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Art... Colors of the Heart Remember the first time you drew that little stick figure and Gave it a name like Mom, Dad or Me It was fun. It was a way of expressing to others how you felt even if you didn't realize it then. Art is funny that way. Whether it be painting, drawing, sculpting or just making a mess, it gives us all a way to express ourselves. An outlet we can't get anywhere else. Its visual, its... well sometimes you can't tell what it is but its fun and a very good learning tool. Just think, if it weren't for the great artisic minds of yesteryear like Leonardo, Michael Angelo, Maxfield Parish, Norman Rockwell, and many others we would not have many of the things of beauty today. Not only did Leonardo have an artistic mind and expressed it with what we now call Masterpieces, he also had a very inventive mind and he put it into practice at every opportunity. Whether he was creating art or inventing, he used the artistic skills he honed to put them on paper. And as a result we have a record of these inventions and ideas to learn from. |
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When he was about 12 years old, Leonardo moved to the bustling city of Florence with his father. Because young Leonardo demonstrated a great talent for drawing, his father later made him an apprentice in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio, a leading artist in Florence. In Verrocchio's studio Leonardo learned the painters craft of preparing canvases, making brushes, and grinding and mixing paints. Verrocchio also taught him to sculpt in wood, stone and clay, and how to cast metal objects in silver and gold. Artists in the fifteenth century Italy were more than just expert painters and sculptors however. Verrocchio was hired by wealthy patrons to create furniture, musical instruments, navigational compasses, and bronze bells for cathedrals among other things. Leonardo watched carefully and learned every craft that went on in the workshop. He drew constantly to record what he observed. When he wasn't needed in the studio, Leonardo explored the city of Florence. He observed and sketched everything that interested him. He visited the building site for the great cathedral being constructed in Florence and made careful drawings of the machinery he saw at work there.
The face of Leonardo's angel is delicately colored and shows Leonardo's talent at representing emotions. Legend has it that when Verrocchio first saw Leonardo's angel he was so impressed by Leonardo's abilities that "he (Verrocchio) never wanted to touch colors again." The hazy features of the background Leonardo painted for the Baptism of Christ show he had already begun to develop his sense of aerial perspective. After he finished his apprenticeship, Leonardo began work for the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici. He was supposed to paint an Adoration of the Magi for a church altar, but he never completed it, and in 1483 he moved to Milan. After 17 years in Milan he returned several times to Florence, where he worked on many different projects. By 1503 Florence was at war with the neighboring city of Pisa, and Leonardo worked on a plan to divert the Arno River from the enemy city. First it would cut off Pisa's supply route, and later the river would be turned into a canal for peacetime use. Neither project was ever finished, though Leonardo's reputation as a creative and talented engineer was firmly established. After the war with Pisa, Leonardo again took up painting. He completed his most famous portrait La Gioconda (Mona Lisa). He also wrote about and sketched the flight of birds and experimented with different designs for human powered flying machines. He was also commissioned to paint a huge mural commemorating a Florentine victory in the Battle of Anghiari. Leonardo completed a full-size cartoon of the battle illustrating the horrors of war as he had seen them while in Borgia's service. But he never finished the war painting, and in 1506 he was glad to leave Florence to go work in Milan.  |
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By the age of 21 Leonardo was a skilled painter, Verrocchio permitted him to help with an important painting of the Baptism of Christ. Leonardo painted the kneeling angel and some of the background for this work.