Leonardo da Vinci - posters, prints and serigraphs.



LEONARDO: RENAISSANCE POLYMATH "There has never been an artist who was more fittingly, and without qualification, described as a genius. Like Shakespeare, Leonardo came from an insignificant background and rose to universal acclaim. Leonardo was the illegitimate son of a local lawyer in the small town of Vinci in the Tuscan region. His father acknowledged him and paid for his training, but we may wonder whether the strangely self-sufficient tone of Leonardo's mind was not perhaps affected by his early ambiguity of status. The definitive polymath, he had almost too many gifts, including superlative male beauty, a splendid singing voice, magnificent physique, mathematical excellence, scientific daring ... the list is endless. This overabundance of talents caused him to treat his artistry lightly, seldom finishing a picture, and sometimes making rash technical experiments. The Last Supper, in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, for example, has almost vanished, so inadequate were his innovations in fresco preparation. "Yet the works that we have salvaged remain the most dazzlingly poetic pictures ever created. The Mona Lisa has the innocent disadvantage of being too famous. It can only be seen behind thick glass in a heaving crowd of awe-struck sightseers. It has been reproduced in every conceivable medium; it remains intact in its magic, forever defying the human insistence on comprehending. It is a work that we can only gaze at in silence. "Leonardo's three great portraits of women all have a secret wistfulness. This quality is at its most appealing in Cecilia Gallarani, at its most enigmatic in the Mona Lisa, and at its most confrontational in Ginevra de' Benci. It is hard to gaze at the Mona Lisa because we have so many expectations of it. Perhaps we can look more truly at a less famous portrait, Ginevra de' Benci. It has that haunting, almost unearthly beauty peculiar to Leonardo da Vinci. A WITHHELD IDENTITY "The subject of Ginevra de' Benci has nothing of the Mona Lisa's inward amusement, and also nothing of Cecilia's gentle submissiveness. The young woman looks past us with a wonderful luminous sulkiness. Her mouth is set in an unforgiving line of sensitive disgruntlement, her proud and perfect head is taut above the unyielding column of her neck, and her eyes seem to narrow as she endures the painter and his art. Her ringlets, infinitely subtle, cascade down from the breadth of her gleaming forehead (the forehead, incidentally, of one of the most gifted intellectuals of her time). These delicate ripples are repeated in the spikes of the juniper bush. "The desolate waters, the mists, the dark trees, the reflected gleams of still waters - all these surround and illuminate the sitter. She is totally fleshly and totally impermeable to the artist. He observes, held rapt by her perfection of form, and shows us the thin veil of her upper bodice and the delicate flushing of her throat. What she is truly like she conceals; what Leonardo reveals to us is precisely this concealment, a self-absorption that spares no outward glance. INTERIOR DEPTH "We can always tell a Leonardo work by his treatment of hair, angelic in its fineness, and by the lack of any rigidity of contour. One form glides imperceptibly into another (the Italian term is sfumato), a wonder of glazes creating the most subtle of transitions between tones and shapes. The angel's face in the painting known as the Virgin of the Rocks in the National Gallery, London, or the Virgin's face in the Paris version of the same picture, have an interior wisdom, an artistic wisdom that has no pictorial rival. "This unrivaled quality meant that few artists actually show Leonardo's influence: it is as if he seemed to be in a world apart from them. Indeed he did move apart, accepting the French King Francis I's summons to live in France. Those who did imitate him, like Bernardini Luini of Milan (c. 1485-1532), caught only the outer manner, the half-smile, the mistiness. "The shadow of a great genius is a peculiar thing. Under Rembrandt's shadow, painters flourished to the extent that we can no longer distinguish their work from his own. But Leonardo's was a chilling shadow, too deep, too dark, too overpowering." - From "Sister Wendy's Story of Painting", by Sister Wendy Beckett Further reading on Leonardo da Vinci: Leonardo Da Vinci, the classic biography from Kenneth Clark Leonardo on Painting, writings from the master himself Leonardo on the Human Body, includes some of his best sketches The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, with both his text and illustrations Leonardo: Painter, Inventor, Visionary, Mathematician, Philosopher, Engineer, the title says it all, a great one volume introduction with excellent quality reproductions Leonardo da Vinci was educated in his father's house receiving the usual elementary education of reading, writing and arithmetic. In 1467 he became an apprentice learning painting, sculpture and acquiring technical and mechanical skills. He was accepted into the painters' guild in Florence in 1472 but he continued to work as an apprentice until 1477. From that time he worked for himself in Florence as a painter. Already during this time he sketched pumps, military weapons and other machines. Between 1482 and 1499 Leonardo was in the service of the Duke of Milan. He was described in a list of the Duke's staff as a painter and engineer of the duke. As well as completing six paintings during his time in the Duke's service he also advised on architecture, fortifications and military matters. He was also considered as a hydraulic and mechanical engineer. During his time in Milan, Leonardo became interested in geometry. He read Leon Battista Alberti's books on architecture and Piero della Francesca's On Perspective in Painting. He illustrated Pacioli's Divina proportione and he continued to work with Pacioli and is reported to have neglected his painting because he became so engrossed in geometry. Leonardo studied Euclid and Pacioli's Suma and began his own geometry research, sometimes giving mechanical solutions. He gave several methods of squaring the circle, again using mechanical methods. He wrote a book, around this time, on the elementary theory of mechanics which appeared in Milan around 1498. Leonardo certainly realised the possibility of constructing a telescope and in Codex Atlanticus written in 1490 he talks of ... making glasses to see the Moon enlarged. In a later work, Codex Arundul written about 1513, he says that ... in order to observe the nature of the planets, open the roof and bring the image of a single planet onto the base of a concave mirror. The image of the planet reflected by the base will show the surface of the planet much magnified. See [28] for more details of this quotation and more of Leonardo's ideas about the Universe. He understood the fact that the Moon shone with reflected light from the Sun and he correctly explained the 'old Moon in the new Moon's arms' as the Moon's surface illuminated by light reflected from the Earth. He thought of the Moon as being similar to the Earth with seas and areas of solid ground. In 1499 the French armies entered Milan and the Duke was defeated. Some months later Leonardo left Milan together with Pacioli. He travelled to Mantua, Venice and finally reached Florence. Although he was under constant pressure to paint, mathematical studies kept him away from his painting activity much of the time. He was for a time employed by Cesare Borgia as a senior military architect and general engineer. By 1503 he was back in Florence advising on the project to divert the River Arno behind Pisa to help with the siege of the city which the Florentines were engaged in. He then produced plans for a canal to allow Florence access to the sea. The canal was never built nor was the River Arno diverted. In 1506 Leonardo returned for a second period in Milan. again his scientific work took precedence over his painting and he was involved in hydrodynamics, anatomy, mechanics, mathematics and optics. In 1513 the French were removed from Milan and Leonardo moved again, this time to Rome. However he seems to have led a lonely life in Rome again more devoted to mathematical studies and technical experiments in his studio than to painting. After three years of unhappiness Leonardo accepted an invitation from King Francis I to enter his service in France. The French King gave Leonardo the title of first painter, architect, and mechanic of the King but seems to have left him to do as he pleased. This means that Leonardo did no painting except to finish off some works he had with him, St. John the Baptist, Mona Lisa and the Virgin and Child with St Anne. Leonardo spent most of his time arranging and editing his scientific studies. perfect gift present fathers day mothers day birthday Christmas holiday baby shower bridal shower wedding gift sale best price

