"Nothing is more apt to deceive us than our own judgement of our work. We derive more benefit from having our faults pointed out by our enemies than from hearing the opinions of friends."
Leonardo da Vinci
ANGEL FACE
4" x 4" on Gallery Canvas
ORIGINAL PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
MINI MASTER SERIES
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday
To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.
Leonardo is famous for his subtle gradations, especially around the corners of the mouth and eyes, making his subject appear alive. When I saw this drawing of a young woman (probably a study for the madonna), I just knew I had to try and capture her sweet smile. It's quite intimidating to copy the great master, but I learned a lot. Perhaps one day I will attempt the Mona Lisa.
Not only is it the most famous Master's birthday, but there is a BLOOD MOON lunar eclipse tonight. See about the lunar eclipse here.
( a few details to adjust on the angel, but I didn't want to miss publishing time)
LEONARDO DA VINCI
Born 15 April 1452, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an
Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. (And I think my talents are rather scattered). Born out of wedlock to a notary, Piero da Vinci and a peasant woman,
Caterina, in Vinci region of Florence, Leonardo was educated in the
studio of the renowned Florentine painter,
Verrocchio.
Much of his earlier working life was spent in service to Ludovico
il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice and he
spent his last years in France at the home given him by King Francis I who was in awe of the old
master.
His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the
Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination". He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.
Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualized
flying machines, a tank, concentrated solar power, an adding machine,
and the double hull, also outlining a rudimentary theory of plate
tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even
feasible during his lifetime, but some of his smaller inventions, such
as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile
strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded. He made
important discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and
hydrodynamics, but he did not publish his findings and they had no
direct influence on later science.
Among his works, the
Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait
and
The Last Supper the most reproduced religious painting of all time, with their fame approached only by Michelangelo's
The Creation of Adam. Leonardo's drawing of the
Vitruvian Man
is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as
varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts. Only fifteen of
his paintings survive because of his constant and
frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques and his
chronic procrastination. Nevertheless, these few works, together with
his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams and his
thoughts on the nature of painting, compose a contribution to later
generations of artists rivaled only by that of his contemporary,
Michelangelo.
According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote". Marco Rosci states that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical and the empirical methods he employed were not mysterious, merely unusual for his time.
He died 2 May 1519.
Cat # 14073 Angel Face
