He always wanted to make his observations deeper, more thorough, and to find certain laws in the midst of the multiplicity of the universe. At this point, he moved away from the Middle Ages, opening up the situation of the morning light of science in the modern world.
There was a great French writer of the 16th century, called Francois Rabelais, in his famous book "Galgangtia and Bontai Graeuil" (also translated as "The Legend of the Giants"), described the ideal education received by Ponte Graeuil, both in terms of quantity and quality, so that the educators of the modern world will attack when they hear it, saying that this kind of education consumes the brain power of young people excessively and harms their mental health. Rabelais had to teach his master of the painting everything possible, and that his memory would automatically cope with and answer questions that occurred at any time. The intellectual field of Bontai Gelulai can be described by a few old sayings in old Chinese novels: "Know astronomy from above, know geography from below, know everything, and don't understand everything." And he was not drunk, holding the optimism of the Epicureans, drinking a glass of wine to dispel his sorrows; when he was happy, he could more compete for fencing, with an ancient Greek style: it was simply a hero and a good man of all-rounders.
Twenty Lectures on Masterpieces of World Art (color plate) Fu Lei
In fact, in the 16th century, when modern civilization began, there were people like Rabelais, that is, in the 18th century, there was also Rousseau's "Emile"; in the 20th century, there was also the typical performance of Roman Rolland's "John Christophe". Naturally, the doctrine of the latter and the methods of its implementation are very different from those of the 16th century, and from a scientific point of view, they can be said to have progressed; but they are the same out of the fervent ideal of "perfection".
Have the people they, many idealists, hoped for, actually appeared?
If there is, then be sure to push Leonardo da Vinci as the most complete representation.
In 1486, while Rabelais was still in his cradle, da Vinci was in his 30s. Picdela Mirandola, a famous scholar of his time, listed 900 questions within the scope of all scholarship and asked scholars all over the world for answers. This story can't help but be reminiscent of an even older legend. According to Plato, the Greek sophist Hippias, in the assembly of the Olympic Festival, presented his talents to representatives from all over the world; he recited his epics, tragedies, and lyric poems. His boots, knives, and water bottles were all made by himself. Indeed, he was not proud to have won any championships such as race walking, wrestling, etc., unlike The Bontai Greue of Rabelais, who, in addition to being a polymath in literature and science, was also a sportsman who was good at horseback riding, racing, and fencing.
As mentioned above, in addition to Rabelais, rousseau, Romain Rolland, etc. have all held this ideal of creating "perfect man", that is, human beings in every era have had this wonderful dream. There is no doubt that the Italian nation, in the Renaissance, in particular dreamed of a man whose faculties were fully developed. They also advocated that the first must be "harmonious" to preside over, so that the development of one's body and the development of the spirit can complement each other without harm.
Leonardo was especially an astonishing representative of the Renaissance, among the people who developed in harmony with the body and mind and the balanced development of various faculties.
Da Vinci was born in 1452 in a small town near Emerald, and the name of the city was his surname, Vinci. His father was a painter in the city. Leonardo da Vinci first entered the studio of the famous sculptor Velocchio.
Until 1483, when he was 31 years old, leonardo da Vinci lived in Emerald. He later served in the Grand Ducal Palace of Milan, which he did not go until 1499. These 16 years were the richest period of da Vinci's life.
Since then he has drifted everywhere. He went to Venice in 1501, to Milan in 1507, to Rome in 1513, to Pope Leo X, and after 1515 he left Italy for Paris. The gift of His Holiness Francis I. In 1519, leonardo da Vinci died in Kedi. According to legend, when he was dying, His Holiness himself came to bid him farewell.
Verrocchio, Baptism of Christ, 1472-1475, oil on panel, 177 cm×151 cm, Uffizi Museum, Florence
This wandering career was common to many artists at the time. They endured a noble life of servitude. Van Eyck was in the Princes of Burgundy, and Rubens was in the Palace of Gonglegar. But the most measured protectors are only when they are rare workers, and it seems that only Francis I is particularly affectionate with Leonardo da Vinci.
The historian and artist Vasari, who wrote his biography about half a century after leonardo da Vinci's death, began with the following pious phrase: "Sometimes God gives man the most wonderful gifts, and he combines beauty, charm, and talent without restriction." No matter what such a person does, his deeds are always worthy of the admiration of others, who feel that this is God's activity in his soul, and his art is no longer the art of the world. Leonardo is such a person. ”
Vasari knew many of his own people who had seen Da Vinci himself, and from them he had gathered many characteristics of what he praised: "He squeezed the horseshoe nail or the bell hammer into a piece of aluminum in the palm of his hand—Bontai Graeuil could not have been more superior than him—and his radiant beauty, his vigorous appearance, restored peace to the most depressed; his conversation persuaded the most stubborn; his strength controlled the strongest anger." ”
Leonardo da Vinci was also a moving singer. When he arrived in Milan, in the palace of Grand Duke Ludowic Sforza, he participated in a music competition using an instrument of his own invention, the guqin shaped like a horse's head. He also showed his singing ability, especially his ability to improvise at any time, so that Grand Duke Ludovic Sforza immediately favored him.
