LEONARDO DA VINCI
A Man Before His Time
"Leonardo Da Vinci was a man who awoke too early in the darkness, while other were all still
asleep"
-Sigmund Freud
I chose to write about Leonardo Da Vinci because I read about him and I got very interested in his
personality, thoughts, ideas, inventions, and work of art. Also I wanted people to get to know him
because Da Vinci is a very unique person. In addition, he gathered a lot of knowledge to invent,
study, draw, and love. Moreover Da Vinci's artwork is very detailed that you can feel the picture is
alive when you look at it. Besides, Leonardo Da Vinci had a lot of impact on mankind through his
cognizance.
Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 15th 1452 in Vinci, Florence, Italy. He was an illegitimate
son of Ser Piero Da Vinci, a legal specialist and a peasant woman named Caterina. Leonardo Da
Vinci was trained to be a painter but his interests and achievements spread into a variety of fields
such as anatomy, astronomy, botany, geology, geometry, and optics. Moreover, Da Vinci drew
plans for over 100 inventions. Also, he made a few scientific laws.
For Leonardo to become a painter he was trained on the hands of the best master in Italy, Andrea
Del Verrochio. Since Leonardo was so talented. His master was so amazed by Leonardo's work
that he gave up painting for the rest of his life! Furthermore, Leonardo was the first person to learn
the truth and laws of nature because spent a lot of time cutting up animals, designing models, or
just walking in the nature, and by experimenting he made observations. Yet Leonardo was not
only a great painter, but also he was also an engineer, scientist, philosopher, sculptor, and a
genius. Furthermore, Da Vinci wrote textbook about human anatomy. Surprisingly, many of his
notebooks survived and they are full of detail and correct drawing of humans, and sketches of his
inventions. On the other hand most of these notes show that he was eccentric because they were
written back wards so they can only be read by holding them in front of a mirror.
Leonardo had drawn many beautiful paintings and his greatest masterpieces The Baptism of
Christ, Adoration of The Three Kings, The Last Supper, and probably the most famous The Mona
Lisa and her mysterious, vague, beautiful smile. Furthermore, Leonardo was into science very
much and because he had such a restless mind, he often started a project without finishing the one
before. As a result, that is how he left many projects unfinished or planned and not put into real
world. However some of them had failed because there were some methods and theories that were
not yet invented. Here are some of his projects and inventions: the parachute, large crossbow,
fling machine, helicopter (gust planned and drawn), ladders, canal dredger, cutting machines,
treadle-operator lathes, underwater rebreathing devices, self-floatation/ocean devices, street
lighting systems, compasses, contact lenses, soldering tools, mortar bombs, catapults, navel
weapons, multi-barreled gum, mechanical saws, water turbines, steam calorimeters. Consequently,
he invented a lot of war weapons but really Leonardo strongly hated weapons and war. Yet
through a period of time he needed money so he worked for the Duke of Milan and that's how he
ended up a war engineer.
Leonardo Da Vinci had one goal and that was to be a scholar. But then his goals grew as he did.
Afterwards, Da Vinci wanted to be a professional artist. Also, he wanted to learn about humans
inside out. As a rich child he had an access to scholary books and texts. Moreover, he seemed to
be very interested in learning even though he struggled with the language a little bit. Yet, he was a
practical thinker. Da Vinci was also a gifted painter. He started painting since he was a teenager.
After a while his father noticed his talent so he sent him to the best art master in Italy and that's
how Leonardo's goal started. Da Vinci always believed that life should be based on experiments;
and that's how he learned about humans. Da Vinci studied anatomy and everything related to the
human body. Moreover he was able to draw pictures of parts of human body and they were so
clear that if you just glance at the sketch, you would understand what's it about. He was not only
interested in human functions but also their thoughts and feelings. Thus Leonardo believed that
people could achieve their goals if they think, plan, and do. Therefore that's how he started
achieving his goals.
While pursuing his goal he faced a few obstacles both technically and emotionally. Consequently
Leonardo was well known and had good friends but also enemies. Technically Da Vinci faced a
few problems while working on his mechanical car because there were some mathematical
theories that weren't yet invented, which proved that his inventions would not perform in real
world. However, Da Vinci tried and tried and came up with a few formulas. As a result that's how
he overcame his technical problems. Whereas, some people believed that Leonardo would never
gave up. Moreover he didn't listen to the hurtful words, he just kept ongoing and succeeding.
Therefore Da Vinci's flying machine worked but it seemed to carry only a certain weigh. After all
Leonardo's inventions was a success.
Leonardo Da Vinci was a man who exemplified the best qualities of a 15th century man. In
addition, he had a practical understanding of mysteries of the universe. Furthermore he was a
genius. Da Vinci was very outstanding and gifted man and we can prove that by the legacy he left
behind. Besides, Leonardo's artwork is marvelous. Furthermore, he puts forth his best efforts.
Moreover Da Vinci is a practical thinker. Consequently, he had an approach to every thought,
opinion, and question. In addition, he had never accepted an answer without a proof. As a genius,
his ideas and statements were extraordinary. Furthermore, he always believed that there would be
a better vision of the world in the future. As a result Da Vinci had a lot of good qualities that
served the world well.
Leonardo Da Vinci had a huge impact on mankind. Therefore, if it was not for Da Vinci's
sketches, incredible brainstorms and marvelous efforts; today we would not be at this level of
modern and civilized life. Leonardo had clarified a lot of things to us. Moreover, by inventing
scientific laws and proving his observations he helped humanity understand more about nature and
its way of life. Moreover, Leonardo's studies are perfectly drawn. Hence, Da Vinci is a great
inspiration for other scientists and inventors.
Leonardo died at the age of 67 on May 2,1514 in Cloux, France. But Leonardo's projects, ideas,
inventions, remain today. Furthermore Leonardo's achievements had no limits. Similarly he had a
huge impact on mankind. Furthermore, he was a man with good qualities. As a result, Leonardo
Da Vinci was and still is the prime example of the ideal artist and the scientist who dared to
discover the unknown. Hence, he was a man before his time.