Leonardo da Vinci
April
15, 1452 - May 2, 1519
Italian “painter, musician, architect, engineer, scientist, teacher, historian,
optician, cartographer, and adviser to nobles and kings.” (S,D,H pg. 32) (A true Renaissance Man)
The
first artifact I chose to bring along with me on my travels is actually Leonardo da Vinci, an incredibly famous man who was knows as the “great master of the early
Renaissance.” (S,D,H pg. 32) I already liked the guy but upon further research I was also excited to learn that da Vinci and I actually share the
same birthday, April 15, and we’ll be celebrating that day here soon. That,
however, was not the reason I decided to bring him along. Leonardo was an
extremely curious and talented individual and loved to learn about the world,
create new inventions, and master new talents or crafts. Recognized by others as a "painter, musician, architect, engineer, scientist, teacher, historian, optician, cartographer, and adviser to nobles and kings" we can see how incredibly talented this man was and can only wonder how
significant his contributions would have been to his society and all those
after him. Throughout the course of his life he explored his curiosities almost to the extreme and followed a consistent pattern of first observing something and then trying to learn
from it. His ability to do so was recognized at an early age and the textbook said that even at an early age,“he had a passion for horses and would
study them at length, in time becoming an excellent horse trainer. He was also
fascinated by birds and studied them and their flight from an early age and
throughout his life.” When he was trying to better understand how to draw
humans, he actually ended up getting permission to use the bodies to executed
criminals to study anatomy so he could better understand the body and what he
was depicting. He was well trained in art and some of his most famous works
include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and the Vitruvian Man (top right picture). Da Vinci’s life and accomplishments seem to be the sum of his careful
observations, thoughtful meditation, and the application or portrayal of these
things throughout his life which fits perfectly with my definition of learning.
That’s why I would love to bring him along for the journey, to act as a role
model of how we can acquire greater knowledge and understanding through
creative thinking and learning! (S.D.H pg. 32) I would hope that my family and future generations would learn from his example and become increasingly observant and courageous enough to explore their curiosities like da Vinci. He would be a great guy to have along for the journey.