Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes and Leonardo Da Vinci positive aspect of life
Devante Gray
Professor Cain
Composition II
9/17/12

My paper is about Langston Hughes and Leonardo Da Vinci and how they have an effect on their readers and their positive aspects on life.
Leonardo Da Vinci was born in 1452 in a town named Vinci in Italy. He was a renaissance painter and he painted realistically, he used light and dark colors in his paintings. In his paintings he painted figures without outlining them. He used a style called “chiaroscuro” and he used light and shadow to give his pictures a 3-D effect. He painted different types of moods in his paintings.
Leonardo Da Vinci most famous painting was the Mona Lisa painting. He started the painting in the year 1503. The painting was thought to be a woman name Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant name Francesco Del Giocondo. They also said the reason for her smile was because she was pregnant.
During the 1485 to 1490 Leonardo da Vinci was a renaissance painter. The duke from his time kept him busy painting pictures and sculpting and designing elaborate court festivals. He started to study things like nature, flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal construction, etc. In this time period most of his studies contained advanced weapons such as a tank and other war vehicles.
Between 1490 and 1495 he developed a study in meticulously illustrated notebooks. His worked covered four main themes such as paintings, architecture, the elements of mechanics, and human anatomy. There was an invasion by French and Ludovico Sforza and that left Leonardo to search for a new patron. For the next 16 years Leonardo worked and traveled through Italy for a number of employers.
Leonardo was important because he came up with ideas of inventions like flying machines and underwater breathing devices. He also was specialized in fields like arts math science. He was an inventor, artist, and scientist who studied nature of the renaissance. His most famous painting the Mona Lisa made him very famous and it was one of the best paintings in his time.
His geographical background didn’t really influence his work. It was mostly nature, flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal construction, and etc. He used nature in his art and things that he found interesting to him he would use it and put it in his paintings. For example his Mona Lisa painting was inspired by a female that he knew.
One of his famous paintings was “The Last Supper”. The painting was started on 1508 and was done in the year 1549. This painting got a lot of recognition when it was painted. It was a picture of Jesus with his twelve apostles eating. This is a very famous painting it is used throughout the world and it is held in churches which symbolizes “The Last Supper.”
The last painting I’m going to talk about is “the Virgin of the Rocks”. This painting was also recognized as a very famous painting. It was started in 1483 and finished in 1486. The painting shows a picture of angels playing a musical instrument which is believed to have been part of the composition that was set into altarpieces.
Langston Hughes was an African American poet during the Harlem Renaissance. He was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri and died on May 22, 1967. He was one of the creators of the new literary art form called Jazz poetry. His poetry and books showed the lives of the working class blacks in America and there struggles.
One of his main points was Race, Hughes tried to get across to the people and show them that Black is beautiful, fearless, and strong. He was a black writer during the time blackness wasn’t accepted. In his work he confronted racial stereotypes through poetry and his books. All Hughes wanted was for his readers to read his work and start to feel good about themselves and the color of their skin and to know that they are strong and full with courage. I think the main part about race Hughes wanted to get across in his work is that Black Is Beautiful.
Another point he was trying to get across in his work is Social Class. Social Class meaning the way blacks were living compared to the way Caucasians were living during the Harlem renaissance. In Hughes’s books he wanted to show or get across the real lives of blacks in the lower class. Most of his poetry and stories showed the lives of the working class blacks in America, and there struggle. Hughes his self-protested with blacks of the lower class social conditions to show that he to understand the struggle and hard times they are going through. They began to call Hughes a people’s poet, because how he helped the people through his writers work and hands on work in the community.
The last point his work was based upon was equality. He always felt that no matter what race you are that we all should be treated equal. He believed that chances that a Caucasian person should get another ethnicity should get the same opportunity. He feels if everyone is treated equal that the world would be a better place.
These are the three points that Langston was trying to get across in his readings. He talked about race, social class and, equality. He mainly focused on them three points in his writings so he could send his message to his readers who read his poems.
Both Langston Hughes and Leonardo da Vinci were renaissance men. They both were very famous poets during their time and still are being talked about throughout the world. They both gave a good aspect on life and both of their work was positive towards their readers. Langston Hughes talked about how all people should be treated the same no matter what race you are. Leonardo Da Vinci drew painting such as the “The Last Supper” which is a painting of when Jesus had the last supper with his twelve disciples and he announces that one of them betrayed him.

References

Biography
Leonardo Da Vinci. (1996). Bio True story .Retrieved from www.biography .com
Biography
Langston Hughes. (1996). Bio True story. Retrieved from www.biography.com

References: Biography Leonardo Da Vinci. (1996). Bio True story .Retrieved from www.biography .com Biography Langston Hughes. (1996). Bio True story. Retrieved from www.biography.com