Leonardo da Vinci, along with Michelangelo and Raphael, is considered one of the pillars of the Italian Renaissance. His fame is too numerous to count, painters, scientists, musicians, engineers, mathematicians... Many of his scientific reflections and theories were later found to have factual basis.
If you were to sum up Leonardo da Vinci in one word, what would you use? Legendary painter, or all-round genius? In Xiao Dai's view, any label is too one-sided, and if it must be referred to by a word, it can only be called a great person.
Leonardo da Vinci
Perhaps, many people's understanding of Leonardo da Vinci stays in the general impression, such as knowing that he is very versatile, knowing the weight of his paintings in art history, knowing his iconic works "Mona Lisa", "Vitruvius", "The Last Supper"...
Beyond that, how much else do you know about this great man? Today, Xiao Dai will take you to analyze the life of this artist from more angles, and these incredible facts about Leonardo da Vinci may be the first time you know.
1, Leonardo da Vinci is actually an "anonymous".
Our Lady of the Rocks
At the time leonardo da Vinci was born and raised, hereditary surnames were a practice only used by high society and became common until the mid-16th century. Leonardo da Vinci actually had no surname, at least not what we call a surname in the modern sense, and Leonardo da Vinci literally means "Finch's", which is his hometown. This is also the reason why many academic books simply refer to Leonardo da Vinci as Leonardo. Not having a surname was a very common thing at the time.
2, Leonardo da Vinci has a problem with his eyes.
Some foreign experts have studied that a large part of the reason why Leonardo da Vinci can become a legendary painter is due to his eyes, his eyes have squinting, the perspective is different from ordinary people, and the things seen and the pictures drawn will have a unique perspective. However, in Xiao Chen's view, it is a bit ridiculous to attribute Leonardo da Vinci's artistic achievements to strabismus.
Leonardo da Vinci's study of horses
3, Leonardo da Vinci was an illegitimate child.
Leonardo da Vinci's father, a legal notary in Florence, was very wealthy and of very high social status, but his mother was a peasant woman, and the two were not married. Not long after Leonardo was born, his mother married a craftsman, while he grew up on his father's family estate. If according to modern people, leonardo da Vinci's identity is indeed an illegitimate child.
4) Leonardo da Vinci was left-handed.
It is often said that left-handed people are smarter, which is actually scientifically based, according to some studies, people who use the left hand have stronger creativity, and Leonardo da Vinci is a left-handed person, although some recent historians believe that Leonardo is not simply the dominant left hand, but the left hand and the right hand are equally flexible. Judging from his all-round achievements in both arts and sciences, this should not be difficult for Leonardo da Vinci.
5, Leonardo da Vinci is a human body enthusiast.
Leonardo da Vinci's notebook study of the fetus
Leonardo da Vinci's desire for knowledge has long broken through the boundaries of the discipline, he has never been satisfied with the study of what already exists, the curiosity and exploration of human body knowledge, so that his enthusiasm for anatomy is growing day by day, it is understood that he has visited as many as 30 human anatomy to deepen his knowledge of human body structure.
In addition, Leonardo da Vinci also expressed his understanding of the human body in the form of paintings, and his pictorial anatomical drawings showed how the brain, heart and lungs, etc., functioned as the core parts of the body, which laid the foundation for modern scientific illustration and is still considered a great achievement of the scientific community.
6. Leonardo da Vinci had no formal education.
You must not imagine that this great figure did not receive much formal education, it can be said that almost all of Leonardo da Vinci's acquisition of knowledge comes from self-study, all his formal education, only the basic knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic, most of the deep knowledge, are learned by himself. For example, the Latin language commonly used in academia at that time, Leonardo da Vinci was completely self-taught, and advanced mathematics was his favorite subject, and he also studied and ate it little by little when Leonardo da Vinci was in his 30s.
Leonardo da Vinci self-portrait
Mona Lisa