Leonardo DaVinci tended to compensate for his lack of an education in the classical sense with an excess of empirical studies. The most famous of these is the
Vitruvian Man so called because it is
based on a description of the ideal human proportions by Roman architect Vitruvius (around 85-20 BC) The study of ideal proportions illustrates the mingling of art and science during the Renaissance perfectly. Da Vinci viewed the human body as a reflection of the universe. He therefore referred to his anatomical studies as
cosmografia del minor mondo. A popular though unproven theory is that Da Vinci saw
the circle as the domain of human emotion whereas the square symbolized matter.
Part of the highly collectible
Parastone Mouseion 3D Collection designed in Europe to adapt famous paintings into three-dimensional form. Includes color picture of the original artwork by Leonardo DaVinci and a description in multiple languages. Made from resin and metal. Measures: 8.5"H x 8.5"W x 1.75"D.
About Leonardo De Vinci (1452-1519)Leonardo da Vinci was the archetypal example of the Renaissance ideal: the
Homo universalis as translated from Latin. As a Renaissance man he engaged in almost every art and science from
painting to composition and from philosophy to chemistry. Leonardo was
born in the Tuscan mountain town of Vinci as the illegitimate son of a
farm girl and a Florentine notary. He started as an apprentice to
Verocchio and rose to become an independent painter with his own studio.
From 1482-1499, he worked for the duke of Milan. Due to the French
siege of Milan, he was forced to return to the region of his birth where
he worked for Cesare Borgia as a military architect and engineer. For
ten years, from 1506 onwards he worked in Milan and Rome. During the
last three years of his life he was employed by the French King Francois
I.
