Fantastic. I find it really inspiring to remember that larger-than-life figures (in addition to Da Vinci, Ben Franklin and Albert Einstein come to mind) are humans just like us with flaws and failures, high times and low times, earthly passions as well as unmet dreams. Also, they must battle with oppressive societal norms in the exact same way that we do, not to mention even more mundane stuff like, say, making money. (Great scout @bartadamley)
I had a similar reaction, Bill, to how complicated we all are including—and maybe especially—geniuses. Petty rivalries. Different work ethics. DaVinci’s interest in machines of war seems counterintuitive. So many artists end their lives in dire straits. I’m happy this wasn’t Leonardo’s fate. SO engrossing!
Very cool piece on Da Vinci. If you're at all in the mood for renaissance reading, this is the piece for you.
"Consumed with the desire for knowledge, Leonardo told us more about the world than seems possible, and next to nothing about himself."
His last certain work was not a painting, or even a drawing, but a party he put on in his gardens, in honor of the King, in the summer of 1518. There was an enormous canopy of sky-blue cloth decorated with gold stars, supported on columns covered with ivy. There was music. A spectacle titled “Paradiso” was performed, with players costumed as the planets, surrounded by the sun, the moon, and the twelve celestial signs. Four hundred torches were set burning, so that, as a letter-writer of the time recalled, “the night was chased away.” And in the morning all of it was gone.
What a way to go! I will surely take note of this and hope to do the same in my concluding days.
Fantastic. I find it really inspiring to remember that larger-than-life figures (in addition to Da Vinci, Ben Franklin and Albert Einstein come to mind) are humans just like us with flaws and failures, high times and low times, earthly passions as well as unmet dreams. Also, they must battle with oppressive societal norms in the exact same way that we do, not to mention even more mundane stuff like, say, making money. (Great scout @bartadamley)
I had a similar reaction, Bill, to how complicated we all are including—and maybe especially—geniuses. Petty rivalries. Different work ethics. DaVinci’s interest in machines of war seems counterintuitive. So many artists end their lives in dire straits. I’m happy this wasn’t Leonardo’s fate. SO engrossing!
Very cool piece on Da Vinci. If you're at all in the mood for renaissance reading, this is the piece for you.
What a way to go! I will surely take note of this and hope to do the same in my concluding days.
Dude that party sounds so rad.