by Shana Priwer
Toward the end of his life, Titian's style changed again. His later works such as Rape of Europa (1559–1562) and The Flaying of Marsyas (1575–1576) show an increasing formlessness; shapes blend together and his scenes, though representative, become more abstract. His work displays a progression that you don't see as strongly in Leonardo's more consistent work. Luckily for the history of Western art, we don't need to choose one or the other! These two artists together create a rounded picture of what was possible during the Renaissance.
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Machiavelli: The literary prince of the Renaissance
Artists didn't carry the complete weight of the Renaissance on their shoulders. Poets, philosophers, historians, dramatists, and authors had their own parts to play. All these professions contributed to the increasing Renaissance interest in the humanities. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469—1527) was a poet-philosopher with a particular knack for pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable. Hmm … sound like anyone we know?
Educated in Greek and Latin, Machiavelli had deep roots in history and philosophy. He read the books in his father's library and was always interested in understanding how society's problems were based on historical events. Machiavelli was a Florentine at heart, devoted to enhancing and protecting the image of Florence as one of Italy's greatest cities.
Machiavelli's best-known work is The Prince, written in 1513 as a critique of Renaissance politics. According to his observations, the powerful Italian ruling families were essentially modified versions of Attila the Hun: They were instigators of invasions, attacks, and general corruption. Some historians believe that this treatise was based on the life of Cesare Borgia, one of Leonardo's many patrons (see number 22). In The Prince, Machiavelli tried to define rules for the politician: how to gain power and how to keep it. The work was, in many ways, a model of behavior for the selfish ruling families of the day.
Public response to The Prince was, to put it mildly, less than congratulatory. Many people thought Machiavelli was cruel and harsh in his judgments, most of which were probably true. He appeared to have been an ardent supporter of political families such as the Medicis, a view that was becoming increasingly unpopular. Machiavelli was ousted from Florence several years later, and though he wrote more treatises, he was not well-liked during his lifetime because of the negative public perception surrounding The Prince. Fortunately, history has taken a more objective view of his writings.
Leonardo, always one to seek out a fellow artist, was rumored to have been friends and business partners with Machiavelli. They probably met while working with Cesare Borgia sometime during the early 1500s. Both men were patriotic, and both considered Florence their home. Though their professions were different, their perspectives on Italian Renaissance humanism were remarkably compatible.
In 1503, the two friends collaborated on Leonardo's scheme to reroute the Arno River. This plan would have given Florence both a seaport and an entirely new role as a city. Machiavelli researched the project politically and militarily, coming to the conclusion that such a diversion would benefit all of Italy, and he actively promoted the plan to the governing bodies. Unfortunately this project never reached fulfillment, but Machiavelli's involvement surely lent credibility to Leonardo's scheme.
Leonardo and Machiavelli had another common project: the depiction of the Battle of Anghiari. Though Machiavelli helped Leonardo to obtain this commission, their recordings of the event differed. Leonardo's painting shows the success of Florence in claiming this medieval town from rival Italians. Machiavelli, rather than blindly praising the Florentines, writes of their confusion in battle and their less-than-skilled armies.
While Leonardo may have taken artistic liberties with this patriotic rendering, his freedom of expression complements Machiavelli's more factual recounting.
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Talking about a religious revolution
The Church was, of course, the guiding light behind Renaissance painting and architecture, but even it was subject to considerable challenges. The strongest of these was the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. While Leonardo played only a small roll in this revolution, it's impossible to discuss the Renaissance without at least mentioning this major upheaval.
The leader of the Protestant Reformation was a German named Martin Luther (1483–1546). He diligently studied various parts of the Hebrew Bible as a child and was skilled in several ancient languages. He attended the University of Erfurt, studying philosophy and law; his father wanted him to be a lawyer, so he appeased the old man by going to law school. However, Luther soon realized what he really wanted to be when he grew up. By 1505 he had joined the Erfurt Augustinian monastery, where he learned about a whole new side of religion. In 1507, he was ordained as a priest, and up until this time he seems to have fit into a monk's lifestyle quite well.
In 1509, he went to Wittenberg, where he taught philosophy and studied religion. His visits to Rome showed him first-hand how the Church was focusing more on money than religion. Church officials were selling forgiveness from sins such as theft, adultery, and even murder. These atrocities forced Luther to doubt the very tenets of his religion, and he found himself disregarding the rules of the monastery in search of explanations that he could justify and accept. He became increasingly critical of the Church, particularly with regard to the indulgences (forgiveness for sins) he had seen. In 1517 he made a list of these indulgences, dubbed the Ninety-five Theses, and reportedly tacked it to the door of the church.
He probably hoped to spark Church reform with this act, but instead it led to his excommunication in 1521. Seems harsh, but what else was a Renaissance church to do? Holy officials couldn't tolerate dissenters, so they did the next best thing: shoved them under the carpet. Luther is most famous for beginning the process of questioning the Church. He took a stand and, unfortunately, paid a heavy price for it. Luther was more than a religious critic, though. He also produced the first full translation of the Bible into German, publishing his version in 1522.
