Leonardo Da Vinci: A Renaissance Man

There have been many men who fit the definition of a “Renaissance man”. Leonardo da Vinci was a man who stood out from everyone else. He was not only interested in everything but he also excelled in many areas. There were many reasons why Leonardo da Vinci was a typical Renaissance Man. Leonardo da Vinci was the definition of a “Renaissance Man” because, he was an artist, sculptor, inventor and scientist.
Leonardo da Vinci was known as the best artist of his time. Da Vinci was all about realism through his observations. He captured the tiny details of people, animals, landscapes and objects. His most famous painting of all time is the “Mona Lisa.” The Mona Lisa is an oil painting on a poplar wood panel. His painting is described as “the best
known, the most visited, the most written about, the most snug about, and the most parodied work of art in the world”. Da Vinci was a brilliant painter, his use of find shading was used to paint curves in the sitter’s hair and clothing. There are many reasons on why da Vinci was an incredible artist. His work for the Mona Lisa was just one of his many famous creations.
Leonardo da Vinci not only drew realistically in his sketchbook. He also was a sculptor which he used his skills of drawing for. Da Vinci was ordered to create the largest horse sculpture in honor of his father. Da Vinci spent many years sketching out the details of how he wanted the horse to look like. He eventually sculpted out a full-size clay model of the horse that he planned to be casted in bronze. Da Vinci had struggles to be able to get this horse to come to life. He also struggled with being able to cover it in bronze. The 24-foot stature didn’t stop him from his dream of completing his masterpiece. He used his skills as an inventor to create a whole new mold technique. When he was ready to bronze his horse, fate was not good to him and for that reason he wasn’t able to finish his horse statue as planned. Da Vinci had great ambition for his horse project. No other artist was devoted to their artwork like da Vinci was. His time and devotion he spent into trying to make his horse sculpture come true shows what a loyal sculptor he was.
Leonardo da Vinci is more famous for his works as an artist but, he spent more of his time working on his efforts of science and technology.
He had detailed sketches of his inventions. Him being an artist played a large role toward his inventions. Da Vinci’s sketchbooks show that he visualized many inventions way before technology was used to build them. Da Vinci’s inventions included the flying machine, anemometer, helicopter, parachute, giant crossbows, a clock, etc. Da Vinci’s most famous invention was the flying machine. His imagination to create a flying machine was influenced by winged animals, bats, kites, and birds. The bat caught his eye the most, the wings on the flying machine were shaped like the bat’s wings, also pointed at the end. The wingspan of the flying machine exceeded 33 feet. Da Vinci had a system on how the flying machine would work. The pilot would power up the wings by cranking a pedal that was connected to a rod-and-pulley-system. This invention also had a hand crank that was used for energy output and a headpiece to steer. The busy pilots have to spin cranks with their hands and feet in order for the wings of the machine to flap. The machine only flew once in the air. That was a big accomplishment for da Vinci but, no one could ever figure out how to create enough power to get the machine off the ground except da Vinci. Da Vinci invented many things in his sketch book, his brilliant way of thinking and drawing led his sketches of inventions to
become famous. Da Vinci can be proudly described as an inventor since he was able to design and get an airplane to fly.
What led Leonardo da Vinci to his scientific career was his art.
He used science to amplify his paintings and was right away fascinated. Da Vinci enjoyed studying the nature outside, he liked sketching what surrounded him. He studied rock formations, caves and fossils. Da Vinci was the first to recognize that the knowledge of science had to be done by repeated experiments and not unproven ideas. He was the first scientist to be able to connect mathematics and science. A reason why he thought mathematics and science might be connected is he failed in a scientific investigation. It was because many mathematics laws were needed but were not yet discovered. Another area in science that he studied was anatomy. Much like the notebook he had for his inventions, he created one for his drawings of the human body. He took his drawings into detail by the way he drew eye sockets, the optic nerve entering the brain, complete human tendons, muscles, and the skeletal system. Da Vinci built a theory of the four powers in the world and how it worked. The four powers he found out to be movement, weight, force, and percussion. He almost applied them to the greatest of all sciences that was the most enchanting called the human body. To be able to fulfill his desire to know more about the human body, he dissected about thirty corpses. Once he found what he wanted, he made many notes in his drawings of the human body. For these many reasons Leonardo da Vinci is also known as a scientist and was
interested in everything.
Many people have been considered to be a “Renaissance Man” throughout history. Leonardo da Vinci was a man who was blessed with many talents in different areas. He was known an artist, sculptor, inventor and scientist. Him being able to do all the things he did, all relates to him being a great artist. Without Leonardo da Vinci’s great contribution in the art world, there wouldn’t be artists like there are today because he was an inspiration to them. In the world of invention, without Leonardo da Vinci’s genius sketchbooks and ideas, there wouldn’t be modern day flying machines like there are today. It’s safe to say that Leonardo da Vinci was not only the definition of a Renaissance man but also a true genius who was beyond his time.