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Leonardo da Vinci
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Leonardo da Vinci
Introduction
Florentine artist is the word used to describe the work done by Leonardo da Vinci. He is famous for being a renaissance, high great master of the arts. Other achievements, which are attributed to him, are a scientist, sculptor, and painter, engineer an architect. Research and knowledge seeking, were some of his life’s passions and they were in line with his scientific and artistic endeavors (Capra,56). Italian art has up to now been influenced by the work done by him. He is known for coming up with many inventions that have raised the standards of painting, which currently exist in the world. Also, his contributions to modern science have been witnessed in aspects such as anticipated hydraulics, optics as well as anatomy. Leonardo once claimed that “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” (Capra,57).
Biography Information
In the year 1452, in the month of April, in Florence at a town inhabited by Tuscan people, Leonardo da Vinci was born. His mother a peasant was married to a notary, who had extreme wealth. Leonardo’s parents ensured that he was well educated in that; he attended Florence’s best schools. The latter was known for its many artistic and intellectual centers. In many ways, he can be described as being artistic for example, he was talented in music and the arts, and also, good in making conversation (Kemp, 23). Leonardo worked for Verrocchio, who is another famous painter from Italy. It is while working for him that Leonardo came up with the painting of the Kneeling angel. In the year 1481, while acting as a master, who was independent, he started with his painting of the Adoration of the Maqi. But unfortunately, he never completed this task. During his youth, he came up with many paintings such as Ginerva portrait (1474) and the Benois Madonna (1478). In the few years to come, Leonardo worked as an engineer in Milam, under the duke’s orders. He mostly dealt in matters related to architecture and the military at that time (Turner, 45).
As the years went by it is evident that Leonardo was famous with many of the leaders in the world. It reached a point whereby, the French King Louis XII made him the painter of his court. Leonardo made sure that his personal life was the same as his professional life. He occasionally went home for the purposes of keeping his inheritance intact, as well as visiting his relatives. In the year 1519, Leonardo died, but after he had made great accomplishments in the field of architecture, art and engineering, as well as other notable areas.
Development of Leonardo da Vinci’s Work
There has been a lot of criticism about Leonardo, and this is because he is famous in a unique way. According to him, knowledge is invested in avenues, which to him were his eyes. It is through endowment and disposition that he is today famous. The benefit of sight according to Leonardo is that almost immediately facts are conveyed, as this sense functions best as compared to the others. The eyes are also described as being certain and correct. In his various studies, the theme of sight and how it should be was eminent and visible. This is what he referred to as saper vedere or object of knowledge (Lupia, 12).
When compared to other artists in other fields, Leonardo da Vinci is described as being a great master. Other notable famous people such as William Shakespeare and Albert Einstein cannot match up to his standards as well as expertise. He was extremely meticulous in everything, which he did. In most of master pieces, he attempted to involve and invoke science. The nature, which drove and directed him, ensured that he was boundless. Thus, he said that “Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, simpler or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.” (Lupia, 15).The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa are two of his most key painting, which until now, receives a lot of accord as well as praise.
Most of the paintings by Leonardo were never completed and those, which were finished, were a small in number. At some point, it was claimed that Verrocchio’s work was similar to his and this made some people to criticize him. This fact made him more motivated than before and in turn, he came up with compositions that are atmospheric and evocative. Composition of a new form was used by him in coming up with the Adoration of the Maqi. One easily notices in the fore ground, grouping of main figures takes place. Battle scenes and imagery ruins are extremely evident in the form of distant views at the background.
Analysis of principles and elements present in Leonardo da Vinci’s The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper
The Last Supper evidently has apparent stylistic innovations, as compared to the rest of his paintings. It was on a wall in a chapel whereby, Leonardo was to paint the Last Supper after being commissioned to do so. During that time, painting was mainly through the use of fresco, but he chose to use tempura. He made sure that each of the apostle’s facial expressions was witnessed. He used an approach, which is new whereby; a traditional theme was recreated in the painting. The individual apostles were not made to look as twelve apostles, who were different from each other. Leonardo ensured that they appeared in three, as part of a compositional unit, which is dynamic, and this is how the grouped the twelve apostles. The paintings center focuses on making Christ the key figure by framing it to be different from the others. When one focuses on the wall, they see an opening, which is rectangular and is visible in the distant landscape, though is it pale. According to historians of the Last Supper, the betrayal of Christ was going to be announced .The betrayal would be by one of the apostles present during that occasion.
