A true polymath, Leonardo da Vinci
lived and died in an era perfectly suited to his genius: the Renaissance.
Literally a time of cultural, scientific, and artistic “rebirth,” da Vinci
alone contributed thousands of different inventions, designs, and artworks to
the 15th century. Both his public and private works would become
hallmarks of mastery and modernity. In fact, applications and optimizations of
his ancient ideas, drawings, and inventions are still very much alive today.
To better understand the work of
Leonardo, a brief history of his life becomes necessary. Born in wedlock just
outside of Florence, in the small town of Vinci, Leonardo’s illegitimate status
prevented him from a proper education and fated him inaccessible to the time’s
most lucrative occupations. These limitations, however, never hindered – and
perhaps even fueled – Leonardo’s curious mind and keen intellect. Even with little
formal education (only basic math, rhetoric, and writing), Leonardo’s artistic
talents were visible at an early age. Soon enough, around 14 years old, he
began a long apprenticeship with noted artist Andrea del Verrocchio in
Florence.
In 1472, after amassing a variety
of artistic skills, Leonardo qualified for his own workshop as a master artist.
His handiwork, however, still appears in some of Verrocchio’s work for the next
five years, including the Baptism of
Christ in 1475. According to Giorgio Vasari almost a century later in his Lives
of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Verrocchio was so humbled by the far
superior hand of Leonardo that, after their collaborative years, he never again
picked up a paintbrush of his own.
After two years of unknown whereabouts (apparently due to a serious
charge of Sodomy with four other young men in 1476), Leonardo appears again in
Florence, but abandons several Florentine commissions to pursue workship under
Milan’s Duke Ludovico Sforza. For the next 17 years in Milan, Leonardo was
known as both artist and engineer, developing a multitude of war, water, and
land machines.
Fitting well to the humanist mold of his era, Leonardo still kept up a
meticulous study of multiple subjects while in Milan. His detailed sketches of
anatomy, botany, zoology, aeronautics, physics, and geology during this time were
arranged in four different notebook themes: painting, architecture, mechanics,
and the natural world. According to these notebooks, Leonardo held tightly to
his belief that scientific study enhanced his artwork. A true renaissance man,
he saw no divide between art and science.
After the invasion of Milan by the French in 1499, Leonardo spent the
remaining years of his life traveling to various cities, including Rome and
Venice, for various projects, including The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. In
1519 at 67 years old, Leonardo da Vinci died in France, leaving behind a legacy
of genius that has persisted throughout the centuries.
Inspired by his legacy in both the arts and sciences, our class project
aimed also to encapsulate both of these disciplines. After seeing Leonardo’s
machine sketches brought to life in Vinci’s Leonardo da Vinci Museo, our group
was especially inspired by his intricate pulley systems. Used to lift or lower
objects, these systems are found in a variety of his machines – be they
architectural labor aids, aeronautic devices, or war contraptions. For our own
machine, we studied Leonardo’s sketches in person and online to design a pulley
system that could simultaneously lift one object and lower another.
Also inspired by our temporary city of residence, we incorporated da
Vinci’s pulley designs into a self-perpetuating Florentine Marbling Machine. Four
moving parts – one that rotates, one that lifts, one that lowers, and one that
swings – were designed to work in tandem to create a marbled design with oil
soluble paints. Simply put, the machine rotates a rod that lifts four
paint-filled balloons up toward a series of nails for popping, allowing liberated
pigment to fall onto a water-filled tray, suspended by string from the
machine’s scaffold structure. Simultaneously, the rotation of the rod lowers a
“rake” into the water. Upon popping, a taut string connecting one of the tray’s
suspensory strings to a balloon is also liberated, allowing the tray to swing.
This swinging motion then allows the rake to mix the pigment that now rests
atop the water. Finally, a hole in the bottom of the tray allows dense water to
escape, leaving only less-dense pigment remaining in the tray. When a piece of
paper is gently placed within the tray, a beautifully marbled pattern is
transferred.
Overall, a unique Florentine art form, chemistry, and Leonardo’s mechanics were integrated into a single machine. Although execution was not as seamless design, the marriage of art and science dimly mirrored that of Leonardo da Vinci – true polymath and genius.
Overall, a unique Florentine art form, chemistry, and Leonardo’s mechanics were integrated into a single machine. Although execution was not as seamless design, the marriage of art and science dimly mirrored that of Leonardo da Vinci – true polymath and genius.
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