Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian polymath and Renaissance man. An artist, engineer, architect and scientist, he prolifically sketched designs that weren’t constructed or even feasible in his lifetime. He fled political strife in Italy to spend his last years in the French countryside.
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- Gardens at Château Close Lucé where Leonardo spent his last years. He loved drawing plants and flowers in his old age.
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- Leonardo’s studio, where he did studies for inventions and paintings.
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- The view from Leonardo’s bedroom includes a vegetable garden. He was an early adopter of vegetarianism.
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- Leonardo developed “sfumato”, a painting technique in which blurred outlines and graded tone to create more lifelike oil painting.
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- Francis I supported Leonardo in his last years, hiring him as “Premier Painter, Engineer and Architect of the King”. He really just wanted to talk with the master.
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- Not an ordinary scale! This is a hygrometer used to measure humidity. One side was filled with salt and counterbalanced.
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- Leonardo’s two-level bridge, intended for vehicles and horses below and pedestrians above.
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- The mathematics of the “golden ratio” and Fibonacci sequence are what makes the Mona Lisa so symmetrically pleasing.
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- A painting by one of Leonardo’s students, dated at the same time as the Mona Lisa.
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- Nearly 400 years before the the helicopter, Leonardo invented the “aerial screw” which used a revolving platform to create lift.
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- Leonardo also dreamed up weapons of war, like this multi-directional machine gun.
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- Did you know he invented the gearing system used for winches? Think of what he could have done with modern metallurgy or engines!
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- Leonardo devised the foot powered paddle boat.
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- Fascinated by bird flight, Leonardo created the ornithopter, but it was too heavy to fly.
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- His double helix staircase surely made an impression on M.C. Escher.
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- Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man is a study in proportion, thought to be a nude self portrait.
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- A loving memorial to the master.
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- Leonardo’s final resting place, at Château D’Amboise.
