Did you know Leonardo da Vinci barely finished any of his projects?! In today’s art activity with Artist Strong I have a special video to show you. I talk about an insightful book that’s from the time of the Renaissance. It’s written by Giorgio Vasari and he shares the stories he hears as well as personal accounts of famous artists of the time. These people include Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Giotto, to name a few.
In today’s video I talk about a hugely overlooked piece of information about da Vinci, our quintessential Renaissance Man. Watch to learn more:
BE COURAGEOUSLY CREATIVE: What surprises you about today’s message? How can it help the way you see your art? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.
Thanks for your video. I have already got hold of the book! I agree that creative people do tend to be very curious (and also have sometimes unexpected interests!) Contemporary composers are increasingly mixing their arts, using painting, language, photography and many other things during their creative process. Here is an example: http://marc-yeats.co.uk/blog/ I think the most effectively creative people possess a special sort of ‘mental lens’ that enables them to take their wide interests, distil the insights they gain, and then focus them upon their areas of activity. The conductor Carlos Kleiber was great at doing this. I describe his process here: http://charleslines.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/kleibers-lens.html Thanks again for the reference.
Charles I’m so glad you got the book. It’s actually a pretty contemporary read, Vasari’s voice and personality come through and the language isn’t dated. It’s harnessing that ability to distill information into an artwork that’s special and perhaps what made da Vinci The Renaissance Man. Even so, prioritizing and time management was difficult for one of our most renowned art masters.
Thanks so much! Our library has this book so I definitely am going to read it! I also passed this along to several artist friends who struggle with getting things done (or even started) I am so glad I found you and joined this community!
Gina you are most welcome. And I’m glad you found our wonderful community too 🙂 Have a great day!
I have read this book and Vassari’s other one, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects. It is rather uncanny how how describes in detail the delight that Leonardo felt in creating and to what extents he would go in pursuing certain subjects and why he finished some and not others. For example, a Last Supper he painted at Santa Maria de la Grazie in Milan, Vassari writes that “to the heads of the Apostles he gave such majesty and beauty, that he left the head of Christ unfinished, not believing that he was able to give it that divine air which is essential to the image of Christ”. Indeed this fresco was never finished, but maybe it did not need to. It is certainly a gorgeous painting. Maybe Vassari felt like many of us who expect things to be completed as we wish it to be…He certainly left us a vast number of amazing work!
Thanks for sharing Lidia. 🙂 I’ll be looking up Vasari’s other book!