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INDIVIDUALS IN SOCIETY
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Leonardo da Vinci

hat makes a genius? A deep curiosity about an exten-
sive variety of subjects? A divine spark that emerges
Win talents that far exceed the norm? Or is it just “one
percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration,” as
Thomas Edison said? However it is defined, Leonardo da Vinci
counts as a genius. In fact, Leonardo was one of the individuals
whom the Renaissance label genius was designed to describe:
a special kind of human being with exceptional creative pow-
ers. Leonardo (who, despite the title of a popular novel and
film, is always called by his first name) was born in Vinci, near
Florence, the illegitimate son of Caterina, a local peasant girl,
and Ser Piero da Vinci, a notary public. When Ser Piero’s mar-
Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample.
riage to Donna Albrussia produced no children, he and his wife
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
took in Leonardo, whose mother had married another man.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Ser Piero secured Leonardo an apprenticeship with the painter
and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. In 1472, when
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Leonardo was just twenty years old, he was already listed as a
master in Florence’s “Company of Artists.”
Leonardo’s most famous portrait, Mona Lisa , shows a woman
with an enigmatic smile that Giorgio Vasari described as “so
pleasing that it seemed divine rather than human.” The portrait,
probably of the young wife of a rich Florentine merchant (her
exact identity is hotly debated), may be the best-known painting
in the history of art. One of its competitors for that designation Vitruvian Man, a drawing by Leonardo showing correlations
would be another work of Leonardo, The Last Supper , which has between the ideal human proportions and the geometric shapes
been called “the most revered painting in the world.” of the circle and square, is based on the ideas of the ancient
Leonardo’s reputation as a genius does not rest on his paint- Roman architect Vitruvius, whose works Leonardo read. (The Picture
ings, however, which are actually few in number, but rather on Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
the breadth of his abilities and interests. He is considered by
many the first “Renaissance man,” a phrase still used for a multi- as it was finished. Leonardo regarded it as never quite com-
talented individual. Hoping to reproduce what the eye can see, pleted, for he could not find a model for the face of Christ who
he drew everything he saw around him, including executed would evoke the spiritual depth he felt the figure deserved.
criminals hanging on gallows as well as the beauties of nature. His gigantic equestrian statue in honor of Ludovico’s father,
Trying to understand how the human body worked, Leonardo Duke Francesco Sforza, was never made, and the clay model
studied live and dead bodies, doing autopsies and dissections collapsed. He planned to write books on many subjects but
to investigate muscles and circulation. He carefully analyzed never finished any of them, leaving only notebooks. Leonardo
the effects of light, and he experimented with perspective. once said that “a painter is not admirable unless he is universal.”
Leonardo used his drawings not only as the basis for his The patrons who supported him — and he was supported very
paintings but also as a tool of scientific investigation. He drew well — perhaps wished that his inspirations would have been
plans for hundreds of inventions, many of which would become a bit less universal in scope, or at least accompanied by more
reality centuries later, such as the helicopter, tank, machine gun, perspiration.
and parachute. He was hired by one of the powerful new rulers
in Italy, Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan, to design weapons, for-
tresses, and water systems, as well as to produce works of art. QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
When Sforza was overthrown, Leonardo left Milan and spent 1. In what ways do the notions of a “genius” and of a

the last years of his life painting, drawing, and designing for the “Renaissance man” both support and contradict each
pope and the French king. other? Which better fits Leonardo?

Leonardo experimented with new materials for paint- 2. Has the idea of artistic genius changed since the
ing and sculpture, not all of which worked. The experimental Renaissance? How?
method he used to paint The Last Supper caused the picture to Sources: Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists , vol. 1, trans. G. Bull (London: Penguin
deteriorate rapidly, and it began to flake off the wall as soon Books, 1965); S. B. Nuland, Leonardo da Vinci (New York: Lipper/Viking, 2000).

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