Throughout Da Vinci's expansive expertise on a vast variety of subjects, the polymath studied the laws of science and nature and their application in the visual arts, science, architecture, engineering, invention and a plethora of differing disciplines. Born in a farmhouse on April 15th 1452, Leonardo began a prestigious apprenticeship in Florence under Andrea del Verrocchio , despite his lack of formal education. It is thought that Verrocchio's epic Baptism of Christ (1475) was aided by his student, who painted part of the background and the young angel holding Jesus' robe. Remarkable within Da Vinci's artistic practice, was his fundamental gusto for experimentation. One epitomizing example of this was his disastrous commission for the Palazzo Vecchio's chapel altarpiece, upon which the artist combined pigment and wax in his fresco, entirely melting the work from the wall in an attempt to dry it at an increased pace. In his singular merging of the fields of art and science, Da Vinci's Vitruvian man's formulates the epitome of such interlaced disciplines: utilizing the act of symmetry and pictorial beauty in a fundamental exploration of the proportions of man. Further, the Vitruvian man showcase Da Vinci's unique understanding of human anatomy through his numerous dissections that allowed for his understanding of the functioning of muscles and how to depict such things visually. In contrast to such visionaries as Galileo and Newton, Leonardo's unique perspective/discoveries focused almost singularly on the significance of painting.
Unique to the artist's practice, was the irrevocable interrelatedness between his artistic and scientific curiosities. Many of the artist's impressive sketches featured natural observation in perfect detail, forming a both documentation and pictorial beauty. In his application of physics and his fundamental understandings on perspective, one can reference the marvel that is The Last Supper for which Leonardo understood and displayed an aptness for one point perspective in combination for the fundamental artistic understanding for the expression of a man's soul through a snapshot of his gesture and expression. Thus, though there are many renditions of this scene, Da Vinci's is vitally unique understanding of perspective served to truly enhance the role of the artist. Upon viewing the piece, one is struck with the way in which all points converge to Jesus' nose, reaching far back into the space that extends deeply through/behind him. The subtlety of such a feat is not lost upon the viewer, whose eyes are perfectly guided throughout the piece. Further exposing Leonardo's sense for innovation within his artistic practice, was the way in which he painted the fresco using tempera and oil upon dried plaster, rather than mixing the pigment in with the wet plaster. Thus, one of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance remains flaked, as it was not able to withstand extreme weathering as well as other misfortunes.
As an inventor and master of mechanics, physics and mathematics, Da Vinci was fundamentally known for his phenomenal advancements in the craft of warfare and defense. For example, the polymath's fundamental interest in hydraulics led to his construction (under the patronage of Ludovico Il Moro) of a project to divert the course of the Arno in order to flood Pisa. Despite the fact that this was not constructed due to financial constraints, such a project formulates a great example of the great variance of scale of Leonardo's various projects.
Most notable in his practice as a scientific innovator, one can reference Leonardo's striking codexes, spanning over 4000 pages chronicling his notes and sketches on the vastness of his interest in scientific matters (flight, hydrodynamics, mechanical engineering, pyrotechnics, chemistry, geology etc...). In The Da Vinci Museo, located in Vinci, one can find an essential visualization of a plethora of the artist's mechanical creations. Whilst the drawings in and of themselves display a sense of the artist's engineering genius, the ability to visualize such inventions in a 3 dimensional plane further emphasizes the visionary's unique capacities. Among his many inventions that are credited with passing into general practical use are the automated bobbin winder, the rolling mill, the machine for testing the tensile strength of wire. The lens-grinding machine is one which fundamentally showcases the visionary's creation of machines that would facilitate the ever-pressing developments in astronomy. In the lens-grinding machine, the hand rotation of the grinding wheel operates an angle-gear, which rotates a shaft, turning a geared dish in which sits the glass or crystal to be ground. A single action rotates both surfaces at a fixed speed ratio determined by the gear. Fundamentally inspired by his various gear and pulley systems, our project is one which addresses his unique creation of pulley systems that enable the rotation of a single device in creation various motions within the same machine system.
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
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