The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci 20x16 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 15x22 Fine-Art Print Studio di Cavalli con Cavalieri ... by Leonardo Da Vinci 12x16 Fine-Art Print The Vitruvian Man (serigraph on ... by Leonardo Da Vinci 11x14 Fine-Art Print Studi per un Monumento Equestre ... by Leonardo Da Vinci 12x16 Fine-Art Print The Study of Man by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x36 Fine-Art Print Ultima Cena by Leonardo Da Vinci 40x24 Fine-Art Print The Virgin and Child with St. An... by Leonardo Da Vinci 16x22 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 20x28 Fine-Art Print The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci 20x16 Fine-Art Print Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci 12x16 Fine-Art Print St. Anne (serigraph on special p... by Leonardo Da Vinci 11x14 Fine-Art Print Autoritratto by Leonardo Da Vinci 20x28 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 11x14 Fine-Art Print Christ's Head by Leonardo Da Vinci 11x14 Fine-Art Print The Last Supper, 1497 by Leonardo Da Vinci 44x25 Fine-Art Print Vitruvian Man, 1492 by Leonardo Da Vinci 16x20 Fine-Art Print Feuilles d`Etudes avec Cavaliers by Leonardo Da Vinci 16x20 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x30 Fine-Art Print Study-Battle of Anghiari by Leonardo Da Vinci 11x14 Fine-Art Print Vitruvian Man, 1492 by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x30 Fine-Art Print The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci 40x60 Fine-Art Print War Machine by Leonardo Da Vinci 9x6 Fine-Art Print The Virgin, Child, and St. Anne by Leonardo Da Vinci 10x14 Fine-Art Print The Last Supper (middle panel) by Leonardo Da Vinci 16x20 Fine-Art Print The Last Supper, 1497 by Leonardo Da Vinci 34x20 Fine-Art Print The Study of Man by Leonardo Da Vinci 16x20 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x32 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x32 Fine-Art Print The Last Supper, 1497 by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x15 Fine-Art Print Masterworks of Art - Leonardo da... by Leonardo Da Vinci 19x25 Wall Poster St. Anne (serigraph) by Leonardo Da Vinci 28x39 Fine-Art Print La Gioconda by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x32 Fine-Art Print Angel (detail from 'The Annuncia... by Leonardo Da Vinci 13x19 Fine-Art Print Study of the Proportions of the ... by Leonardo Da Vinci 16x20 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 17x24 Fine-Art Print Schema delle Proporzioni by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x32 Fine-Art Print Study of Human Proportions by Leonardo Da Vinci 6x9 Fine-Art Print Vitruvian Man, 1492 by Leonardo Da Vinci 36x47 Fine-Art Print Vitruvian Man, 1492 by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x32 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 18x24 Fine-Art Print The Virgin and Child with St. An... by Leonardo Da Vinci 26x35 Fine-Art Print Schema delle Proporzioni by Leonardo Da Vinci 12x16 Fine-Art Print Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 24x33 Fine-Art Print Discounted art has the perfect gift for that special someone. We have the best prices and our art is always on sale. Our custom picture framing and art gallery is perfect for special holiday's such as birthday, Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day, Anniversay, engagement, wedding gift, house warming and more. Our art gallery features such artists as Pablo Picasso, Picaso, Vincent Van Gogh, vangogh, Andy Warhol, Claude Monet, Ansel Adams, Kim Anderson, Kandinsky, Leonardo Da Vinci, Edvard Munch, Piet Mondrian, Gustav Klimtl, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher, Rene Magritte, Jackson Pollock, Paul Klee, Roy Lichtenstein, Rembrandt, Cezanne, Seurat, Degas, Manet, and Claude Manet.

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