What are Da Vinci's works?

work

Leonardo da Vinci's artistic theory is scattered in his more than 6000 pages of manuscripts and unfinished painting theory, which is also an important achievement of theoretical research in the Renaissance.

Da Vinci's painting theory can be roughly divided into two parts: aesthetic theory and basic science of painting. The aesthetic theory part discusses the essence of painting, the relationship between painting and reality, and the similarities and differences between painting and other arts. The basic part expounds the knowledge of perspective, light and shadow, human proportion and anatomy, human dynamics and expression, natural phenomena and so on.

Leonardo da Vinci's aesthetic thoughts are concentrated in some notes that have always been called "artistic comparison". Comparing painting with poetry, music, sculpture and other arts is a popular form of literary criticism in the Renaissance, and Albert and francesca's painting theory also has such content. It turns out that since ancient times, painting has not been regarded as a noble art because of its close relationship with manual production, which is inferior to other arts. On the contrary, Leonardo da Vinci proved that painting is superior to other arts. However, in our view today, this is not an important issue at all. It is important that we can see his views on painting by comparing it with other arts.

Leonardo da vinci analyzed the relationship between painting and reality according to the basic viewpoint that "all our knowledge comes from perception", pointing out that nature is the source of painting and painting is the imitator of nature; According to the development history of painting since ancient Rome, it is pointed out that painting will flourish if painters learn from nature, and it will decline if they don't, which shows that painters must learn from nature from philosophy and history.

He further used a very unique method to explain 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 objects and bringing it into the image of all objects in front of him." You know, if you are not a generalist who can reproduce all forms of nature with art, you are not a talented painter. " In other words, painting is the nature reflected in the painter's mind and reproduced by artistic means; However, he also pointed out that "a painter who paints only by practice and naked eyes without using reason is like a mirror, only copying what is in front of him and knowing nothing about them".

He asked painters not only to know the world by senses, but also to expose the laws of nature by reason. So, on the one hand, Leonardo da Vinci took nature as his teacher; On the other hand, it emphasizes the importance of rationality and requires painters to have knowledge of perspective, light and shadow, human anatomy, etc., so as to guide their own creation, faithfully reflect the shape of all things in nature, and combine rich imagination with nature to create images that are not found in nature.

Like Alberti, leonardo da vinci enthusiastically praised eyes and vision. Because it is the main way for people's mind to communicate with the outside world and the most accurate sense. Therefore, Finch thinks that painting based on vision is most suitable for depicting the beauty of objects and revealing the laws of natural phenomena; Because most of human knowledge comes from vision, painting based on vision has become the most powerful means for human beings to understand nature and spread truth, goodness and beauty, and has become a science.

At first glance, it seems strange to equate painting with science. But if we think from the perspective of Leonardo da Vinci's theory, we can understand it. Because of human's various means of expression, such as language, writing, sound, photography and so on. , can express both artistic content and scientific content, but the degree is different, and painting is no exception. Especially in the Da Vinci era, morphological science was accumulating data, the naked eye was the only observation tool at that time, and pictures became an important means to record data. Isn't Leonardo's Notes on Human Anatomy all pictures? When he did this, he took advantage of this feature of painting. Only today, when science and art are strictly separated, people reject this side of painting. Interestingly, people's attitude towards painting at that time was similar to that towards photography at the beginning. Some people think it is not art, but technology, while others think it is science. The problem is not to judge what means of expression it belongs to, but to express what and how.

It is perspective that studies spatial relations. Leonardo da vinci divided perspective into three branches: line perspective, color perspective and forgetting perspective. The relationship between the size, color and shape of the object and the distance from the object to the eye is studied respectively. X-ray perspective has been quite complete after the research of brunelleschi, Fran Cesca and others, but they did not take into account the influence of air and the fact that the eyes can't see the distant objects clearly, and as a result, the vision in the painting is inconsistent with the reality seen by the eyes. Leonardo da vinci combined many vivid examples to study the influence of air and fog on the color and shape of the foreground, and created aerial perspective and dive perspective. Using air perspective, the space in the painting is not a vacuum, but a space with atmosphere. Because there is a vague atmosphere between vision and eyes, rather than a glance, the sense of depth of space is strengthened.

An entity occupies a three-dimensional volume: the outline of the object includes two dimensions, and the third dimension is the concave and convex of the object. Perspective can represent a large range of depth on a two-dimensional painting plane, but it cannot represent a small range of changing depth (that is, concave and convex). Concave-convex feeling can only be expressed by the change of light and shade of objects. Florence school of painting thinks that the sense of concavity and convexity of objects is the primary significance. Da Vinci wrote: "The greatest miracle of painting is to make a flat painting look uneven." He studied light and shadow tirelessly. In addition to practical observation, he also conducted theoretical research.

For example, study light and shadows on a sphere. Although this kind of research work is abstract, it is a basic skill and can be imitated after being thoroughly mastered. This shows that Leonardo da Vinci attached importance to theoretical research. In terms of shading, Finch prefers rich layers and pioneered the shading transfer method, that is, the transition from light to dark on a portrait is continuous, like smoke, without clear boundaries.

He told the students that the best light for painting portraits is the soft light at dusk. When sketching outdoors, the portrait can be softened if the sun is covered by thin clouds. His oil painting "Mona Lisa" and sketch "Santa Anna" are both models of light and shade transfer method. Biographer vasari said that Da Vinci's method of changing light and shade was a turning point in painting art, which was a very pertinent comment.