Leonardo da Vinci, Saint John the Baptist, 1513-1516, oil on panel, 69cm×57cm, Louvre, Paris
His costume was a model of the costume of the time. Milan, Emerald, Paris, when holding any festivals, always ask him to preside over the arrangements.
He was a painter, a genius painter with several talents in history. He is the author of paintings such as Yao Gongte, The Last Supper, St. John the Baptist, and St. Anne. He was a sculptor, and he built a riding statue for Archduke Sforza, which was recognized as a divine object at the time. He was an architect and an engineer. He developed water diversion and irrigation plans for various places. All in all, he was a first-rate scholar.
In 1483, leonardo da Vinci decided to leave Emerald to attach himself to the Grand Duke of Milan, first writing a peculiar letter to the Grand Duke. In this letter (which is still preserved), he described, like a merchant, all that he could do innocently; he said that he could teach the Grand Duke all the secrets known only to him personally; that he had the means to build the lightest bridge to chase the enemy; that he could build the strongest bridge without fear of being bombarded by the enemy; that he would dry up the river when besieging the city; that he had the secret method of destroying the foundation of the fort; that he could build cannons of radioactive incendiary material; that he could build ironclads with cannons, that could rush into the enemy positions and destroy the strongest fronts. This made it easy for the infantry of the rear to advance.
Leonardo da Vinci, Virgin and Child and Sainte-Anne, 1510, oil on canvas, 168cm×130cm, Louvre, Paris
In the case of naval warfare, he could also build warships that could withstand the fiercest artillery fire, as well as new weapons that were unknown at the time.
In the taiping era, he would become a unique builder, digging canals to divert water from this province to another province.
In that letter he also spoke of his talents for painting and sculpture, but he recounted it in an understated tone, as if he had paid special attention to the abilities of his engineers.
Didn't this self-proclaimed letter make one think that he was listening to Hippias' speech at the Olympic Field? Isn't it doubtful that it is an echo of the nine hundred questions posed by Pique Té la Mirandola mentioned above?
Leonardo da Vinci was a real geek. He was a "man who knew many secrets". This phrase was repeated several times in his letter. He kept his secrets for fear of theft, so many of his handwritten manuscripts were written in reverse. From the right to the left, it must be reflected in a mirror to read. These handwritings are still preserved in Paris, London, and in private libraries. He once said he wrote as many as 120 books this way.
Da Vinci, The Vitruvius, 1485, pen and ink on paper, watercolor 34.3 cm× 24.5 cm Gallery of the Accademia de Venice
The 15th century still did not enter the era of modern science. It was slowly moving away from blind faith and miraculous apparitions. The doctor of the Grand Duchess of Milan still wanted to tell some kind of miraculous story to cure her illness. So it would be no surprise if there were a number of superstitious ideas in leonardo da Vinci's mind. But he was a pioneer of the time, and he already had a curiosity without a sense of interest. For him, everything is worth studying. His heart can be touched at any time. Vasari recounts that when he was in Emerald, he often went to the market to buy whole cages of birds to release. The scene of his release was very interesting: he carefully observed the organization of the birds' flight, which was a question of great interest to him; he appreciated the complex colors of the feathers reflected in the daylight; at the end he felt inexplicably happy at the sight of the birds flapping their wings and flying to regain their freedom. From this small story, we can see several aspects of Leonardo's personality: he is a refined scientist, an artist who loves beauty, and a gentle, kind, and biological poet.
Leonardo da Vinci, Manuscript of the Design of the Mechanical Car, 1478-1480, 27 cm, metal pen on paper× 20 cm, Library of Ambrosiana, Milan
What BontaiGraeus learned was only the things which could be seen at once, and the beauty that Socrates understood was only useful; he thought that the most beautiful eyes were the most perceptive. The Greeks had a scientific curiosity to satisfy themselves only for the time of their only goal, or later. Leonardo da Vinci was too artist—in the noblest sense of the word—and his vision and ideas were much more ambitious. He wrote in his famous book, Trait edePeinture: "Have you ever observed the faces of men and women in the gloomy twilight? How soft they look in the shimmer of the sun! At such times, when you come home and you keep this impression, quickly paint them down. Leonardo da Vinci believed that the goal of beauty, the ultimate of beauty, lies in "beauty" itself, just as a scientist's interest in a piece of learning is in itself.
This beauty-loving dreamer, a kind poet, and at the same time has a very scientific mind. He always wanted to make his observations deeper, more thorough, and to find certain laws in the midst of the multiplicity of the universe. At this point, he moved away from the Middle Ages, opening up the situation of the morning light of science in the modern world.
