Unlike other portraits of the time, this is not just a flat, surface depiction. It tries to depict the inner emotions. The Duke of Milan asked him to paint it on the wall of a dining hall of a monastery. He understands that there is no such thing as a disconnected instant of time. As the drama ripples from the center to the edges, it seems to bounce back, as Christ reaches for the bread and wine, the beginning of what will be the institution of the Eucharist.
He was mainly, despite what he sometimes wished, a painter. He liked to think of himself as an engineer and architect, which he also did with great passion.
But his first job was as a theatrical producer. From that he learned how to do tricks with perspective because the stage in a theatre recedes faster and looks deeper than it is. His theatrical production led him to mechanical props, like flying machines and a helicopter screw , which were designed to bring angels down from the rafters in some of the performances. Leonardo then blurred the line between fantasy and reality when he went on to try to create real flying machines that were engineering marvels!
So, what he picked up in the theatre he brought both to his art and real-life engineering. He was gay, illegitimate, left handed, a bit of a heretic, but the good thing about Florence was that it was a very tolerant city in the s. Leonardo would go around town wearing short, purple and pink outfits that were somewhat surprising to the people of Florence, but he was very popular.
He had an enormous number of friends both in Florence and Milan. He records many dinners with close friends, who were a diverse group: mathematicians, architects, playwrights, engineers, and poets. That diversity helped shape him.
Finally, he was a very good-looking guy. Leonardo and Michelangelo were very different. Leonardo was popular, sociable, and comfortable with all his eccentricities, including being gay. Michelangelo was also gay but deeply felt the agony and the ecstasy of his identity. He also was very much of a recluse. He had no very close friends, wore dark clothes, so they were polar opposites in look, style, and personality. They were also very different in their art styles.
Michelangelo painted as if he were a sculptor, using very sharp lines. Leonardo believed in sfumato , the blurring of lines, because he felt that was the way we actually see reality. The rulers of Florence created a competition for both of them to paint battle scenes in the Council Hall. By that point, the rivalry had become bad. Michelangelo had been publicly rude to Leonardo.
All of this had caused a certain electricity, so the rulers of Florence pitted them against each other to do these two battle drawings. Page 1 of 27 Paintings: Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani Lady with an Ermine The Battle of Anghiari detail The Virgin and Child with St Anne c. Report error on this page. Mona Lisa La Gioconda c. Order a Hand-Painted Reproduction of this Painting. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci April 15, — May 2, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci April 15, — May 2, was an Italian polymath, having been a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer.
Click here for more. Popularity Alphabetical. The Last Supper While Leonardo da Vinci is best known as an artist, his work as a scientist and an inventor make him a true Renaissance man. He serves as a role model applying the scientific method to every aspect of life, including art and music. Although he is best known for his dramatic and expressive artwork, Leonardo also conducted dozens of carefully thought out experiments and created futuristic inventions that were groundbreaking for the time.
His keen eye and quick mind led him to make important scientific discoveries, yet he never published his ideas.
He was a vegetarian who loved animals and despised war, yet he worked as a military engineer to invent advanced and deadly weapons.
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