Leonardo da Vinci

Born

Apr 15, 1452

Leonardo da Vinci was born to Ser Piero da Vinci, a notary who comes from a long line of Florentine minor officials, and a woman named Catarina (Magil, 423; Moose, 120). His parents weren't married, and children born to unmarried parents were ostracised (Moose, 120). Leonardo's grandfather, Ser Antonio da Vinci (head of the family) was the one who recorded the day of his birth. Leonardo was born on the hills of Vinci, an area near Florence (McLanathan, 8).

Joan of Arc

Jan 1, 1456

The trial of Joan of Arc was annuled in the year 1456 (Grun, 210). Joan of arc was a girl who believed she heard the voices of saints. During the period of the 100 years' war, Joan led the French into battle against the English, guided by the saints that spoke to her. After the war, Joan was arrested and accused of blasphamy and sentenced to death (Wilkerson).

apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio's workshop

Jan 1, 1465

because Leonardo was born of wedlock, he was denied access into one of the seven major guilds like law (McLanathan, 18-19; Moose, 120). Since Leonardo showed skill in the arts, Leonardo's father placed him in Verrocchio's workshop. At his workshop, Leonardo learned not only to paint, but how to sculpt with various material, cast in bronze, silver and other metals, learned liberal arts, and how to make various instruments. Leonardo became cheif assistant (McLanathan, 18-21)

first printed music

Jan 1, 1465

the first printed music was created (Grun, 211). This was during the Renaissance period, meaning "rebirth". During this period, people began to gain interest in the arts, like music and painting (McLanathan, 8). A lot of music terminology is written in Latin and Italian, like Crescendo and Decrescendo, which means to become loud and to become soft. Articulations, dynamics, and tempos are all Latin and Italian words.

"Divine Comedy" first published

Jan 1, 1472

"The Divine Comedy" was written by Dante. The place of publication was in Foligno (Grun, 212). "Dante's Divine Comedy" is about the religion of Christianity. In Vernacular language, comedy just meant that it had a happy ending, instead of meaning "funny" like it does today, "Dante's Divine comedy" is a trilogy. The second part, "Dante's Inferno" is the most famous of the three parts. It's about what it's like in hell and the nine layers of hell.

Ginevra de'Benci was painted

Jan 1, 1474

This painting was finished in 1474 (Magil, 424). Ginevra de'Benci was a young noblewoman, who's brother was a good friend of Leonardo's. When the portrait was painted, Ginevra was very ill, and also sorrowed from heartbreak. You can see all of this in the way da Vinci paints her. Also, in the background landscape, there are juniper bushes. This is because the old Italian word for juniper was Genevro, which is similar to the noblewoman's name (McLanathan, 29+31).

"Baptism of Christ" painted

Jan 1, 1476

this was painted in 1476 (Magil, 423). Painted mainly by Andrea del Verrocchio, who taught da Vinci his skills in art, Leonardo had assisted painting the picture by contributing the background landscape, and part of one of the angels. You can tell the difference between da Vinci's work and Verrocchio's, because da Vinci's style was more subtle, and had more of an admirable tone. This milestone for the new age, because it started to change people's attitude of the world (McLanathan, 22+24)

Copenhagen University founded

Jan 1, 1479

in 1497, The University of Copenhagen was founded (Grun, 215). Copenhagen is in Denmark. The university still stands today, and is also still used as a university. Copenhagen is not the only University of the Renaissance still standing, The University of Oxford (the university where Shakespeare was believed to attened) was founded around the same time as Copenhagen,

ariel screw idea first created

Jan 1, 1490

Leonardo da Vinci never actually invented the ariel screw, but he conceived the idea and sketched it out in his journal. The ariel screw is meant to be a flying machine similar to the helicopter, which was invented almost 400 years after Leonardo came up with the idea. The ariel screw design was based off of a popular kid's toy of his day (McLanathan, 59).

Great Horse was sculpted

Jan 1, 1493

Leonardo completed a full scale model of "The Great Sforza Horse" out of clay. Horses were very symbolic during the renaissance, and considered very noble. The statue stood more than 22 feet tall (McLanathan, 44+46).

Cards become popular

Jan 1, 1501

Cards were invented in the early 1400's. It wasn't until 1501 that they became very popular in Europe (Grun, 223). The four suites in a deck of cards are symbolic of the four major pillars of the middle ages; clubs for agriculture, diamonds for merchantry, spades for military, and hearts for the church.

Mona Lisa painted

Jan 1, 1503

Da Vinci's most recognizable works. The Painting is also the most controversial of his works. Nobody knows who the mysterious woman in the portrait is. Some say it is Duchess Isabella of Aragon, another painting of Ginevra, and some even believe it is a self portrait of Leonardo himself (Magil, 425). It is known for a fact that it was not a painting of Francesco Giocondo, although the painting is sometimes called La Gioconda. In the background are the alpines (McLanathan, 72).

Pocket Handkercheif comes into use.

Jan 1, 1503

In 1503, the Pocket Handkercheif first comes into use (Grun, 223). The Pocket Handkercheif is also known as a kercheif, or the pocket hanky, they are placed typically either in the breast pocket, or the back pocket.

writes "On the Flight of Birds"

Jan 1, 1505

da Vinci was fascinated with birds and flight ever since he was a young child. This fascination led to hours of studying the way birds flew in the air. Leonardo created a series of journals on inventions allowing man to fly like the birds, and writing detailed logs on flight patterns of birds along with accuarate pictures and diagrams. Many of his journals are lost today, and a majority of "On The Flight of Birds" is believed to be missing (McLanathan, 66-67).

pursues anatomical research

Jan 1, 1507

As da Vinci started getting very old, he stopped painting to pursue studies of science. Leonardo discovered that hardening of the arteries is a cause of death. He also studied the process of aging (McLanathan, 70). He had also dissected an eye, and was the first to discover the function of the lens. by this year he had dissected over 10 human bodies including a man who had claimed to live to be 100 years old. He even found a way to preserve brain tissue (Moose, 121).

dies

May 2, 1519

Leonardo da Vinci dies at age 67 in Cloux. Leonardo da Vinci is considered to be the world's most brilliant failure, because he had no kin to bequeeth his knowledge and skills to. When da Vinci died, people knew an important landmark in history had just passed. Leonardo da Vinci had accomplished so much, and in many fields. Today, most of his works have yet to be recoverd. Every few years scholors majoring in the history of Leonardo meet to share new-found discoveries (McLanathan, 83-84).