andnHappy Birthday, Leonardo da Vinci
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nPostednon April 15, 2015
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nThenwhole world is encouraged to make art, talk about art, enjoy art, andnsupport art today.
When we say “the arts,” we are talkingnabout many different fields from music and theatre to sculpture andnglasswork, from large-scale landscape installations to miniaturendesigns painted on the head of pin, from poetry and other forms ofnliterature to dancing and painting and sculpture and handicrafts…
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nThenorganization that created World Art Day, the InternationalnAssociation of Art, concentrates on the visual arts. They chose thendate because today is Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday!
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nLeonardonwas a visual artist – he painted and sculpted – but he wasn’tnJUST a visual artist. He was a polymath to put all other polymaths tonshame, with architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor,nanatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, as well as painter andnsculptor, strung out behind his name in encyclopedias andnbiographies.
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nThisngeneralist still managed to really contribute to multiple fields –nhe wasn’t just a dabbler! Perhaps you will are familiar with a few ofnhis paintings?
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| Mona Lisa |
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| The Last SupperAnd you may have seen this drawing, also by Leonardo: |
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| Vitruvian Man |
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nLeonardonis considered one of the greatest painters of all time, and somenconsider him the most diversely talented person in the world. Hencertainly was imaginative and creative!
nLeonardonis considered one of the greatest painters of all time, and somenconsider him the most diversely talented person in the world. Hencertainly was imaginative and creative!
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nAlso,nhis logical viewpoint and empirical methods were “before his time.”nIn other words, he was interested in viewing the world as it reallynwas, rather than as he wished it to be, and he was interested inngathering evidence to show how the world worked and, even, hownanimals worked.
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nHerenare some facts about Leonardo’s life:
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Hen was born in Vinci, in the region of Florence, on this date in 1452.n (His birthplace is located in present-day Italy.)n
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nEvenn though Leonardo looks positively ancient in some of his portraits,n he was only 67 years old when he died in 1519.
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nLeonardo’sn parents were a peasant woman and a notary. He was lucky to have beenn educated in the studio of a famous painter.
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nLeonardon lived, not just in Vinci and Florence, but also in Rome, Bologna,n Venice, and France. n
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Leonardo’sn genius was acknowledged during his lifetime and all the centuriesn since. During his lifetime, the King of France gave him a house,n supported him in his “old age,” and is even said to have heldn him in his arms as he died. Nowadays, people still wear Leonardo’sn most famous works on T-shirts, and take university courses thatn focus on his notebooks, and even name teenage mutant ninja turtlesn after him! n n
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nFindnout more about Leonardo in this earlier post.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nComicnbook pioneer Wilhelm Busch’s birthday
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nNewnYear Celebrations in Cambodia and Laos
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nNational ElnPaso HorsenCompetition in Peru
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nRubbernEraser Day
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nMayn holidays
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nMayn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in May
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