Leonardo at 500

Description

In the vast long history of “the arts”, one person stands out as the model of “The Renaissance Man”.  Leonardo da Vinci was a remarkable person of multiple interests and talents, as well as never ending ideas.  He was a sculptor, a painter, a scientist, a  designer of war machinery, a designer of fantastic celebrations, and a person who was always studying and recording his new ideas in journals which continue to amaze us. He was fascinated with the flight of birds, working toward the end goal of creating the possibility of flight for man. He was involved politically in the conflicts of his time, even as he created beautiful paintings and yet left other important commissions unfinished.      

At this point in human history, 500 years after his death, his art work and his ideas are still relevant and inspiring to us.

The Louvre museum in Paris, is a great repository of paintings and sculpture, where you will see a progression of wall signs and arrows directing you to arguably the world’s most famous painting:  Mona Lisa, a small painting by Leonardo. Arriving there you will see a huge crowd of people with their backs to the painting trying to take “selfies of themselves with the painting. However, in this SDG, you will learn that three other paintings by Leonardo, shown in the same room, are even more important than Mona Lisa. Be ready for an abundance of fascinating ideas as you study this intriguing man.

Weekly Topics

I THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF LEONARDO 1452-1464

II APPRENTICESHIP IN FLORENCE 1464-1482 AT THE WORKSHOP OF ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO

III THE SFORZA COURT 1482-1499  SEVENTEEN YEARS IN MILAN

IV RETURN TO FLORENCE 1500-1506

V THE AFFAIRS OF WAR 1502-1506 SEERVICE TO CESARE BORGIA

VI RETURN TO MILAN 1506-1513

VII ROMAN HOLIDAY 1513-1516 THREE YEARS WITH GIOVANNI DE’ MEDICI

VIII IN THE FRENCH ROYAL COURT

IX AN OVERVIEW OF LEONARDO’S NOTEBOOK; A CLOSER STUDY OF HIS PAINTINGS

X COMPARING LEONARDO TO HIS CONTEMPONARIES.  

Bibliography

MAIN TEXT.   THE SDGWILL MOST CLOSELY FOLLOW THIS BOOK.

WALTER ISAACSON, LEONARDO DA VINCI. (Available in paperback $22.)

Supplemental Background Reading:

ROSS KING,

LEONARDO AND THE LAST SUPPER

GIORGIO VASARI,

THE LIVES OF THE MOST EXCELLEN PAINTERS, SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS

FRANK ZOLLNER,

LEONARDO DA VINCI: THE COMPLETE PAINTINGS

or other art brooks about Leonardo

TOBY LESTER,

DA VINCI’S GHOST: GENIUS, OBESSSION, AND HOW

LEONARDO CREATED THE WORLD IN HIS OWN IMAGE

JEAN-PIERRE ISBOUTS AND CHRISTOPHER HEATH BROWN, 

THE DA VINCI LEGACY

LAURO MARTINES, 

APRIL BLOOD, FLORENCE AND THE PLOT AGAINST THE MEDICI

STEPHANIE STOREY,

OIL AND MARBLE, A NOVEL OF LEONARDO AND MICHELANGELO

(light reading, but interesting as a picture of the times)

J. H. PLUMB

THE  ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

JOHN HOOPER

THE ITALIANS

TIM PARKS

MEDICI MONEY, BANKING, METAPHYSICS,  AND ART IN 15TH CENTURY FLORENCE 

WILLIAM E. WALLACE,

MICHELANGELO: THE ARTIST, THE MAN, AND HIS TIMES 

ROSS KING

MICHELANGELO AND THE POPE;S CEILING

BRUNELLESCHI’S DOME: HOW A RENAISSANCE GENIUS

REINVENTED ARCHITECTURE