Who is Leonardo da Vinci?

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (born April 15, 1452 - Date of death May 2, 1519), Italian deluge who lived in the Renaissance, an important philosopher, astronomer, architect, engineer, inventor, mathematician, anatomist, musician, sculptor, botanist, geologist is a cartographer, writer and painter. His best-known works are The Vitruvian Man (1490-1492), Mona Lisa (1503-1507) and The Last Supper (1495-1497). He is regarded as one of the greatest artists and geniuses of the world who has brought Renaissance art to its peak, known not only for his art structure but also for his research and inventions in various fields.

Leonardo was the out-of-wed child of Messer / Ser (meaning Master) Piero da Vinci, a young notary, and Caterina Lippi, a sixteen-year-old orphan, and poor young girl from the Vinci district, Anchiano near the town of Vinci. He was born in. Before the establishment of modern naming rules in Europe, his full name to the world is Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, which means "Leonardo, son of Master Piero of Vincili". He signed his works as "Leonardo" or "Io, Leonardo (I, Leonardo)".

Although there is no concrete evidence, it is presumed that Leonardo's mother, Caterina, was a Middle Eastern slave belonging to her father Piero. His father married his first wife named Albiera in the year Leonardo was born. Leonardo was cared for by his mother when he was a baby, and when his mother moved to the neighboring town after marrying someone else, he lived in his grandfather's house, which his father rarely visited; from time to time he would go to Florence to his father's house. Since his father had no children from his first wife, he was accepted into the family, but he did not receive love from anyone in the family except his uncle, Francesco.

Leonardo, who lived in Vinci until the age of 14, went to Florence with his father in 1466 after his grandparents died one after the other. Since children out of wedlock were forbidden to go to university, they had no chance to study at university. When he showed Leonardo's paintings, who had been drawing beautifully from a young age, to his father, Andrea del Verrocchio, the famous painter and sculptor of the period, Verrochio took him with him as an apprentice. Besides Leonardo Verrocchio, he had the opportunity to work with famous artists such as Lorenzo di Credi and Pietro Perugino. He learned not only to draw but also to play the lyre in the workshop. He was playing really well.

He left Florence in 1482 and entered the service of Sforza, the Duke of Milan. His letter, which he explained that he could build bridges, weapons, ships, bronze, marble and clay sculptures to enter the duke's service, but did not send, was considered the most extraordinary job application of all time.

Leonardo worked for the Duke of Milan for 1499 years until the city was taken over by the French in 17. He not only worked on painting and sculpting and organizing festivals for the Duke, but also designed buildings, machinery and weapons. Between 1485 and 1490, he was interested in nature, mechanics, geometry, flying machines as well as architectural structures such as churches, castles and canals, studied anatomy, and educated students. His field of interest was so broad that he couldn't finish most of the work he started. Between 1490 and 1495, he developed a habit of recording his works and drawings in a notebook. These drawings and notebook pages have been collected in museums and personal collections. One of these collectors is Bill Gates, who collected the manuscripts of Leonardo's work in the field of hydraulics.

Leaving Milan in 1499 and seeking a new guardian (guardian), Leonardo traveled in Italy for 16 years. He worked for many people, many left his work unfinished.

It is said that he started working for Mona Lisa, which is considered one of the best paintings in human history, in 1503. After completing this picture, he never left it with him and carried it with him in all his travels. He returned to Florence in 1504 upon the news of his father's death. He fought with his brothers for the right of inheritance, but his effort was fruitless. However, his beloved uncle left all his wealth to him.

In 1506, Leonardo met Count Francesco Melzi, 15-year-old son of a Lombardy aristocrat. Melzi became his best student and closest for the rest of his life. The young man whom he protected in 1490 when he was 10 years old and named Salai was with him for 26 years, but this young man, known as his student, had never produced any artistic product.

He lived in Rome between 1513-1516 and took part in various projects developed for the Pope. He continued to work in anatomy and physiology, but the Pope forbade him to study cadavers.

In 1516, upon the death of his protector Giuliano de 'Medici, he received an invitation from King Francis I to become France's chief painter, engineer and architect. He settled in the mansion he had prepared for him, in the southwest of Paris, right next to the Royal Palace near Amboise. The king, who admired Leonardo, often visited and chatted.

