Vasari's Life of Leonardo da Vinci: A Comprehensive Study Guide

Author Biography: Giorgio Vasari lived from $1511$ to $1574$ . He was an Italian painter, architect, and the father of art history.
The Work: He is best known for his seminal book, Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors.
Publication History: The work was first published in $1550$ , followed by a significantly revised and expanded edition in $1568$ .

Celestial Talent: Vasari posits that Leonardo possessed gifts bestowed by "celestial influences" rather than human acquisition. He characterizes Leonardo’s beauty, grace, and talent as supernatural and united beyond measure in a single person.
Physical Presence: Leonardo was noted for a "beauty of body" that was beyond praise and an "infinite grace" in every action.
Intellectual Ease: Vasari asserts that Leonardo possessed such genius that he solved any difficulty he turned his mind to with absolute ease.
Spiritual Qualities: He is described as possessing "bodily strength joined to dexterity," along with a spirit that was "royal and magnanimous."
Legacy: Leonardo’s reputation grew continually during his lifetime and reached even greater heights among posterity following his death.

Parentage: Leonardo was the son of Ser Piero da Vinci.
Curiosity and Instability: Though Leonardo showed great proficiency in learning, Vasari describes him as "variable and unstable." He would begin many studies and then abandon them shortly thereafter.
Arithmetic Mastery: During a few months of arithmetic study, Leonardo made so much progress that he bewildered his master by constantly suggesting doubts and complex difficulties.
Musical Ability: Leonardo possessed a refined spirit and learned the lyre quickly. He was known for singing "divinely" while improvising on the instrument.

Transition to Art: Ser Piero observed Leonardo’s constant interest in drawing and relief work. He took some of Leonardo's drawings to his friend, Andrea del Verrocchio.
Verrocchio’s Reaction: Verrocchio was "astonished" by Leonardo's early talent and urged Ser Piero to have the boy study art formally.
Workshop Entry: Leonardo entered Verrocchio's workshop with great enthusiasm and practiced every branch of art that involved drawing.

Polymathic Applications: Leonardo was a divine geometrician and applied his skills to various technical fields.
Sculpture: In his youth, he crafted clay heads of smiling women (which were cast in plaster) and heads of boys that appeared masterfully executed.
Architecture and Civil Engineering:
- He designed various ground plans and building designs.
- As a youth, he proposed a plan to turn the river Arno into a navigable canal from Pisa to Florence.
Mechanical Designs: Leonardo designed flour-mills, fulling-mills, and engines powered by water pressure.
Industrial Engineering: He developed models for removing and boring through mountains, as well as methods to raise great weights using levers, windlasses, and screws. He also devised methods for emptying harbors and pumping water from low-lying areas.
Natural Philosophy: He investigated the properties of herbs and studied celestial movements, including the path of the moon and the courses of the sun.

Study from Nature: Leonardo focused heavily on drawing from nature and making clay models.
Technical Drapery Study: He developed a method of laying cloth dipped in clay over models, which he then drew on Rheims cloth or prepared linen using black and white with a brush point.
Chiaroscuro: Vasari highlights a specific head drawn in chiaroscuro as "divine," noting that Leonardo reached a level of perfection in finish that none had equaled.

Unfinished Works: Vasari notes that Leonardo began many projects but finished none. This was due to his belief that his hand could never achieve the subtle and marvelous perfection conceived in his imagination.
Intellectual Depth: His brain was in a constant state of devising, and his power of expression was in "sublime accord" with his intellect.

Commission: Painted for the Friars of S. Dominic in Milan.
Apostolic Expression: Leonardo successfully captured the "anxiety" and emotions (love, fear, wrath, and sorrow) of the Apostles as they wondered who would betray Christ.
The Head of Christ: Leonardo left the head of Christ unfinished because he felt he could not bestow upon it the necessary "divine air."
The Figure of Judas: In contrast to the Apostles, Judas is depicted with "obstinacy, hatred, and treachery."
Technical Detail: Vasari praises the "incredible diligence" of the work, noting that the texture of the tablecloth's linen appeared real.
The Conflict with the Prior:
- The Prior of the monastery was impatient, wanting Leonardo to work constantly like a laborer.
- The Prior complained to the Duke, who then spoke with Leonardo.
- Leonardo explained that men of genius often accomplish the most when they work the least, as they are perfecting ideas in their minds before executing them.
- Leonardo joked that if he could not find a better model for the face of Judas, he would use the head of the "importunate and tactless Prior." This laughter-inducing argument silenced the Prior.

Subject: Commissioned by Francesco del Giocondo, depicting his wife, Mona Lisa.
Duration: Leonardo worked on the portrait for $4$ years and left it unfinished.
Location: In Vasari's time, the painting was in the collection of King Francis of France at Fontainebleau.
Hyper-Realism: Vasari details the extreme subtlety of the work:
- Eyes: Luster and "watery sheen" as seen in life.
- Skin Tones: Rosy and pearly tints around the eyes.
- Eyebrows: Individual hairs shown springing from the skin, following the pores.
- Nose: Rosy and tender nostrils appearing alive.
- Mouth: Red lips that seemed to be flesh rather than color.
- Throat: The "beating of the pulse" could be seen in the pit of the throat.
Performance Art: To keep Mona Lisa's expression merry and avoid the "melancholy" common in portraits, Leonardo employed musicians, singers, and jesters while he painted her.

Conflict with Michelangelo: There was a "very great disdain" between Leonardo and Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Departure for France: Leonardo left Florence for France to serve King Francis, who held him in high affection.
The Cartoon of S. Anne: Although the King wished Leonardo to paint this, Leonardo delayed the work with words, following his customary perfectionist habits.

Final Illness: Leonardo remained ill for many months as he grew old.
Religious Devotion: As death approached, he sought instruction in the Catholic faith, confessed, and was penitent. He insisted on receiving the Holy Sacrament out of his bed, supported by his friends.
The King's Visit: King Francis visited Leonardo frequently. On his deathbed, Leonardo apologized to God and man for not having worked at his art as he should have.
Final Moment: Leonardo suffered a "paroxysm" (a sudden attack) and died in the arms of the King, who had risen to support him.
Age at Death: Leonardo passed away in his $75^{th}$ year.