{"id":1714,"date":"2019-09-24T13:18:51","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T13:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaticantour.com\/blog\/?p=1714"},"modified":"2019-09-24T13:33:48","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T13:33:48","slug":"4-interesting-facts-about-leonardo-da-vinci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaticantour.com\/blog\/4-interesting-facts-about-leonardo-da-vinci","title":{"rendered":"4 Interesting Facts about Leonardo Da Vinci"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sculptor, painter, musician, writer,\ninventor \u2013 Leonardo da Vinci is Italy\u2019s ultimate Renaissance man. His artistic\nbrilliance prevails today in riveting artworks, notebooks and paintings found\nacross Italy and beyond. Unfortunately, we don\u2019t have access to a lot of his\nfinished works and his biographical details are scarce. However, below we\u2019ve highlighted\na few interesting facts about da Vinci, which somehow bursts the bubble of his\nmonumental enigma and paints a subtle picture of his creative ingenuity.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born as a \u2018nobody\u2019, Da Vinci was talented from the\nbeginning…<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leonardo da Vinci was the illegitimate son\nof a reputed lawyer and a peasant woman. He spent his early years in the quaint\ntown of Anchiano with his mother but eventually came to live with his father\nand received classical education in Latin, Greek and higher mathematics. Back\nin the day, such tutelage was common to well-born boys of his age.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, Da Vinci showed his artistic\nprowess early on, and in his teenage years, he was sent to Florence to work\nunder the prominent painter and artist Andrea del Verrocchio. During those\nyears, he learnt many crafts, such as drawing, drafting, carpentry and\nmetallurgy. It is believed that his talent became so overwhelming that he even surpassed\nhis master, Verrocchio, who, after seeing Da Vinci\u2019s work, promised to never\npaint again.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Da Vinci was ambidextrous!<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ambidexterity is the quaint ability of\nusing the left and right hands with equal ease. Leonardo da Vinci was a man of\nmany talents and being ambidextrous was one of them. The experts say he could\nwrite, paint and draw with both hands, simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers at the Uffizi Gallery in\nFlorence have evidence that proves Vinci used his left hand to paint most of the\nartworks. Plus, his \u2018mirror writing\u2019 skill is pretty impressive as well. A few\nspeculate that he cultivated this unique style to avoid unnecessary smudging of\nink or charcoal, as he wrote from right to left using his left hand while\nothers say such backwards-written texts were his way of encoding and protecting\nideas against theft. The actual reason is still unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Da Vinci\u2019s artworks remain unfinished!<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Da Vinci was a helpless procrastinator. His perfectionist attitude and varied interests dissuaded him from completing his paintings. Countless Da Vinci artworks are, officially speaking, unfinished; the list includes St. Jerome in the Wilderness<\/em> in the Vatican City (best<\/strong> explored with Vatican City tours<\/a><\/strong>), the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne<\/em> and the iconic Mona Lisa<\/em> (aka La Gioconda<\/em> in Italian) held in the Louvre, Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wait, it doesn\u2019t end here. Two of his first\npaintings: the Annunciation and the\nAdoration of the Magi –<\/em> done with the help of Verrocchio were never\ndeclared \u2018complete\u2019 either. They are currently on display at Florence\u2019s Uffizi\nGallery.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides being a painter, Da Vinci was an accomplished engineer\nand inventor…<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leonardo da Vinci was a self-taught,\nopen-minded engineer as well as a proficient inventor! For him, there was no\ndifference between art and science. His artistic abilities helped him record nuanced\nmechanical concepts in the form of drawings and create blueprints for future generations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Da\nVinci developed an array of new machines for the new world. The National\nScience and Technology Museum Leonardo da Vinci houses several miniature models\nof his great inventions, including medieval tanks, flying machines and underwater\nvehicles. Fusing invention and engineering, this museum in Milan is an absolute\nmust-visit.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you are in Rome, don\u2019t miss the Vatican and Sistine Chapel tours<\/a><\/strong>. Admiring Da Vinci\u2019s masterpiece in the Vatican City in person is an unforgettable experience. An early reservation is recommended.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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