John Calvin (1509–1564), another major player in the Protestant Reformation, had a middle-class French upbringing and, like Luther, eventually became an Augustinian monk. He had been trained in law and humanism, in the full Renaissance spirit, and came out in strong favor of the views Luther set forth. In fact, his speeches are the main reason why Luther is famous today.
Around 1532, Calvin experienced a religious conversion of sorts and became more interested in religion than law. The French King François I saw him as a threat, and Calvin was forced to leave France in 1536. He officially severed ties with Roman Catholicism and moved to Geneva. Calvin did not want to abandon Catholicism or the Church; quite the contrary! The Reformers wanted to do just that: change the Church's sinful ways. While change is usually good, it isn't always appreciated, and Calvin's ideas simply weren't welcome.
By 1583, Switzerland had also had enough of Calvin's criticism; kicked out of the country, he was forced to move to Strasburg, where he worked for the reform movement and got married. In 1541 he returned to Geneva to set up a school for training reformed Christians (Protestants); this school eventually became the University of Geneva. It had an inauspicious start, perhaps, but it become a major university.
So what did this all have to do with Leonardo? While the main part of the Reformation took place after Leonardo's death, he was aware of the impending rebellion and its associated turmoil. He probably heard of the theses-tacking incident and was aware that his beloved Church was coming under fire. Did it make him more religious, more observant? Or did it feed his inner rebel?
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Center of the universe
Still think that art was the only thing going on during the Renaissance? Prepare to be proven wrong. Science was a fast-growing field, and many discoveries were made that changed the course of the world, literally. Nicolas Copernicus (1473–1543) was one of the Renaissance's foremost scientists and astronomers. Born in Poland, Copernicus was trained in mathematics, science, and philo
sophy. In 1488, Copernicus learned the basics of philosophy and other humanistic fields in Wloclawek, attending the University of Krakow in 1491. His diverse education allowed him to study astronomy, mathematics, geography, and Latin. While Latin may not be the most exciting subject, he pursued in the study of languages and eventually read the treatises of ancient Greek and Roman mathematicians such as Euclid and Ptolemy.
Copernicus's crowning achievement was the development of a heliocentric model of the solar system. Earlier scientists had thought that the entire solar system revolved around the earth, a model known as the “geocentric view.” Copernicus showed that the planets actually orbited about a point slightly offset from the sun. He also showed that the earth rotated about its own axis once a day, while revolving around the sun every year.
Not to accuse Copernicus of blasphemy, but this entire concept was heretical in the eyes of the Church, where God was the center and, therefore, so was Earth. For this reason, Copernicus did not publish his ideas until shortly before his death. Had he published them sooner, his death might have been hastened! A student named George Rheticus then took on the editing and publishing responsibilities.
Like Leonardo, Copernicus was a true Renaissance man. He studied many different fields and used them all in his research. He combined physics, math, and studies of the cosmos into a new field of astronomy; this area of research had been more or less dead since the early thirteenth century. Like most of his contemporaries, Leonardo had a geocentric view of the solar system, believing that the planets and celestial bodies rotated around the earth. Copernicus and Leonardo probably never crossed paths, and since Leonardo was championing the older view, he was probably not influenced much by Copernicus—or modern astronomy, for that matter!
Copernicus and Leonardo had at least one common bond: They both created a starting point. Leonardo developed techniques such as chiaroscuro and sfumato; he set the standard for his contemporaries, and most painters after him followed his example. Similarly, Copernicus laid the foundation for a correct understanding of the solar system. Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) and Issac Newton (1642–1727), major mathematicians and scientists in their own rights, took Copernicus's ideas and developed deeper, more accurate models of the solar system. Without Copernicus, we might never have made it to the moon; without Leonardo, your living room walls would be blank and cheerless. Three cheers for innovation!
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Leonardo on the analyst's couch
“Leonardo da Vinci was like a man who awoke too early in the darkness, while the others were all still asleep.” — Sigmund Freud
With all of his oddities and eccentricities, Leonardo is a psychoanalyst's dream. He has been studied by artists, architects, historians, inventors … everyone wants a piece of him. His expertise was virtually unmatched, and artists today study his work as if it were scripture. Is it any surprise, then, that psychoanalysts want to take a turn? Sigmund Freud conducted a thorough study of Leonardo's life, using his notebooks to figure out what could have made Leonardo the genius he was. Freud being—well, Freud—the analysis was certain to be of a sexual nature.
Freud became deeply involved in the life of Leonardo. He did a massive study of the Renaissance master in 1910 called Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood. As was his custom, Freud mainly studied Leonardo's sexuality. He came to the conclusion that Leonardo had homosexual tendencies because his mother wasn't around very often and, as a consequence, Leonardo lived with his father for most of his childhood. His father was frequently away on business, so Leonardo spent considerable time with uncles and other male relatives. His illegitimate birth, according to Freud, gave Leonardo an obsession with sex and sexuality. Perhaps true, but who needs an excuse for this particular interest? Freud's other big idea was that Leonardo idolized/desired his mother; becoming romantically involved with any woman would have, per Freud's analysis, been out of the question, thereby leaving homosexuality as Leonardo's sole recourse.
