101 Things You Didn't Know About Da Vinci (5 page)

During his first years with the guild, Leonardo was still working with Verrocchio's studio on many projects. Records indicate that he either assumed more of a financial-management role with Verrocchio's jobs, or he actually had several of his own commissions within the studio. Never one to turn down work, Leonardo may have also worked with Antonio Pollaiuolo's neighboring studio on projects.

Leonardo's work during this period includes sketches he made around 1478 of an angel, which could be based on his angel from Verrocchio's
Baptism of Christ
, done several years earlier Many paintings of the Virgin Mary done during this period have been attributed to Leonardo as well. Of particular interest is a vibrant
Madonna and Child
from 1478 that shows incredible attention to detail and human facial expression. Leonardo's
Portrait of Ginevra de'Benci
, mentioned in the previous point, was one of his first surviving Renaissance portraitures. This oil-on-wood painting shows a woman with incredibly detailed curls in her hair and a facial expression that suggests she may have been used as practice for Leonardo's later work on the
Mona Lisa
.

The
Madonna of the Carnation
, also called the
Benois Madonna
(1478–1480), is another of Leonardo's works done during this early independent period. This oil painting again demonstrated realistic human features with a rich depth of expression, apparent especially in the Madonna's facial and hand gestures. And like many of Leonardo's other artistic endeavors, this work appears to be partially incomplete. Further, in this painting, lighting appears to be coming from both behind and in front of the window, indicating that Leonardo was experimenting with the advanced painting techniques he would later refine. The innovations in Leonardo's early works are often copied throughout his career—when he found something that worked, he refined it and then used it over and over again.

Leonardo's period of self-employment was short-lived at this point. Devoted as he may have been to his art, Leonardo still had to eat and pay the bills. He didn't yet have a full-time patron, and no one would pay him just to sit around and draw for himself. Then there was the issue of handing projects in on time—something that plagued Leonardo throughout his career. Although he had a good reputation from the start, he was also known for starting more projects than he finished, and most patrons preferred a completed work to an idea or sketch—especially when they were paying for it! As it turns out, the artist-in-residence option fit Leonardo better than individual commissions. When just one patron employed him, Leonardo had much more leeway in his work. Leonardo went on to work for many important people over the course of his life, and his art developed with each change in patronage.

15
The rebirth of Italy

The Italian Renaissance is a truly unique part of history—it impacted society in just about every way possible, from the culture and art of the day to the religious and intellectual atmosphere. As a bit of background, Italian city-states of the fourteenth century were very different from each other: They were ruled separately, and this often created situations where one city would have enormous influence over the surrounding areas. At the beginning of the Renaissance, the main centers of power were Florence, Milan, Venice, Naples, and the region around Rome ruled by the pope. As the Renaissance spread and produced more interaction and communication between city-states, it also provided the means to create a more united Italy, and a more unified Europe.

Pre-Renaissance city-states were economically mixed. Generally speaking, rich people lived in the cities and poorer ones lived in the country. Gradually, however, the wealth spread out. As bankers and other merchants became wealthy, classes other than nobility were coming into money for the first time.

The Early Renaissance really began in Florence. There, some of the wealthiest members of society started supporting humanities and the arts. Writing, painting, sculpture, architecture, and science were all fields that were suddenly in the public eye. The Medicis were one of the most influential families during the Renaissance and would turn out to be one of Leonardo's many patrons. Lorenzo de Medici (1449–1492), son of Cosimo de Medici (one of the period's wealthiest Italians), gained popular acknowledgement and support by funding art and architecture.

In spite of newfound money and culture, life was not entirely peaceful during the Renaissance. In 1454, Milan, Florence, and Naples were united under the Treaty of Lodi, through which each city attempted to ally itself with the others. But thanks to Pope Alexander VI's scheming goals, the French King Charles VIII headed up an Italian invasion and several areas were conquered as a result.

Then, in 1495, King Ferdinand of Spain got involved and helped to create the League of Venice, which included Spain and other Italian city-states. France invaded Italy on several other occasions during this period, contributing to the political unrest so characteristic of the Renaissance. The popes of this era (Alexander VI, Julius II, and Leo X) served mainly to enforce a Christian system of beliefs throughout the country, in part by preventing Ottoman invasion. By 1527, the Holy Roman Empire had taken over what was left of the city- and papal-states.

But enough about the attacks on Italy during the Renaissance; let's get back to the great cultural strides made during this period. Humanism was the Renaissance's most important conceptual innovation. This idea of a human-based study included a revival of classical beliefs from ancient Greece and Rome.

The hallmark characteristics of the Renaissance peaked between about 1490 and 1527, when German and Spanish imperial troops sacked Rome. This period, when Leonardo da Vinci did much of his work, is usually called the High Renaissance because it represents a culmination of all the ideas that had been floating around Florence in the previous years. The main idea was that beauty could be achieved by combining classical forms with landscapes, cityscapes, and other “natural” elements. Unlike the Early Renaissance (which centered mostly around Florence), other parts of Italy, including Rome and Milan, felt the High Renaissance's influence.

In addition to Leonardo da Vinci, other famous artists of the High Renaissance include Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) and Raphael (1483–1520). Like Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael both studied in Florence and worked in painting, architecture, and other arts.

16
Renaissance religion

The Renaissance had the biggest impact on the humanities, arts, and sciences. As with everything in Europe at that time, however, there were also religious implications. Papal states (regions run by the pope, who served as the bishop of Rome) were as important politically as the city-states, which included Florence and Milan.

