Leonardo da Vinci was the most creative genius in history. Of course, saying that I learned things from Leonardo is perhaps a bit risky, because in fact Leonardo is the very embodiment of genius.
As we know, Leonardo lived in a particular era for humanity, the Renaissance, when literature, philosophy, science and the fine arts experienced an unprecedented splendour. Italy was in full economic momentum and Florence became the capital of fine arts.
Leonardo was born not far from Florence, in Vinci in 1452. In Florence, he learned painting, sculpture, architecture, music, nature, science, geography, poetry and who knows what else. After all, we know he was a genius, right?
Let’s see some of his main masterpieces:
1. The Last Supper, a mythical painting, difficult to preserve because Leonardo used a technique of his own invention that proved to be inappropriate.
2. The Vitruvian Man, a drawing that illustrates the proportions of the human body.
3. The Gioconda, also known as the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous and seen artworks in the world.
Other works are less famous but not less important:
- The Codex Atlanticus, which brings together the largest collection of Leonardo’s writings and drawings.
- His futurist inventions such as the helicopter, the plane and the submarine.
- The huge statue depicting a horse: 70 tons of bronze and 7 metres high.
Why did Leonardo want to make these works so different from each other?
I think he was mainly driven by the curiosity to experiment and discover new horizons. He loved creating and doing things with his hands. He loved dreaming, designing, building and putting wings to his ideas.
Taking care of all his projects, one after the other and sometimes even in parallel, represented for Leonardo his life’s purpose.
The lesson that Leonardo taught me is that in life you have to try, make mistakes, do not give up and start over again to move forward. It does not matter how many difficulties you may face. Surely, Leonardo had to go through a series of failures to achieve his project. I am sure that determination and perseverance were also some of his skills. Look at what he left us, all the works that gave him the title of genius of all time.
You may not forget your failures, but to progress you can learn from them.
What are the lessons learned from your life?
