Leonardo da Vinci:

1
Leonardo da Vinci

• The Loneliness of Brilliance and Expression
  without Christ
• Curiosity and the desire of beauty these are
  the two elementary forces in Leonardos genius
• - Walter Pater

2
Early Life

• Born in 1452 to peasant woman and notary father
  in Vinci, Italy
• Parents separated at age 4
• Minimal Education (3 Rs, no Latin)
• Social misfit
• Turned his thoughts toward nature

3
Vinci, Italy
4
Brief Timeline

• 1482-1499 Worked for Duke of Milan
• Developed as Renaissance personality during these
  years (science and art)
• 1499 1516 Worked for various employers,
  including Cesare Borgia
• 1516 1519 Worked as Premiere Painter,
  Engineer, and Architect for King Francis I
• May 2, 1519 Died in Cloux, France

5
The Myth

• Da Vinci posessed secret knowledge
• of a marriage between Jesus and
• Mary Magdalene
• Result of Dan Browns creative imagination
• Possibly Master quit after Leonardo painted
  angel
• Possibly Scary creature on rounded shield
• Most Likely Dying in the arms
• of Pope Leo X
• King was probably out of town

6
Baptism of Christ
7
The Mystery

• Self-seclusion Only by being alone can you
  belong completely to yourself
• Possibly a result of inadequate education
• Possibly a result of social fears (home life,
  homosexuality?)
• Possibly his intense curiosity of and
  satisfaction in nature.
• Isolated Nature of His Work
• No apparent contribution in any of the fields he
  studied
• Possibly a result of self-seclusion
• His Notebooks

8
The Mystery His Notebooks

• Notes written backwards (left-handed)
• Sketches of anatomy, mechanics, warfare,
  transportation, etc.
• Creative, sometimes Prophetic Ideas

9
The Mystery His Notebooks

10
The Mystery His Notebooks
11
The Mystery Results

• Considered by some to be discoverer of the
  scientific method (Ludwig)
• Hailed as an excellent specimen of human
  potential and abilityThe Renaissance Man
• the true greatness and genius of his mighty
  intellect and his personality claim our
  admiration and our recognition. In no other
  individual in history is this universality of
  brilliance so consistently maintained. (Hart)
• The richest gifts are occasionally seen to be
  showered, as by celestial influence, on certain
  human beingsThis was seen and acknowledged by
  all men in the case of Leonardo da Vinci
  (McNeill)

12
The Mystery Results

• For all flesh is grass, and all the glory of
  man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
  and the flower thereof falleth away
• - 1 Peter 124-25

13
The Man

• At the heart of the mystery of Leonardo is a
  passionate search for the mystery of life
  itself.
• -Goldstein

14
The Man

• Charming Personality
• Naturalist Truth cannot be known outside of
  observation and experience
• Experience is the true mistress
• Hebrews 113,6
• Resisted authoritative confinement autonomy of
  self important
• Religion/Scripture rejection
• Exalted modern humanism and reason
• Blinded Mind, Mark 834,36

15
Conclusion

• Significance and true beauty is to be found in
  Christ, not just in the admiration of human
  minds.
• That I may be found in him