The use of a new from vanishing point was evident whereby; the different places in the picture were converging in different lines. The purpose was to ensure that Christ became the central and vital point of the painting. Those who view this painting find themselves gazing at Christ using their right eye due to the converging lines. Furthermore, in the Last Supper, tools such as measurement and angles were incorporated. Also, Leonardo used the perspective whereby, planes, which are two dimensional and images that, are three dimensional were noticeable. Currently, the painting can be viewed at the Santa Maria delle Grazie Convent (Kemp, 58).
The Mona Lisa painting is another great work by Leonardo da Vinci. The woman in the painting is seated and she is known as Lisa Del Giocondo. She was married to a Florentine Merchant, who had extreme wealth. Till to date, no one can explain the smile of the woman in the painting by Leonardo. According to some people, the secret of the painting is the woman’s smile. The compositions monumentality, as well as the expression of the subject, is the reason for the ambiguity. Other elements include; atmospheric illusionism and modeling forms, which are subtle. These are the other reasons why the painting is famous, as well as fascinating to many lovers of art. The woman’s eyes seem to follow someone and are described as being alive. The pyramid design was used by him, in order to ensure that the focus is only on the woman. The areas where the pyramids are include the corner formed as a result of her arms being folded. The seated Madonna is a principle, which Leonardo makes use of. It represents the female figure, as she is seated in form of a formula that is basic. Distance as an impression was created by him by ensuring that he modified the existing formula. The element of division is also present witnessed from the chair and its armrest. The sfumato technique has been used, in order to show the parts whereby, shapes are coming into contact with each other. Critics are not pleased with the effects of this technique in the painting. Lastly, there is harmony between the landscape and the woman thus, the reason why the painting is attractive (Owen, 1).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Leonardo da Vinci has made great contributions to art in many ways. His works are known by almost every human being particularly The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa. He has influenced many artists who have chosen to follow the same path as his. In deed he is an artist who should be emulated.
Work Cited
From a Book
Clark, Kenneth. Leonardo da Vinci. Rev. Ed. New York: Viking, 1988. Print.
Kemp, Martin. Leonardo da Vinci, the Marvelous Works of Nature and Man. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981.Print.
Turner, Richard. Inventing Leonardo. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.Print.
Capra, Fritjof. The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind of the Genius of the Renaissance. New York, Doubleday, 2007.Print.
From a Journal
Lupia, John. The Secret Revealed: How to Look at Italian Renaissance Painting. Medieval and Renaissance Times 1. 2 (summer, 1994). 6–17.
From Websites
Author:
Owen, Richard. HYPERLINK “http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article411195.ece” “Found: the studio where Leonardo met Mona Lisa”. London: The Times. 1 May.2005.Web. 24 October 2011. < HYPERLINK “http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article411195.ece.%3e” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article411195.ece.>
MARGARET ATWOOOD
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Literary Analysis: The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale is a novel categorized as dystopian published in 1985. The novel is set in the near future of New England in a strongly theocratic and patriarchal state of Gilead after it overthrew the United States government (Atwood, 36). Offred is the narrator and central character in the novel. She plays the role of a handmaid and is one among the many women that are captured and forcefully assigned the duty of producing children for commanders who are the ruling class at the time. The novel explores the theme of a patriarchal society using the narrator’s voice and experiences. It delves into resistance and attempts by not only the captured women to gain independence but also independence and individuality. The title of the book echoes the deep limitation of people’s rights particularly women who are not only denied the right to control their reproductive abilities but also denied the right to read, handle property and even handle money.
Worth noting, the author of the text does not bring out the main idea of the thesis as it is not easy to easily point to the central idea of the book at the first glance. However, the author made sure to let the readers know that the text is about the suffering that women go through at the hands of the radical political groups which attacked and killed the US president and majority of congress (Bacci, 156). The readers experience the mood that transpires during the regime of military dictatorship under Gilead. From the main idea, it is clear that the author took sides and was not in support of the oppression that people were put through. The essay employs an introduction that presents the central idea of the text. By just reading the introduction, the readers have an idea about what the story will be all about. Generally, the writing is vivid and understandable. One does not struggle to know exactly what the story is about. Without a doubt, some parts of the essay are rather confusing particularly the scene where Offred is being dragged away after Seren discovered that she had a relationship with the commander and she was pregnant. It is not clear where the men want to take Offred and her capture leaves the reader with questions about where they would take her.
