Leonardo Da Vinci Case

Leonardo da Vinci lived between the years, 1452-1519. He was a famous Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and scientist. When Leonardo was 15, his dad apprenticed him to Andrea del Verrocchio, the leading artist in Florence at the time. Verrocchio's great skill, passionate concern for quality, and interest in expressing the human figure, developed Leonardo into the artist we now know. After finishing his apprenticeship, Leonardo became an assistant in Verrocchio's workshop. Leonardo helped Verrocchio paint the Baptism of Christ in 1475. Leonardo painted one of the two angels, and he also added the final touches to the figure of Christ. During his time with Verrocchio, noticeable differences in technique between the two began to show. Leonardo began painting with a "soft union" as Giorgio Vasari called it. He did this by making edges less cutting, and changing hard metallic surfaces to softer looking surfaces.

Around 1478 Leonardo left Verrocchio's workshop and set up his own studio. In 1481 he began to a major church altarpiece, the Adoration of the Magi. In this painting, a group of people gathered around the Virgin and Child. The people gathered around the Child give a strong sense of movement and the in the background there is intricate architecture. Despite the Magi being one of Leonardo's first major works, he did not complete the piece. It is believed that it was not finished because Leonardo moved left Florence to produce art in Milan.

Leonardo moved his skills to Milan in 1482. While in Milan, his first work was the Virgin of the Rocks. The Virgin on the Rocks shows the Holy Family in a cave. While this was a traditional way to show the Holy Family, Leonardo made it a very original piece. Leonardo's ability to depict nature in dim light made him fuse the outlines of separate objects. In this painting, the some figures are fused due to the dim light, which gives them a pyramid looking shape.

One of Leonardo's most famous paintings is the Last Supper. The Last Supper was painted in the convent of S. Maria delle Grazie. When painting this piece, Leonardo decided not to use the traditional fresco technique; instead, he just used an oil-based paint, which didn't make colors appear quite as distinct. The use of the oil-based medium was unsuccessful. 50 years after the completion, the scene was reduced to a series of spots. The current depiction of this piece is largely a reconstruction. Despite the failure of the medium, the piece of art still shows Leonardo's ability to show movement and emotion in a work of art. Leonardo captures the moment after Christ tells his apostles that one of them will betray him. The effect of this causes a clear response from the apostles; Leonardo describes their reactions as "motions of the mind." While there is the depiction of movement in the painting, there is still a sense of order. The