The universality of his ideas is rare in history. The analytical power of a polymath and the susceptibility of an artist rarely go hand in hand! The very few works of leonardo da Vinci should be regarded as the crystallization of several faculties: the organ of observation, the mind of goodness, the imagination of creation. Less than a dozen of leonardo da Vinci's original works have survived in the world, almost all of which are small. There are several works that are still unfinished.
Da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper" has taken 4 years, and there is not a single character that he has not studied for a long time and carefully. Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 5 years; Raphael, by the time he died at the age of 37, had already completed countless masterpieces. From this comparison, it can be seen that Raphael was only a painter, and no one will say how remarkable and peculiar wisdom he was endowed with in addition to painting. Michelangelo was a great poet and thinker, but apart from the ceiling paintings and frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, he has only survived few unfinished works. Leonardo da Vinci, a great artist and at the same time a learned scholar, succeeded in only a very small number of paintings. From this we can draw an important conclusion beyond the realm of painting: a great artist, when his work is so great and nameless (to quote Rilke to describe Rodin), seems to be expressing a kind of blindness, as Leonardo wrote in the Treatise on Painting: "When the work transcends judgment, it indicates how weak the judgment is." The work is beyond judgment, and that's worse. Judgment beyond the work is perfect. If a young man feels that this is the case, there is no doubt that he is a brilliant artist. His works will not be much, but full of merits. These few words are talking about himself. He had a clear and clear understanding of his realm, which had been conceived by imagination, and the "ideal" and his words, such as warm and precise, made him feel that he was always impossible to achieve. His judgment always trumps the work.
Moreover, how strong his artist consciousness and how deeply concerned about his honor and dignity were, he did not regret destroying everything he considered imperfect. "It is up to you or the judgment of others to make you aware of any shortcomings in your work, and you should correct it, and you should not display such a work in public. You must not forgive yourself by making corrections in another work. Painting does not fade away like music. Your painting will always be there to prove your ignorance. ”
Peter Paul Rubens, The Battle of Angali, 1600, watercolor and ink on paper, 45.2 cm×63.7 cm, Louvre, Paris
Another reason for the rarity of his work is that his scientific spirit only wants to discover a law and is not too concerned about its implementation. The goal itself aroused his interest more than the pursuit of the goal. Like the poor and starving inventors, he did not want to exploit his own inventions. His mural of the Battle of Angali was lost because he was going to experiment with a new outer oil. He didn't even want to save a copy of the painting. When Pope Leo X commissioned him to paint another painting, he went to collect weeds and distill the grass dew in preparation for a new outer oil. Therefore, the Pope said to man, "This man will not accomplish anything, since he has not thought of the beginning and the end." (Press: The outer oil is the oil applied to the surface after the completion of a painting.) ）
Da Vinci, Draft of the Head of a Samurai at the Battle of Angali, 1504-1505, Red and Black Chalk on Paper, 19.1 cm×18.8 cm, Museum of Art, Budapest, Hungary
His books, his handwritten manuscripts, are painted with various sketches, which shows that his mind is always awake. In these sketches there are assignments, drawings, drafts, everything that occupies his thoughts.
At the point where his vast knowledge, ideals, and feelings developed evenly to the culmination, Leonardo da Vinci was indeed one of the most complete representatives of the Renaissance.
Sometimes, the interest in science is so strong that he is reluctant to mention the pen, but painting is his favorite cause. He also wanted to try to make painting a science, just as he had studied other studies. At that time there was a painting academy in Milan, where da Vinci realized part of his ideals. In addition to teaching students internships, he wrote many monographs for them, and "On Painting" is the most famous of them. The book is divided into 19 chapters, including distance, perspective, drawing, molding, anatomy, and all the artistic issues of the time. This book has two meanings for us: the first teaches us many practical problems in painting, and the second makes us understand Leonardo da Vinci's conception of art.
Da Vinci, Draft of the Head of a Samurai at the Battle of Angali, 1504-1505, Brown Paper, Red Chalk, 22.6cm×18.6cm, Museum of Art, Budapest, Hungary
The painter whom he thought was working according to the judgment of the eye, if not rationally scrutinized, would observe the world as nothing more than a mirror, which could reflect the most extreme hues without understanding their elements. He therefore argues that for all art, the individual's contemplation must be extended to the realm of reason. If a kind of research is not based on the abstract theories of teaching, it is not scientific. This kind of thinking is indeed beyond his time.
In the 150 years before the Dutch landscape painters, when the landscape was regarded as an insignificant decoration, Leonardo had already felt the moving magic of nature. Isn't the background of "Yao Gong Te" a landscape painting that can be independent? In this regard, he was also a pioneer of the times.
His time was an era when ordinary painters devoted themselves to skill, requiring the perfect expression of light and shade, perspective, and dissection; he himself was a man who had a unique study of these techniques; but he put the hooves of art outside of all these techniques, and he wanted art to become the only expression of human enthusiasm. The intellect of various technologies is only the most powerful tool.
In this way, the clarity of reason, the love of beauty, and the gentle mood of the 15th century were culminated in by Leonardo da Vinci.
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