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| | The Italian mastermind of Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci was born on
April 15, 1452 in the village of Vinci, which became his last name.
The little boy who was born and raised as an illegitimate son of a notary and a
peasant woman, was destined to become one of the greatest people in
history: painter, engineer, sculptor, scientist, mathematician, inventor,
philosopher and writer. Leonardo is often regarded as the "architect
of Renaissance", one of the brightest people that have put together
ideas and art to amuse people and advance science. When judged by all
skills and talents he had in different areas, he is considered the
most diversely talented person in history.
Nonetheless most of us know Da Vinci as a painter. The two mostly known
and recognized art pieces in the world belong to Leonardo. They are
Mona Lisa painting and Last Supper mural painting. The only art
work that ever came close to such high fame and recognition by public is
"Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo. Another most recognized piece of art by Leonardo is his sketch of "Vitruvian Man".
Besides his public fame as a painter he considered himself a scientist
first and only then an artist. His engineering inventions were often
ahead of his time, and very few of them were actually constructed during
his lifetime. Years and centuries later however inventions of
parachute, tank, bicycle and even helicopter were the same concepts
that Leonardo created. Technological and monetary limitations did not
allow these inventions to come to life during his days, but his
sketches that survived the test of times prove that he was the grandfather
of many modern inventions.
Leonardo was also one of the first people who started a study of
anatomy. He had to secretly dissect the dead bodies and study the organs at
nights - the practice highly forbidden by the Catholic church those
days.
Ironically many of Da Vinci paintings, drawings, and sketches were lost in time before we
could ever see them. Only 15 of his paintings survived the test of
times and are enjoyed by the public as they were centuries ago. Many
of his notebooks, diaries and engineering sketches also survived till
our days and will be passed to the future generations. |
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April 15th is Tax Day. It is also the birthday of genius Leonardo Da Vinci. The IRS is celebrating DaVinci birthday by making a 1040 form only a genius can complete.
