In the vast long history of “the arts”, one person stands out as the model of “The Renaissance Man”. Leonardo da Vinci was a remarkable person of multiple interests and talents, as well as never ending ideas. He was a sculptor, a painter, a scientist, a designer of war machinery, a designer of fantastic celebrations, and a person who was always studying and recording his new ideas in journals which continue to amaze us. He was fascinated with the flight of birds, working toward the end goal of creating the possibility of flight for man. He was involved politically in the conflicts of his time, even as he created beautiful paintings and yet left other important commissions unfinished.
At this point in human history, 500 years after his death, his art work and his ideas are still relevant and inspiring to us.
The Louvre museum in Paris, is a great repository of paintings and sculpture, where you will see a progression of wall signs and arrows directing you to arguably the world’s most famous painting: Mona Lisa, a small painting by Leonardo. Arriving there you will see a huge crowd of people with their backs to the painting trying to take “selfies of themselves with the painting. However, in this SDG, you will learn that three other paintings by Leonardo, shown in the same room, are even more important than Mona Lisa. Be ready for an abundance of fascinating ideas as you study this intriguing man.
I THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF LEONARDO 1452-1464
II APPRENTICESHIP IN FLORENCE 1464-1482 AT THE WORKSHOP OF ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
III THE SFORZA COURT 1482-1499 SEVENTEEN YEARS IN MILAN
IV RETURN TO FLORENCE 1500-1506
V THE AFFAIRS OF WAR 1502-1506 SEERVICE TO CESARE BORGIA
VI RETURN TO MILAN 1506-1513
VII ROMAN HOLIDAY 1513-1516 THREE YEARS WITH GIOVANNI DE’ MEDICI
VIII IN THE FRENCH ROYAL COURT
IX AN OVERVIEW OF LEONARDO’S NOTEBOOK; A CLOSER STUDY OF HIS PAINTINGS
X COMPARING LEONARDO TO HIS CONTEMPONARIES.
MAIN TEXT. THE SDGWILL MOST CLOSELY FOLLOW THIS BOOK.
WALTER ISAACSON, LEONARDO DA VINCI. (Available in paperback $22.)
Supplemental Background Reading:
ROSS KING,
LEONARDO AND THE LAST SUPPER
GIORGIO VASARI,
THE LIVES OF THE MOST EXCELLEN PAINTERS, SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS
FRANK ZOLLNER,
LEONARDO DA VINCI: THE COMPLETE PAINTINGS
or other art brooks about Leonardo
TOBY LESTER,
DA VINCI’S GHOST: GENIUS, OBESSSION, AND HOW
LEONARDO CREATED THE WORLD IN HIS OWN IMAGE
JEAN-PIERRE ISBOUTS AND CHRISTOPHER HEATH BROWN,
THE DA VINCI LEGACY
LAURO MARTINES,
APRIL BLOOD, FLORENCE AND THE PLOT AGAINST THE MEDICI
STEPHANIE STOREY,
OIL AND MARBLE, A NOVEL OF LEONARDO AND MICHELANGELO
(light reading, but interesting as a picture of the times)
J. H. PLUMB
THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
JOHN HOOPER
THE ITALIANS
TIM PARKS
MEDICI MONEY, BANKING, METAPHYSICS, AND ART IN 15TH CENTURY FLORENCE
WILLIAM E. WALLACE,
MICHELANGELO: THE ARTIST, THE MAN, AND HIS TIMES
ROSS KING
MICHELANGELO AND THE POPE;S CEILING
BRUNELLESCHI’S DOME: HOW A RENAISSANCE GENIUS
REINVENTED ARCHITECTURE