Leonardo da Vinci’s representative works

Leonardo da Vinci’s artistic theory is scattered in his more than 6,000 pages of manuscripts and the unfinished "On Painting", which is also a major achievement of theoretical research in the Renaissance era.

Da Vinci's "On Painting" can be roughly divided into two parts according to its content: aesthetic theory and the basic science of painting. The aesthetic theory part discusses the nature of painting, the relationship between painting and reality, the similarities and differences between painting and other arts, and other issues. The basic part explains the knowledge of perspective, light and shadow, human body proportions and anatomy, human body dynamics and expressions, and natural phenomena.

Leonardo da Vinci's aesthetic thoughts are concentrated in a part of his notes that has always been called "Art Comparison". Comparing paintings with poetry, music, sculpture and other arts was a popular form of literary criticism during the Renaissance, and the painting theories of Alberti and Francesca also included this content. It turns out that since ancient times, painting is not considered a noble art and is inferior to other arts due to its close relationship with manual production. Leonardo da Vinci, on the contrary, proved that painting is superior to other arts. But from our point of view today, comparison is not an important issue at all. What is important is that through his comparison of painting with other arts, we can see his views on painting.

Da Vinci analyzed the relationship between painting and reality based on the basic point of view that "all our knowledge comes from perception", pointing out that nature is the source of painting, and painting is the imitator of nature; and based on the ancient The history of the development of painting since Rome points out that if a painter follows nature, painting will prosper; if he does not follow nature, painting will decline. This illustrates from both philosophical and historical perspectives that painters must take nature as their teacher.

He further used a very unique method to illustrate how painting reflects nature. This is his famous mirror metaphor: "The painter's heart should be like a mirror, transforming itself into the color of the object, and counting it. Take in the image of all the objects before you. You must know that if you are not a versatile artist who can represent in art all the forms of nature, you are not a good painter." This means that painting is the nature reflected in the artist's mind, reproduced through artistic means; but he also pointed out, "A painter who only relies on practice and naked eye judgment without using rationality when painting is like a mirror, which only plagiarizes what is in front of him." things without knowing anything about them.”

He required painters not only to rely on their senses to understand the world, but also to use reason to reveal the laws of nature. Therefore, on the one hand, Leonardo da Vinci took nature as his teacher; on the other hand, he also emphasized the importance of rationality and required painters to have knowledge of perspective, light and shadow, human anatomy, etc. to guide creation and faithfully reflect The shapes of all things in nature, combined with rich imagination, compete with nature to create images that are not found in nature.

Like Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci passionately celebrated the eye and vision. Because it is the main channel for communication between the human soul and the outside world, and it is the most accurate sense. Therefore, Finch believes that vision-based painting is most suitable for depicting the morphological beauty of objects and revealing the laws of natural phenomena; and because most of human knowledge comes from vision, vision-based painting becomes an important part of human understanding of nature. and the most powerful means of spreading truth and beauty, became a science.

At first glance, the idea of ??equating painting and science may seem strange. But if you think about it from the perspective of Leonardo da Vinci's theory, I think it's understandable. Because various means of human expression, such as language, text, audio, photography, etc., can express both artistic and scientific content, but to varying degrees, and painting is of course no exception. Especially in the era of Leonardo da Vinci, morphological science was accumulating data. The naked eye was the only observation tool at that time, and drawings became an important means of recording data. Aren't Leonardo da Vinci's human anatomy notes full of drawings? When he did this, he took advantage of this characteristic of painting. It's just that today, when science and art are strictly separated, people exclude this aspect of painting. Interestingly, people's attitude toward painting at that time was similar to how people initially treated photography. Some people think it is not art but technology, some people think the opposite, and still others think it is science. The problem is not to determine what means of expression it belongs to, but what to express and how to express it.

