Mar 01 2009
Da Vinci
| Birth April 15, 1452Death May 2, 1519 |
Vinci, Italy |
Florence |
| Initiating the Italian High Renaissance with paintings that set a new standard for composition and expression of complex emotion |
| Possessing a sprawling intellect that touched astoundingly diverse areas of knowledge, but suffering from a tendency to assume too many projects in various fields, and failing to complete most |
| 1466 Began his career as an apprentice to Florentine artist Andrea del Verrochio |
| 1470 Contributed a kneeling angel to Verrochio’s Baptism of Christ. Leonardo’s angel is generally considered superior to Verrochio’s central figures. |
| 1481 Began painting Adoration of the Magi, an unfinished work that reveals his technique of beginning with a dark painting surface and adding elements of light, unlike most painters of his time who started with outlined figures on a white surface |
| 1485 While serving the duke of Milan as a military advisor, painted The Virgin of the Rocks, which demonstrated his use of sfumato, a technique he developed for blending tones to create a soft glow and sense of atmosphere |
| 1495-1497 At Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, painted The Last Supper, a dramatic depiction of the moment Jesus announced that he would be betrayed |
| 1503 Began but did not finish Battle of Anghiari, a work that broke with conventions of battle painting and depicted the violent fury of battle rather than the historical narrative |
| 1503-1506 Painted the Mona Lisa, which he kept with him for the remainder of his life |
| 1506 Was summoned to Milan by Charles d’Amboise, where he designed a military monument that was never built, and devoted his energies to anatomical studies |
| 1510?-1513? Drew a self-portrait, perhaps the most famous of the many drawings he produced |
| 1514-1516 Resided in the Vatican and focused his attention on scientific experimentation |