Leonardo da Vinci, who paralyzed his right arm, focused more on scientific studies than painting. His friend Melzi was helping him. Salai left him after he came to France.


Leonardo died on May 2, 1519 at the age of 67 at his home in Amboise. It is rumored that the king died in his arms, however, it is known that on May 1, the king was in another city and could not come there in a day. In his will, he left the main part of his legacy to Melzi. He was buried at the Saint Florentin Church in Amboise.

Private life

It is claimed that he does not like physical contact: "Reproductive activity and everything connected with it are so disgusting that people will soon disappear without pleasant faces and emotional tendencies" was later analyzed by Sigmund Freud, and Freud concluded that Leonardo was frigid.

In 1476, he was accused by an anonymous person for having a sodomistic relationship with 17-year-old model Jacopo Saltarelli while living with his lover Verrocchio. As a result of the two-month investigation, the case was dismissed as no witnesses were found due to Leonardo's father's respectable position. After this incident, Leonardo and his friends were followed for a while by the organization named "Keepers of the Night" in Florence. (It is also included in the legal records of the Podesta that the Keepers of the Night was an organization founded in Italy during the Renaissance and working towards the suppression of sodomism)

Gian Giacomo Caprotti, also known by the pseudonyms "Salai" or "il Salaino", was described by Oreno Giorgio Vasari as "the radiant and beautiful young man with wonderfully curly hair that Leonardo enjoyed greatly." Il Salaino began serving as a maid at Leonardo's house in 1490 when he was only 10 years old. The relationship between Leonardo and il Saliano is not considered "easy". In 1491, he described Leonardo il Salaino as "thief, liar, stubborn and bottleneck" and made the analogy of "Little Devil" for him. Nevertheless, il Salaino remained in Leonardo's service as his companion, maid and assistant for 26 years. Leonardo went on to call il Salaino "The Little Devil". Drawn naked in Leonardo's artist notebooks, il Salaino is depicted as a handsome and curly-haired teenager. Some researchers suggest that il Salaino was the Vitruvian Man.

In 1506, Leonardo met 15-year-old Count Francesco Melzi. Melzi described Leonardo's feelings towards himself as "a sviscerato et ardentissimo amore" (very passionate and overwhelmingly burning love) in a letter. Il Salaino had to accept that Melzi was constantly with Leonardo during these years. Melzi became Leonardo's first student and then his life partner. Also, Leonardo Da Vinci's; It is known that France was the master (President) of the Sion Sect between 1099-1510, whose foundation dates back to very old times (1519 AD).

Leonardo's interest in young men was a matter of debate in the 16th century. In a fictional dialogue in "l'amore masculino" (male love) in the "Il Libro dei Sogni" (Book of Dreams) written by Gian Paolo Lomazzo in 1563, Leonardo took part as one of the protagonists and said, " it is a virtue that brings men together with feelings of friendship. This makes them more masculine and courageous ”was quoted by Leonardo.

As understood from Leonardo's work and the early writers who wrote his biography, Leonardo was an honest and morally sensitive person. His respect for life shows that he was a vegetarian at least at some stage in his life.

First education years

Leonardo Da Vinci progressed quickly enough to surprise his teachers in arithmetic and geometry during his early years, he was noticed even at a young age with his sharp intelligence and skills, he was also interested in music and played the lyre quite well. But in his childhood years, his favorite occupation was painting. When his father noticed this, he gave it to one of Florence's most important workshops.

Human body research

The basis of Leonardo's interest in the human body is his studies of figure sketches. He did not consider external observations sufficient to draw human beings as lively as possible and all the movements as close to reality, he wanted to see the inside of the body and to understand the relationships between bones, muscles and joints. Anatomy research has become an area of ​​interest in itself, which he devotes more and more time to. He approached the human organism as a perfect machine whose working principles he was curious about. The texts of the ancient physician Galen, who formed the basis of the medical science of that period, could only partially quench his curiosity. He started asking every question he could think of.

Leonardo was clarifying what he saw by drawing. He was revealing the details of the anatomy with sections, detailed views and drawings he made from different angles. His drawings are very clear despite some inaccuracies in details. He did not dissect a human cadaver for a drawing of a baby in the womb, examined cows and adapted the results he obtained from there to human anatomy. When the Pope forbade Leonardo to dissect on human cadavers, he used cattle hearts to continue his research on the circulatory system.

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