Leonardo Da Vinci And The Sistine Chapel History Essay
The Da Vinci code was brought in the limelight by Dan Brown back in 2003. The text identifies efforts made by Robert Langdon to resolve the strange death of a famous manager Jacques. Langdon and a close relative of the victim hit the road focused to unravel the twist of events that led to the unfortunate murder. This article is an appreciation on Leonardo Da Vinci’s and Sistine chapel. Half of it will cover Leonardo and why he is an amazing artist. Finally, the other half will cover on the Sistine chapel. An appreciation article is a way of rewarding somebody for a job well done. When one goes out of his or her way to do that it leaves the subject in question with high spirits of continuing the good work. In a nut shell, I can say that it is recognizing somebody’s effort.
On my research on the greatest men to have ever lived on earth, one of the most amazing men out of several hundreds is an Italian Leonardo Da Vinci. Having existed in the 15th century, this outstanding gentleman is unmatched by many who existed during that period (Giancarlo 14). He was literary a jack of all trades. From being good at drawing, painting, singing, playing with numbers, technical field, discoverer, sculpture making, a dealer in the scientific world and many other things he stood exceptional (Janis 23). A classic example of a life well lived, Leonardo left nothing to chance in his quest for curiosity. His discoveries are well known in the whole wide world and have lived to date as an epitome of his talents from the creator. Back in Italy and other countries of the world, he was a magnificent painter and since then there has never lived a painter who can make a perfect match of this hero (John 16).
His interest in knowing so many things was on the higher side far from the ordinary human beings predictions and vicinity. Sometimes, I liken this Italian hero to an epic given that there has never been somebody close to stepping in his shoes so many years after his demise (Giancarlo 145). He will always be remembered as the one who brought transition in the world of artists in the sense that, he made a step further from being an ordinary craftsman, to an intuitive being capable of greatest creativity and contemplation that was so theoretical. His work lived to be admired by many for over five centuries (John 20). One of his panting going by the name Mona Lisa has gone in the books as the well known painting globally. He will always be remembered as the first artist of Italian origin to make use of oil in his paintings. Why the portrait will remain important is because we can make comments of our own society basing on the something which was made so many years back (Giancarlo 178).
In the same breath, some of his artistically designed works have dominated the world of religion and culture all this long. However, although he had so much to his credit we cannot deny the fact that little of Leonardo’s works has lived to date. This unfortunate occurrence can be attributed to the young upcoming artists who end up experimenting works produced before by well known artists (John 67). All in all, the little work that still exist is undisputed evidence of the his distinguished thoughts on the field of painters and makes up something to recent groups of artists with only one of them having come so close yet so far from beating him (Janis 26). Equally gifted in the field of technology Leonardo designed an aircraft, a system of power that got energy from the sun, a gadget for calculations and an ideology on plate tectonics. Basically, only a handful of what he designed saw the light of the day. In the world of science, the great Italian will always be remembered for his immense contribution (Giancarlo 207). He made his contribution in such areas as dealing with how plants and animals are structured, constructing and designing structures such as roads, how light behaves and its characteristics, how liquids behave while moving among others. As a great musician of his time, Leonardo made a musical instrument fro silver. Being gifted in painting, he was recommended to make some venues for great events alongside designing. He will be remembered for what was termed as a great feast when people from all walks of life, big and small, young and old, women and children all gathered to watch a cartoon designed by the great Italian (John 62).
A great architect of his time, Leonardo Da Vinci was hired to work alongside the military and moving around his country with his seniors. During this time he came up with a map something what many could not have thought of. This helped a great deal in pursuing the enemies (Janis 87). This was a rare occurrence during that time; it was a great discovery indeed. He would later design another one for his senior which saw him rise to a higher position. As if all was not enough, Leonardo came up with a system to pump water all around the year. He really influenced many and he was honored by great men and women, young and old besides many who wanted to learn from him new things (Janis 89).
The reason why Leonardo Da Vinci is an amazing artist is contributed by so many things. To begin with his taking in so many fields is in itself amazing. There has never lived an artist who can manage being in all those field and yet make an impact in the whole world. The fact that his works was in existence and regarded as useful for over five centuries is no mean achievement. A man of kind, he was gifted in all fields something rare to find. To think that a scientist can sing and paint and at the same time do some architect work is expecting too much, yet for Leonardo he managed all this alongside so many other things. This is surely an amazing thing that can earn him a place in the Guinness book of records.
The Sistine chapel ceiling was designed by Michelangelo back in the 15th century. It equally stands out as the most famous designs of its time. It belonged to a church and was named after the then pope. It has since been used for so many vital activities. This together with others was designed by great painters of that period (Michelangelo 26). The designing of the ceiling was based on the first book of the bible on coming of the first man, Adam. The designing could only be rivaled by Leonardo’s painting back in the days. It was superb and something of its kind (Michelangelo 28).
Michelangelo, while designing the ceiling, was not ready to live anything to chance. He used all means to get to the top of the building to have it done (Hirst et al 143). He came up with his own ladder and everything was just done in steps and went smoothly despite many challenges. The most interesting thing about it is that, it did not interfere with the service proceedings (Mancinelli 107). He borrowed the designing style from his former tutor but the Sistine chapel was just outstanding. While still constructing it he discovered ways of getting rid of dampness and this has continued being used to date. The designing way was totally different from the rest of the artists (Mancinelli 109).
The idea behind the design is to show dire need of human being to be saved by the creator through the son. It is symbolic of persons entering into an agreement with their creator. The previous agreement and the most recent were evident around the chapel (Hirst et al 154). The features clearly brought out on the chapel indicate that the creator, while creating the world, did a perfect job but as time progressed he parted ways with the wicked beings (Michelangelo 31). As a result, the human beings, having failed to learn from the past mistakes, were hit by floods as a result of the creator’s anger (Schubring 132). The designing of the chapel stands magnificent and it connects to things happening even today. This is despite the fact that, the designs were brought into existence so many years back. The chapel is indeed worth all praise and remains an outstanding one and has never been rivaled by another one (Hirst et al 156).
Work cited
John P. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Genius Who Defined the Renaissance National Geographic
World History Biographies. NG World History Biographies Series. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2008. 1-64
Janis H. Leonardo Da Vinci for kids: his life and ideas : 21 activities Chicago: Chicago Review
Press, 1998. 3-90
Vito Z. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Last Supper. New York: Rizzoli International Publications,
Incorporated, 2003
Giancarlo M. Leonardo Da Vinci: the Daedalian mythmaker Penn State Press, 1992 13-306
Paul Schubring.Sistine Chapel Vancouver, BC, Canada: READ BOOKS, 2008 1-144
Fabrizio Mancinelli. The Sistine Chapel.2nd Ed. Vatican City: Edizioni Musei Vaticani, 1995
1-111
Michelangelo .Sistine Chapel Coloring Book. New York: Courier Dover Publications, 2004 1-32
Michael Hirst, Pierluigi De Vecchi, Gianluigi Colalicci. The Sistine Chapel: a glorious
restoration New York City: Harry N. Abrams, 1999 4-271
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