With regard to color, Leonardo da Vinci and the Florentine School hold the same view that color belongs to light and shadow (dark shadow, bright light), so it has not been given enough attention. Nevertheless, he also has many outstanding views on color. For example, he observed that the color and illumination of objects are related to the colors of surrounding objects, which is the arrow of French impressionist color theory to some extent.

In the heyday of the Renaissance, under the influence of humanism, the content and main image of painting gradually changed from god to man. As Pico Della Mirandola, a famous humanist at that time, declared in the declaratory speech of On Human Dignity, "Man is a great miracle on the world stage" and "Man occupies the center of the world".

Therefore, reflected in painting, people have also become the center of contemporary painting. When discussing that painting comes from experience, Leonardo da Vinci said that the essence of God and soul are completely opposite to feelings. When discussing the theme of painting, he said that "a painter should describe two main things: man and his thoughts and intentions", which is a reflection of the spirit of the times that rejects theology and takes people as the center. The masters of art at that time studied the proportion of human body with great enthusiasm. In their view, the human body is the most perfect thing in nature, so the proportion of the human body must conform to the mathematical law: the parts are simple integer proportions, or coincide with perfect geometric figures such as circles and squares.

They turn the proportion of human body into the basis of harmonious beauty in painting, sculpture and architecture. The second important content of human body research is human anatomy, which they think is the necessary knowledge to truly express human form. Leonardo da vinci attached great importance to anatomy and studied it for more than forty years. He believes that human anatomy is the key to understanding human dynamics. He laughed at some painters who did not study anatomy in combination with human movements, and as a result, they painted naked images with bulging muscles, like a bag of radishes.

The dynamic expression and psychological description of people is an element of Da Vinci's art. Da Vinci believed that "movement is the source of all life", and even the lines in the sketch are the result of point movement. He likes to use undulating curves to arrange the gestures of characters, which is related to this understanding. For human gestures and expressions, Leonardo da Vinci had this view: when people are not artificial, human movements, gestures and expressions must adapt to people's thoughts and feelings. Therefore, he regards dynamics, gestures and expressions as a means to reveal the inner world of the characters in painting, and requires the actions of the characters in the painter to show their thoughts and feelings under any circumstances. Leonardo da Vinci's theory of human dynamics has a far-reaching influence on later artistic theory and practice.

Landscape and nature research is also an important theme in Leonardo da Vinci's painting theory. Renaissance artists regarded nature as their mentor and friend. Since Ma Saqiao, scenery has become an indispensable part of painting. Leonardo da Vinci was the best painter in setting among the Renaissance masters. In this part of Notes on Painting, we can find many magnificent descriptions of landscapes and natural phenomena by Leonardo da Vinci.

In a word, Leonardo da Vinci's painting theory discussed almost all the problems related to painting in his time. He was a great artistic innovator in the Renaissance, who made great contributions in composition, light and shadow, perspective and psychological description, and was also the most learned giant in history. The painting theory written by him with his life-long experience can be called an encyclopedia summarizing the artistic achievements of painting in his time. Surprisingly, many of his ideas are still of practical significance today after 400 years and can be used for reference. Leonardo da vinci's life is an endless road, full of fragments of unfinished works. Before he died, he said sadly, "I have never finished a job in my life." Leonardo da vinci's unique artistic language uses light and shade to create three-dimensional images.

draw

oil painting

Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa)

Major investment portfolio (1 1)

Saint Jerome (unfinished)

Guinevere Banchi

Portrait of a musician (unfinished)

The woman with the silver mouse

Positive girl

Portrait of a lady wearing a pearl headdress

Notre dame in flowers

Breast secretes milk

Madonna in Benoit

Madonna in Garofano.

Rock Madonna

Madonna by the spinning wheel

The Virgin and the Son and Saint Anne.

Pregnancy notice

See a doctor (unfinished)

The baptism of Christ (cooperation)

St John the Baptist

Dionysus bacas

Rita and Swan (original painting lost)

uomo vitruviano

Savior of the world

wall painting

The Last Supper

Battle of Angley (unfinished)

Leonardo da Vinci left a large number of messy manuscripts written with his left hand, which is difficult to interpret. It was not until the middle of17th century that scholars sorted out a few Da Vinci manuscripts. Leonardo da Vinci's main manuscript was lost for more than 200 years, and it was not until 18 17 that it was rediscovered, but it was seriously damaged. Manuscript classification

On Painting 18 17 The manuscript of On Painting compiled by Francisco Metz, a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci, was found in Ullbin Nuo Library.

On sculpture

About architecture, including church sketch and arch structure analysis.

Physiologically, it includes life and death, memory, intelligence and desire.

On anatomy

Discussion on grape planting and wine-making technology

On Zoology

Astronomy, including the earth, the sun and planets.

On geography, including current, geology, Italian canals, French roads, mining and philosophy.

Short stories, including fables and riddles.

believe

Auction manuscript

Da Vinci Manuscripts (20)

1994, Bill Gates, president of Microsoft, bought Da Vinci's hammer manuscript for $30.8 million (the manuscript recorded Da Vinci's research achievements in many fields and the reasons why he paid attention to human anatomy). Biographer michael white asked him why he did it, and Gates said with a wry smile, "Because I need it." Later, Bill Gates did not rename The Hammer Manuscript (named after the collector) as usual, but restored its original name-Lester Manuscript. This scientific madman, who is considered to have mild autism, is paying tribute to this scientific master who was born 500 years ago and really thought about the working mechanism of people and the world.

Existing museum

In memory of this master of art and science, 1928 established the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in his hometown, and then the Leonardo da Vinci Museum was established. There is also a special exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan Science and Technology Museum.