Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest geniuses the world has ever produced was born today the 15 April 1452. Born out of wedlock and without any formal education, he started late in his life. Among other odd things about him was that he was a vegetarian and was left handed. That he was a gay and pronounced it from the roof top did not diminish either his popularity nor impact his self- esteem. In Florence of his days, which was tolerant and liberal, he was immensely liked and had a large number of friends.
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519)- was a painter, sculptor, architect, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, and a theorist. Few polymaths in history of human civilization match the diversity and intensity of his interests and talents. He may be best known more as a painter, but his drawings and notes in his famous ‘Notebooks’ on a variety of subjects- anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, palaeontology and some more, drape him in an aura of outstanding luminosity. His genius articulated so brilliantly through his wide array of works epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. He was by far the tallest among the great artists that lit up the Renaissance firmament, matched only but not quite, by that of his younger contemporary, Michelangelo.
If ‘Monalisa’ and ‘The Last Supper’ represent his artistic zenith, his visions like the ‘Flying Machine’, defined his exceptional capacity of synthesis of science and arts, of the beauty and prudence, of observance and imagination. He was not prolific, he was simply exceptionally extraordinary and centuries ahead of his time. If a painting by Leonardo da Vinci sold for $450.3 million at Christie’s, by far the highest price for any work of art sold at auction, his jottings in the notebook offered a range of ideas that revolutionised the future prospect of human race. He was the most creative geniuses the human race has ever produced. Indeed, his contributions are a culmination of a lifetime spent studying arts, science, optics, and every other possible field he could apply his curiosity to, including understanding the universe and how we fit into it.
The painterly “high noon” with Michelangelo
Among the lesser known aspects of his life and personality, is the rivalry between him and Michelangelo. They could not be more different. Leonardo was popular, sociable, and comfortable with all his eccentricities, including being gay. Michelangelo was also gay but deeply felt the agony and the ecstasy of his identity. He also was very much of a recluse. He had no very close friends, wore dark clothes. They were polar opposites in look, style, and personality.
And this stark divergence got more pronounced in their art styles. Michelangelo painted as if he were a sculptor, using very sharp lines. Leonardo believed in sfumato, (to evaporate like smoke) the blurring of lines, because he felt that was the way we actually see reality.
The rivalry had indeed turned ugly. Leonardo had voted to have Michelangelo’s statue of David hidden away in some arcade rather than placed in the middle of the plaza. Michelangelo had been publicly rude to Leonardo. All of this had caused a certain electricity, so the rulers of Florence pitted them against each other to do battle drawings. A competition was devised for both of them to paint battle scenes in the Council Hall.
In the end they both flinched, quitting before they finished the paintings. Leonardo’s efforts culminated in his master piece ‘Battle of Anghiari’, lost for almost 30 years. Little is known about Michelangelo’s fruit of labour.
Then Leonardo moved back to Milan and Michelangelo moved to Rome to work on the Sistine Chapel.
Leonardo’s genius
What was the key to Leonardo’s genius? Creativity of a genius emanates from connecting science and art, synthesising evident and abstract, amalgamating real and fantasy. To be really creative, you have to be interested in all sorts of different disciplines rather than be a specialist. And there could be no better example of this aspect than Leonardo.
As the famous scholar Isaacson, so aptly sums up, ‘Being curious about everything and curious just for curiosity’s sake, not simply because it’s useful, is the defining trait of Leonardo. It’s how he pushed himself and taught himself to be a genius. We’ll never emulate Einstein’s mathematical ability. But we can all try to learn from, and copy, Leonardo’s curiosity.’
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