The essay is well organized with the ideas developed and separated into paragraphs. The middle section does not have many subheadings but either way it is well-coordinated and organized. Each paragraph is well developed with a topic sentence which gives the reader an idea about what the paragraph will address (Beatriz, Costa and Danielle, 61). Further, the author employs the use of well-structured transition sentences to help bring correlation between the previous paragraph and the one that follows. The text used does not have a strong vocabulary; the language is persuasive and understandable for the reader. The authors employ the use of strong nouns, verbs, or adjectives that are well understood by the reader. Further, the text uses facts to support its claims and it employs minimal use of quotes from the novel. Additionally, the author uses quotations from the secondary source. The quotations are in line with the updated MLA guidelines for each work cited, there is a corresponding citation. The quotations that have been introduced are well explained. The essay has a concluding paragraph that summarizes the central ideas in the text and restates the thesis. Without a doubt, the conclusion provides a sense of completion for the essay. As regards, the formatting, the paper is well-formatted in line with academic writing guidelines.
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. SF Film, 2018.
Bacci, Francesco. “The Originality of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Children of Men: Religion, Justice, and Feminism in Dystopian Fiction.” Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory 3.2 (2017): 154-172.
Beatriz, Clarice, Costa Söhngen, and Danielle Massulo Bordignon. “The handmaid’s tale: a legal-literary essay1.” (2019).
Marcus Aurelius Meditations
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Marcus Aurelius Meditations
The Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, wrote 12 books which were all in the form of meditations. The books were all written to his self, as he addressed all of them to himself. As he was a priest, an eager patriot, as well as, of logical mind all of these books reflected all that he was from spirituality, to patriotism, to philosophy and logic. This paper will, hence, look critically at his second book and look at how passage two relates with the themes of the whole of the book, the rest of the work and the historical context of the author.
In passage two of the second book, the author describes himself in three main words; a little breath, a little flesh, and a Reason to rule. He argues in this passage that when one is about to die, one should never be bothered about the flesh or the breath. He says the breath is nothing but a whiff of wind that is not the same as the original wind or air; as every time it is drawn in and out, becomes new. The Reason to rule, however, is given more importance. The author tells himself that he must concentrate to this third thing. He tells himself that now that he is older, he must never let the Reason to rule make him a slave, nor make him a puppet, which the reason controls by tagging at its strings. He also advises himself that now that he is old, he must stop to be angry at destiny by lamenting about tomorrow or grumbling about today.
This passage displays the same wisdom displayed by the other passages. The passage has numerous similarities with the other passages in the book. It displays that the author was indeed logical just like the other passages and the whole of the text too. The passage also displays wisdom. The author seems to have had a lot of wisdom from the way he writes these passages. For example he says in passage one that he and his brother where put in this world to work together, and that they are like the organs of the body without which, no one can function properly. His wisdom is further displayed in passage two where he argues that nothing is more important in a leader than having an appropriate reason to rule. The author displays his wisdom and leadership in each one of these passages.
Another theme that is evident in this passage and the rest of the text is the theme of patriotism, loyalty and submission. The author indicates in the second passage that a ruler must not let hid reason to rule be for self – interests or personal gain. He indicates that one must accept his fate or destiny without grumbling. This theme is displayed in other parts of the book and the rest of his text. Spirituality is another theme that is subtly present in the passage. The author sees no reason why an individual should rule and lead people for some personal gain. In passage one; he indicates that people should never obstruct each other, and that they must work together as one. These are the teachings that are commonly found within most religious denominations, and the author displays them a lot in text.
The other thing that becomes evident in the passage is that the author valued self realization a lot. He wrote all these passages to himself to teach himself several things in spirituality, and philosophy. This is an indication that the author really wanted to find himself and improve himself to a better man, ruler, and patriot. These texts can be extremely beneficial for any individual who might want to grow positively.