The study of spatial relationships is perspective. Leonardo da Vinci divided perspective into three branches: line perspective, color perspective and submerged perspective. Study the relationship between the size, color, and shape of an object and its distance from the eye. Line perspective has been quite complete after research by Brunelleschi, Francesca and others, but they did not take into account the effect of air and the fact that the eyes cannot see distant objects. As a result, the distant scenery in the painting will be different from the eyes. What I saw was inconsistent with the actual situation. Leonardo da Vinci combined many vivid examples to study the influence of air and mist on the color and shape of the distant scenery, and created air perspective and submerged perspective. With aerial perspective, the space in the painting is no longer a vacuum, but a space with atmosphere. Since there is a hazy atmosphere between the distant view and the eyes, rather than being unobstructed, the sense of depth in the space is enhanced.

An entity occupies a three-dimensional volume: the outline of the object includes two dimensions, and the third dimension is the concavity and convexity of the object. Perspective can express a wide range of depth on a two-dimensional painting plane, but it cannot express a small range of changing depth (i.e., concavity and convexity). The concave and convex feeling can only be expressed through the changes in light and dark of the object.

The Florentine School considered the concavity and convexity of objects to be of paramount importance. Leonardo da Vinci wrote: "The greatest miracle of painting is to make a flat picture appear concave and convex." He tirelessly studied light and shadow, and in addition to practical observations, he also conducted theoretical research.

For example, study light and shadow on a sphere. Although this kind of research work is abstract, it is a basic skill that can be understood by analogy after being thoroughly mastered. This is evident from the fact that Leonardo da Vinci attached great importance to theoretical research. In terms of light and shade processing, Fincher preferred rich levels and pioneered the light and dark transfer method, that is, the transition from light to dark in the portrait is continuous, like smoke, without clear boundaries.

He told his students that the best light for painting portraits is the soft light at dusk. When doing outdoor sketching, if you imagine that the sun is covered by thin clouds, you can soften the portrait. His oil painting "Mona Lisa" and sketch "Santa Anna" are both examples of chiaroscuro. Biographer Vasari said that Leonardo da Vinci's light and shade transfer method was a turning point in the art of painting. This is a very pertinent comment.

As for color, Leonardo da Vinci held the same view as the Florentine school of painting, believing that color is subordinate to light and shadow (dark colors paint shadows, bright colors paint light), so he did not pay enough attention to it. But despite this, he also has many outstanding insights into color. For example, his observation that the color of an object is related to lighting and the color of surrounding objects is to some extent the basis of French Impressionist color theory.

During the High Renaissance, under the influence of humanistic humanism in painting, the ideological content and main images gradually shifted from gods to humans. Just as Pico della Mirandola, the famous humanist at the time, declared in a manifesto-style speech "On the Dignity of Man" that "man is a great miracle on the world stage" and "man occupies the center of the world." center".

So, reflected in painting, people have also become the center of contemporary painting. When discussing that painting comes from experience, Leonardo da Vinci said that issues such as the nature of God and the soul are completely contrary to feelings. When discussing the subject of painting, he said that "a painter should depict two main things: people and his thoughts and intentions." It is a reflection of the spirit of the times that excludes theology and puts people at the center. The art masters of that time studied the proportions of the human body with great enthusiasm. In their view, the human body is the most perfect thing in nature, so the proportions of the human body must conform to mathematical laws: the various parts should be in simple integer ratios, or consistent with perfect geometric figures such as circles and squares.

They turned the proportions of the human body into the basis of harmonious beauty in painting, sculpture and architecture. The second important content of human body research is human anatomy. They believe that anatomy is the knowledge that must be possessed to truly express the human form. Leonardo da Vinci attached great importance to anatomy and studied this subject for more than forty years. He believed human anatomy was the key to understanding the dynamics of the human body. He ridiculed some painters who did not study anatomy in conjunction with human movements. As a result, they painted nude figures with bulging muscles that looked like a bag of radishes.

The description of dynamic human expressions and psychology is an element of Leonardo da Vinci's art. Leonardo da Vinci believed that "movement is the source of all life." Even the lines in sketches are the result of the movement of points. He likes to use undulating curves to arrange the postures of characters, which is related to this understanding. Regarding people's gestures and expressions, Leonardo da Vinci had this view: When a person is not pretentious, his movements, gestures and expressions must be consistent with the person's thoughts and feelings. Therefore, he regards movements, gestures, and expressions as means of revealing the inner world of characters in paintings, and requires that the movements of the characters painted by the painter should express their thoughts and feelings under any circumstances. Leonardo da Vinci's theory of human body dynamics had a profound impact on later generations of art theory and practice.

