a vehicle that would move independently, without the help of horses, mules or donkeys. And he developed the design of a wooden "proto-car", which moved due to the interaction of springs with wheels. Already in our time, according to Leonardo's drawings, engineers have recreated an exact copy of the carriage and saw that it was really capable of driving on its own.
It was Leonardo who first came up with the idea to develop a prototype of a modern helicopter. Of course, the structure could hardly rise into the air, but this does not diminish the author's courage in the scientific search. A team of four was supposed to operate such a machine. The development of flapping paragliders is no less impressive. For da Vinci, man's flight over the earth was a real dream and he hoped that someone would make it happen. Centuries passed and what seemed incredible in the 16th century came true. The man flew not only into the sky, but also into space, not only paragliders, airplanes and helicopters, but also spaceships appeared.
Leonardo da Vinci also showed great interest in construction and urban architecture. In particular, he developed the concept of a two-tier city, which was supposed to be more livable and cleaner than contemporary Italian cities. By the way, when da Vinci lived in Milan, Europe was struck by a plague epidemic. The terrible disease was caused, among other things, by the colossal unsanitary conditions in the then European cities, so da Vinci thought about the project of a more perfect city. He decided to create two levels of the city. The upper one would be intended for land and pedestrian roads, and the lower one - for trucks that would unload goods into the basements of houses and shops.
By the way, now the idea of a two-level city is more relevant than ever. One can imagine how convenient and safe for traffic and transport, and for pedestrians such cities with underground tunnels would become. So da Vinci anticipated the ideas of many modern urbanists.
Tank, submarine, machine gun
Although Leonardo da Vinci never had anything to do with the armed forces, he, like many leading inventors and thinkers of his time, also thought about how to improve the actions of troops and the navy. So, Leonardo developed the concept of a rotating bridge. He believed that such a bridge would be optimal for fast movement. A bridge made of lightweight and durable materials attached to a rope-roller system will allow troops to move and deploy faster in the desired location.
The diving suit project is also famous. Leonardo da Vinci lived in the era of the great geographical discoveries. Many famous travelers of that time were his compatriots - immigrants from Italy, and the Italian cities of Venice and Genoa "held" the Mediterranean sea trade. Da Vinci designed a leather underwater suit that was connected to a reed breathing tube and a bell that sits on the surface of the water. It is noteworthy that the model of the spacesuit even included such a piquant detail as a bag for collecting urine - the inventor took care of the maximum comfort of the diver and provided for even the most subtle nuances of diving under water.
We all use a corkscrew in life. But this harmless piece of kitchen utensils was designed for completely different purposes. Leonardo da Vinci came up with a kind of prototype of a torpedo, which was supposed to screw into the ship's skin and pierce it. This specific invention da Vinci believed to be used for the purpose of underwater battles.
In 1502, Leonardo da Vinci created a drawing, which, according to many modern historians, depicts a certain prototype of a submarine. But this drawing was not detailed and the inventor, by his own admission, avoided details quite deliberately. Leonardo, a former humanist, wrote next to the drawing that he did not publish a method of creating a device with which people would be able to stay under water for a long time, so that some evil people would not engage in “treacherous murders at the bottom of the seas, destroying ships and drowning them together with the team. As you can see, da Vinci foresaw the appearance of the submarine fleet and its use for attacks on surface ships and vessels.
Leonardo also had a drawing of some kind of a modern tank. Of course, this is not a tank, but a specific combat vehicle. The round and closed carriage was propelled by seven crew members. At first, da Vinci believed that horses could move a cart, but then he realized that people, unlike animals, would not be afraid of an enclosed space. The main task of such a combat vehicle was to attack the enemy in order to crush and shoot him from muskets located around the entire circumference of the vehicle. True, as in the case of the submarine, this project of Leonardo da Vinci also remained only on paper.
It is impossible not to remember espringal - "jumper". It is a catapult-like device that works on the principle of a coiled elastic band. First, the lever is pulled with a rope, a stone is placed in a special bag, and then the tension is cut off and the stone flies away to the enemy. But, unlike the traditional onager, espringal did not receive serious distribution in the armies of the late Middle Ages. For all the genius of da Vinci, this invention was seriously inferior to the ancient Roman catapult.
Another da Vinci project in the field of weapons is the famous machine gun. It was developed by Leonardo because firing a firearm at that time required constant reloading of the barrels, which was very time-consuming. In order to get rid of this annoying need, Leonardo came up with a multi-barreled weapon. As conceived by the inventor, it was supposed to shoot and reload almost simultaneously.
The thirty-three-barreled organ consisted of 3 rows of 11 small-caliber cannons, connected in the form of a triangular rotating platform, to which large wheels were attached. One row of guns was loaded, a shot was fired from it, then the platform was turned over and the next row was placed. While one row was firing, the second was cooled, and the third was reloaded, which made it possible to conduct almost continuous fire.
Friend of the French king
The last years of Leonardo da Vinci's life were spent in France. King Francis I of France, who became the patron saint and friend of the artist, in 1516 invited da Vinci to settle in the Clos-Luce castle, next to the royal castle of Amboise. Leonardo da Vinci was appointed chief royal painter, architect and engineer of France and received an annual salary of one thousand crowns.
Thus, at the end of his life, the artist achieved an official title and recognition, albeit in another country. Finally, he got the opportunity to calmly think and act, using the financial support of the French crown. And he paid King Leonardo da Vinci by taking care of the royal festivities, planning a new royal palace with a change in the river bed. He designed the canal between the Loire and the Seine, the spiral staircase at the Château de Chambord.
Apparently, in 1517, Leonardo da Vinci suffered a stroke, as a result of which his right arm became numb. The artist could hardly move. He spent the last year of his life in bed. On May 2, 1519, Leonardo da Vinci died, surrounded by his students. The great Leonardo was buried in the castle of Amboise, and the inscription was engraved on the tombstone:
Within the walls of this monastery lies the ashes of Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest artist, engineer and architect of the French kingdom.