At the beginning of the High Renaissance, Pope Julius II (reigning 1503–1513) was in power. Though a religious figure, religion wasn't the only thing he influenced! Julius II's goals were also politically and geographically motivated. He strove to remove the French from Italian territory before they could completely take over the Italian papacy. By 1512 Italy had joined Spain in the Holy League and the countries united to defeat the French, thus scoring a victory for both Christianity and Italy.

During this period, popes were often expelled for bribery or other treacheries, but their power was usually restored. To this extent, religious leadership was consistent but not absolute. Popes also often handed their office over to close friends and family members, and this culture of nepotism contributed to the unrest. Further, popes led privileged lives and had access to luxuries that much of the population would never experience. Consequently, although they were respected and feared for their connections to God, people looked at them with suspicion. High-level politicians would even marry off their daughters to popes or papal families. Lorenzo de Medici, for example, had his daughter Magdalena marry a pope's son. Not a bad way to ensure a solid connection between religion and government!

A fragile stability was reached during the early sixteenth century, and by the middle of the sixteenth century, virtually all of Italy was at least nominally Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church's corruptions were apparent, however. The close union of religion with politics and wealth dismantled the very nature of the Church as an institution of holiness. People were also dissatisfied with the emphasis the Church placed on ritual, rather than personal prayer. Then, in 1517, Martin Luther (1483–1546) unknowingly sparked the Protestant Reformation when he nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany (see number 82). The Protestant Reformation attempted to transform the Church by calling for a return to the Bible's teachings. Since religious revolution was a popular idea at the time, people from all over Europe joined in support. Because of the Reformation, the Church was ultimately forced to revise its close dependency on outside groups. But the Reformation also caused a split in the Catholic Church, as new Protestant groups such as Lutherans and Anabaptists were created.

It's amazing to think that Leonardo and other Renaissance artists were creating their masterpieces amid all this political turmoil and religious unrest. Even though the Church was still entrenched in its strongholds from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance helped artists to break from tradition and, in many ways, address their art in a more personal fashion. The Protestant Reformation gained strength as Leonardo neared the end of his life, but the general feeling of social unrest remained prevalent throughout his most productive years.

17
Don't forget the golden oldies

While the Renaissance celebrated humanism and individual abilities, it was also an era that remembered the past. Classical Greek and Roman antiquity was reborn during the Renaissance. People believed that the ancient Greeks and Romans had gotten things right: Their art had rules—and good rules at that. The certainty of the classics provided a calming effect that Leonardo and his contemporaries were desperate to incorporate during such troubled times.

One of the most attractive elements of this classical revival was a sense of beauty and proportion. Classical architecture used balance and harmony for its aesthetic appeal and symbolically religious nature. Inner and outer beauty were equivalent in classical sculptures. Greek statues were notoriously well proportioned, a balance that was created in order to please the gods and, by association, the surrounding world.

The idea of balance extended to architecture as well. Classical temples with ordered plans and symmetrical columns produced a sense of order that Renaissance architects tried to recapture. Three major Greek orders, or architectural styles, emerged, providing a clean way to organize form and structure. The three orders, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, are best known for the columns with those names. Because classical temples were completely devoted to the gods for whom they were named, their proportions had to be symbolic of the gods' perfection. The idea was that an ordered space should project that order onto its inhabitants, sort of like a clean desk inspiring you to work more efficiently.

There was a bit of nostalgia at work here, too. When it came to looking back to the antiquities, Renaissance artists adopted the familiar “grass is always greener on the other side” philosophy. In their view, Greek and Roman culture provided strong role models, little apparent corruption (at least compared to what Renaissance artists faced), and some vague notion of a glorious past. These were strong ideals, and Leonardo and his contemporaries embraced them eagerly. The Renaissance Church was, of course, still a powerful influence in the lives of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italians, and maybe its strong presence stood in stark contrast to the perceived serenity and order of their Greek and Roman predecessors.

Reading and writing in classical languages such as Latin was popular during the Renaissance. Although Leonardo probably wasn't able to study original Latin texts, many of his works do show a careful study of classicism. For instance, his
Adoration of the Magi
has architectural elements in the background that show a distinctly classical influence. Similarly,
Annunciation
uses Greek-like cornerstones, as well as other architectural elements, which likely came from Leonardo's interest in the classics. He did, though, add a Renaissance twist by giving the stones rough surfaces and pronounced joints instead of a smooth, classical-era finish. How typical of Leonardo to take an established style and make it his own! Another of Leonardo's major works,
The Last Supper
, uses a careful sense of proportion and symmetry to reflect a divine influence—certainly appropriate for the subject matter. This idea was actually derived directly from Greek and Roman design and construction methods.

18
Show me the money!

The start of the Italian Renaissance also meant the restoration of trade, which had almost completely dried up during the Middle Ages. As populations grew and prosperous city-states expanded in Italy, England, and France, trade increased as well. The first order of business was shipping luxury goods from the Mediterranean to Italian port cities such as Pisa, Genoa, and Venice. Situated between Western Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy was in a great location to become a major trade center. These port cities got bigger and wealthier as trade increased, which, in turn, caused changes in many aspects of society, including art and finance.

As trade increased the flow of money through Italy's port cities and those with secondary industries such as banking started to flourish. Florence, Leonardo da Vinci's home region, became Italy's central banking city in the early fourteenth century, which included the bank of the influential Medici family. Although based in Florence, the Medici's bank had branches in other cities across Italy and the rest of Europe. The bank financed a variety of projects, and its substantial profits were invested in the political and cultural life of Florence and other Italian cities.