Mr Blak

Archives: Leonardo da Vinci

The following is my English Composition research paper from college. Is nothing entertaining, but here it is anyway. 

Leonardo da Vinci, sometimes called the father of modern architecture, left behind a series of detailed sketches that not even some of today’s modern artists, architects, and engineers can duplicate. These plans include, but surely aren’t limited to, bridges, water fountains, houses, roads, an almost infinite number of buildings, and even at time entire cities. It is believed that many of these finely detailed plans are still hidden and have yet to be discovered and analyzed. Much of the inventions that we use in present day life are derived from the same ideas that da Vinci had. Therefore, Leonardo da Vinci left behind a direct influence on the world of architectural engineering.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 outside thevillageofVinci, about 20 miles west ofFlorence. He was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero da Vinci, a legal specialist, and a peasant woman named Caterina. Ser Pieroʼs family decided to take the boy in when they saw he was walking naked in the streets, apparently with no place to live. In his adolescent years, Leonardo, began his apprenticeship in a Florentine workshop, for Andrea Verrocchio. He then remained with Verrocchio for some time as his assistant, after his apprenticeship was completed. At 22 he became Verrocchio’s collaborate, which helped him win the opportunity to design paintings and sculptures for various royal families. Around this time is when Leonardo owned his own studio, which became his base of operations. This is about the time Leonardo’s work really began to gain popularity and become widely known. It became so famous that he eventually became a royal painter for numerous kings across Europe, specifically, King Francis I. In 1482 he became the court artist for Ludovico Sforza, the duke of Milan. He had a variety of tasks in the duke’s court, as a military engineer, he designed artillery and fortresses. As a civil engineer, he devised a system of locks for Milan’s canals and designed revolving stages for pageants. As a sculptor he planned a huge monument of the duke’s father mounted on a horse. The list goes on and on about what Leonardo accomplished in his life, but what is most important is how he influenced our times that we live in now. In order to understand this, a closer look into his method of work is needed.

Leonardo’s thought process was a truly interesting, if not unorthodox, method of executing ideas and designs. Leonardo was never a mathematical person, contrary to popular belief. Instead he was more of a visual person, thinking, designing, and contemplating everything from every angle. “Amazingly, these early designs, dating back to almost half a millennium, have followed the same principles similar to those used by engineers today”(*). This does not necessarily mean that Leonardo was a constant worker; Leonardo was a lazy man and was often criticized for it. In fact many times Leonardo seemed to never get around to finishing his projects. “Historians trace his whereabouts through written records of contracts and disputes regarding payments and deadlines for projects, some of which were long overdue”(*). Leonardo loved to draw in all forms and medium. He spent a lot of his days in which he should have of been working, staring out the window looking at people, animals, and even trees in motion. Motion was what really fascinated da Vinci and he sought out to draw it in every form. Most of his drawings and sketches are of objects or living creatures in motion doing things like running or eating, all capturing the finest details.

Although the paintings and sculptures are what gave Leonardo his claim to fame, he preferred to present himself as an architect and engineer above all. Leonardo’s list of designs is almost infinite. For example, there were the irrigation systems, “fireproof boats, portable bridges, cast siege cannons”(*) just to name a few. Among some of the mechanical and engineering sketches, there are hydraulic cranes, hoists, pulleys, and even robots, which have been put to practical design, and have been found almost flawless. Leonardo was in love with power, as most engineers are even today. Things could never move fast enough or be strong enough; there was always room for improvement. Usually this is what Leonardo thought of during his thinking processes. Among the famous ideas of da Vinci, the helicopter is what grabbed the most attention. A human propelled flying machine, parachutes, strap on wings; potential human flight amazed da Vinci. Most of the ideas for such apparatuses came from none other than nature. Birds seemed to be the favorite with Leonardo, as he would sit and watch birds fly through the air motionless yet gaining altitude. This question of motion inspired da Vinci to design a machine in which humans could fly like birds and touch the heavens, the helicopter. Most of Leonardo’s engineering work leads to flight in one form or another, mostly because he was easily distracted by an open window. These are all drawn to the fullest detail, numbering at well over 4,000 plus and still counting, and all done in every possible form of medium, from chalk, to ink, to egg yolk, all detailed with the finest strokes to capture the smallest detail shown by the muse that he used, or by the thought that was brewing in his mind. What effect do all these examples of da Vinci’s work have on modern day engineering? The effect of inspiration for all living in the present day world.

The ideas of da Vinci “were responsible for great works of art, of course, for many ingenious machines that became cornerstones of modern technology”(*). Leonardo took engineering to a new level that had never been seen before, and proceeded to deliver ideas that would make the lives of men easier. Much of present day weaponry has had a direct influence from the ideas of da Vinci. From artillery, to human propelled destruction machines, tanks, and even land mines, these were all direct ideas from da Vinci that we see today in our modern world. Most of this came from his morbid delight with destruction, often looking for ways to bring down a stronghold, just in case it happens to be necessary. This appetite for destruction actually gave him a gift for designing military machines and tools, again, most of which are in use today in their modern form. “Leonardo da Vinci was not only a great artist, but also a visionary, an engineering genius with a true gift for designing weapons. During his lifetime he experimented with poisonous missiles, multi-firing weapons, high explosive artillery, shrapnel bombs, breech loading guns, water cooled cannon barrels, rockets with fins, parachutes, life preservers, gliding and lifting techniques for flight, and missile trajectory”(*). The ideas that Leonardo expressed through drawings are those of the caliber that cannot be matched even to this day. Many of these designs including bridges, weaponry, propulsion, in all its forms and mobility, are those of the kind that without such designs would have of set us back several centuries back in time. In fact, his ideas in various forms are still ahead of our time, and still amaze the world. Leonardo’s contribution to engineering has inspired many of the creation that we use to this day. Cars, mobile homes, electronics, are only a few of the ideas that da Vinci can claim as his own original ideas. So therefore, the world of engineering would have of ceased to exist if not for the major influence left behind by da Vinci.

In conclusion, there isn’t one artist that can emulate the detail and design that Leonardo has done in his time. Four thousand plus plans are still in existence, and every one of them follows the same principles that engineers of today follow, yet not a single one of them has been matched in content or caliber. Scholars agree that the world of engineering and the progress made would have been set back at least 400 years if not for the inventions and sketches of Leonardo da Vinci himself.

I do things passionately. Even when I hate doing them…