Landscape and nature studies are also important themes in Leonardo da Vinci's painting theory. Artists in the Renaissance era regarded nature as their mentor and friend. Starting from Massazzu, landscape has been an integral part of painting. Among the masters of the High Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci was the best at using landscapes as backgrounds. In this part of the painting theory notes, we can find many of Leonardo da Vinci's magnificent descriptions of landscapes and natural phenomena.

In short, Leonardo da Vinci’s painting theory discussed almost all the issues related to painting in his time. He was a great artistic innovator in the Renaissance era. He made great contributions in composition, light and shade, perspective and psychological description. He was also one of the most knowledgeable giants in history. The painting theory compiled from his lifelong experience can be called an encyclopedia summarizing the achievements of the painting art of his time. What is surprising is that many of his views still have practical significance for us to learn from today, four hundred years later. Leonardo da Vinci's life was an unfinished road, littered with fragments of unfinished works. Before his death, he said sadly: "I have never completed a job in my life." Leonardo da Vinci's unique artistic language is to use the method of light and shade to create a three-dimensional sense of a flat image.

Oil painting

"Mona Lisa"

"Saint Jerome" (unfinished)

"Ginevra· Benchi"

"Portrait of a Musician" (unfinished)

"The Woman Holding an Ermine"

"The Girl with the Forelock"

< p>"Portrait of Lady with Pearl Headdress"

"Madonna of Flowers"

"Madonna of Breastfeeding"

"Madonna of Benois"

"The Virgin of Garofano"

"The Virgin of the Rocks"

"The Virgin at the Spinning Wheel"

"The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" "

"Information of Conception"

"The Visit of the Magi" (Unfinished)

"The Baptism of Christ" (Cooperation)

" St. John the Baptist"

"Bacchus"

"Leda and the Swan" (the original painting is lost)

"The Vitruvian Man"

"The Savior of the World"

Fresco

"The Last Supper"

"The Battle of Anghili" (unfinished)< /p>

Leonardo da Vinci left behind a large number of unorganized manuscripts written backwards with his left hand, which are difficult to interpret. Only in the mid-seventeenth century did scholars compile a small number of Leonardo da Vinci's manuscripts. Leonardo da Vinci's main manuscript was lost for more than 200 years and was not rediscovered until 1817, but it was severely damaged. Manuscript classification

"On Painting" In 1817, the manuscript of "On Painting" compiled by Francisco Merz, a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci, was discovered from the Library of Urbino.

On sculpture

On architecture, including church sketches, arch structure analysis

On physiology, including on human life and death, memory, intelligence and desire

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On anatomy

On grape growing and winemaking technology

On zoology

On astronomy, including the earth, sun and planets

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On geography, including discussions on water flow, geology, Italian canals, French roads, mining, and philosophy

Short stories, including fables, riddles, etc.

Letters

Manuscripts auctioned

In 1994, Microsoft President Bill Gates purchased Leonardo da Vinci's "Hammer Manuscript" (the manuscript records Leonardo da Vinci's Finch's research achievements in many fields document the reasons for his focus on human anatomy). Biographer Michael White asked him why he did this, and Gates smiled bitterly: "Because I need it." Later, Bill Gates did not trade the "Hammer Manuscript" (named after the collector) as usual. It was renamed "The Gates Manuscript" but returned to its original name - "The Leicester Manuscript". This science geek, who is considered to have mild autism, is paying tribute to the scientific giant who was born 500 years ago and was the first to truly think about the workings of man and the world through his purchasing behavior.

Existing Museum

To commemorate this great master of art and science, the "Leonardo da Vinci Museum" was established in his hometown in 1928, and later The "Leonardo Museum in Vinci" is founded. There is also a special introduction to Leonardo da Vinci in the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.