So how exactly did these facts contribute to Leonardo's homosexuality? While being gay was fairly common during the Renaissance, its practice was a crime that could be punishable by death. Freud's opinion was that Leonardo's many unfinished projects were evidence of sexual tension caused by his inability to fulfill his sexual desires in public. Boy, that's a good excuse for not finishing a project! Freud's study was the first comprehensive attempt to understand Leonardo's sexuality. Since sexuality certainly wasn't discussed openly during Leonardo's lifetime, we don't have any better information on the subject. If nothing else, Freud's work was the catalyst that allowed this very discussion to take place.
Part 6
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
Much of Leonardo's personal life is a historical black hole. Through his notebooks, though, we can assemble bits and pieces of his personality. Even more information can be gleaned from the writings of his contemporaries. History will find a way, and in this case, that way is found in his most personal journals—some of which were never intended to be made public.
In a world where there were few certainties, here are some facts. Leonardo was a vegetarian who loved animals. He was strikingly strong and handsome in his youth, enjoyed fashionable clothes, and had the voice of a songbird. He was fiercely protective of his private life, but he had good reason: In 1476 he was accused of having an affair with a young male model. He was actually thrown in jail and stayed there for two months before the charges were dropped! Appearing to have shown no sexual interest in women over the years, Leonardo was likely interested in men, particularly beautiful, young boys. Leonardo had long-term relationships with two of his students, Salai and Melzi, and both are generally assumed to have been his lovers.
While his artistic talent was obvious, he didn't have artistic heirs or followers—he was really one of a kind. Either that or he was just a terrible teacher! The world would have been dramatically different if he'd been able to pass on his scientific and engineering ideas. Most of his inventions were right on the money, not to mention way ahead of their time. Leonardo's secrecy and tendency to work alone, though, impeded his legacy. The disorganization of his notebooks and their dispersion after his death shafted his potential glory. Still, Leonardo is clearly the archetype of the Renaissance man, good at everything he put his mind to. To be fair, maybe Leonardo wasn't as good an engineer as he was a painter; given how skilled he was with a paintbrush, though, the art world came out a clear winner.
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Vegetable soup for a gentle soul
Leonardo the Artist had a well-documented career. So did Leonardo the Painter, Leonardo the Architect, and Leonardo the Inventor. But what about Leonardo the Man? Leonardo was intensely private, and much of his personal life remains a mystery. Still, glimpses of Leonardo's personality have been revealed through his notebooks and from his contemporaries' observations.
Animals were an important part of Leonardo's life. He sketched and painted from nature frequently, studying animal movement closely to allow accurate representations. Later in life he performed animal dissections, learning ever more about anatomical systems and how they related to the whole body.
Leonardo was, by all accounts, extremely fond of horses. Horses were actually important to all Italians because they played essential military and civilian roles. Leonardo took great pride in the appearance and comfort of his animals; he realized that they were separate living creatures who deserved the same comfort and humane treatment as people. He even designed elaborate horse stables with archways and ventilation systems.
In keeping with this deep compassion for animals, Leonardo was a vegetarian, probably for most of his life. His notebooks and other writings even contain a few vegetarian recipes! He also mentioned vegetarian chefs by name, including Bartolomeo Platina (1421–1481), in his notebooks. Common vegetarian recipes of the day focused on innovative combinations of herbs and spices with vegetables and pasta.
He seems to have felt a particular kinship for caged animals. Perhaps he felt trapped
by many of Renaissance Italy's conservative tendencies, or perhaps his motley upbringing led to his feeling stifled. In his adult life, he was known to purchase cages full of animals and set them free.
During the Renaissance, good looks were important. Handsome artists were more likely to secure patronages than those who weren't as easy on the eyes; equitable or not, the royal families of the day preferred to surround themselves with fine-looking craftsmen. Leonardo was in good stead in this regard, plus, he was comfortable around royalty and had no qualms about dressing to the nines; he clothed himself in fashionable gear and was known for his jokes, stories, lyre playing, and songs. While he was intensely private about personal matters, Leonardo was fully capable of working a crowd!
Generally speaking, Leonardo was regarded as a humanitarian. He was not known for fits of temper, and despite his inability to finish many products he was easy to work with and enjoyed collaboration. He was also kind to his servants; in his will, he remembered several of them. His will provided candles for a number of beggars to carry in his funeral procession; he was thoughtful enough to take care of these sorts of details. Leonardo was the sort of person who would have made an excellent friend: loyal, kind, and considerate.
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Highly personal accusations
Some people write tell-all memoirs, while others keep their personal lives to themselves. Although we might wish that he had been a bit more open, Leonardo was always very secretive about his personal life. Though thousands of pages of his writings survive, he mentions almost nothing about his innermost thoughts and feelings. This intense privacy could date from an incident in 1476, at the very beginning of Leonardo's professional career as an artist.