Leonardo Da Vinci, 500 years with us

In 1519, on the second of May, Leonardo Da Vinci died in the  Castle  of Clos-Lucé, Amboise,  in France. This year, 2019, therefore , we commemorate his death and rejoice in the fact that, 500 years later, we will witness many exclusive celebrations on his honor.

He was a famous painter, writer, inventor, architect, and more, da Vinci is known to be one of the most influential figures of the Italian Renaissance.Two of his paintings, “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper” are alone world wide famous, recognized by every single inhabitant of this planet.

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Anchiano, Tuscany,. His last name Vinci came from the nearby town of Vinci, (he later adopted it ). He was just known as Leonardo in his time. His parents were a lawyer and a peasant woman and they were unmarried with 17 children between them. Da Vinci’s father allowed him to become an apprentice under another artist when he was about 15 years old .

Leonardo was able to work with some of the most important artists of the Renaissance, and his works , painting and sculptures ,were  considered to have the highest quality at his time. What is not widely known is that he did not use to finish his pieces most of the times : “The Virgin of the Rocks” took about 20 years to finish !

Not only was da Vinci a well-known artist, but he was also vastly experienced in writing, architecture and technology as well. It is strange to notice that da Vinci wrote from the right side of the paper to the left and the most accepted reason for this lies in the fact that, since he was left-handed, when using a feather and ink to write, if the artist needed to be quick to capture his ideas as they passed throw his mind, he would not allow any time for the ink to dry.

Da Vinci also designed weapons for certain rulers and military figures, although he considered himself more of a pacifist. He was also very interested in technology and some of his most famous sketches of technological inventions include a flying machine and an underwater diving suit. Leonardo is also know to have devoted a large part of his time to studying what he considered the most perfect machine ever, the human body. Unfortunately, most of his findings in anatomy were not  published during his lifetime.

The burial site where Leonardo´s body was laid was destroyed during the French Revolution so da Vinci’s burial is now lost and cannot be located. However, his work lives on, his artistry will have a definite influence on those interested in arts, science and architecture for many more years to come.