Ibrahim Husain

Leonardo Da Vinci is a widely known name, maybe the most well known artist of all time. Most people know him as the artist of the “Mona Lisa.” Many know him as a “Renaissance Man.” Some know him as the artist of “The Last Supper.” But few know Da Vinci for the man he actually was.

Leonardo Da Vinci was much more than just an artist. He was a true seeker of variety. He was a civil engineer, a military planner, an inventor, a sculptor, a philosopher, an anatomist, an astrologist, a botanist, a geologist, and the list goes on and on. Though popular for his artwork, Da Vinci was somewhat of a scientist, a true thinker of many sciences. He could quite possibly be one of the most talented men that ever lived.

As Da Vinci’s quest for scientific knowledge grew, his production of art slowed (truth be told, it was never equal to the prolific production of other first rate artists – Rembrandt, Raphael, Van Gogh, Picasso for example). Still we can see through his scientific drawings and invention plans that he never lost his artistic touch.

Da Vinci produced amazing pictures of plans for flying machines, parachutes, and submarines. His scientific inventions included early versions of hydraulic lifts, swing bridges, pulley systems, canals, street lighting, water turbines, and so much more. To label Leonardo Da Vinci an artist is to not do the man justice. He was one of the “Greats.”

If we were to accurately label Da Vinci as any one thing, it would be an observer. By dissecting human and animal corpses, along with the help of his artistic touch, Leonardo created the first “textbook” of anatomy. His sketches reflected an accurate understanding of many human organ systems and functions. His astrological mind told him that the earth was round and not flat as popularly thought at the time, and that it rotated and revolved around the sun. But his personality would not allow him to delve into highly abstract thought. There never was a scientific approach or system to his studies.

Leonardo Da Vinci, as intelligent a man as he was, wasn’t much of a doer, in the traditional sense. Throughout his lifetime he may have left as many projects undone as he actually completed. He was a drifter, somewhat of a free spirit, and he didn’t focus too much on any one thing. He always had his eye on the next great idea, and therefore left many of his ideas to later inventers, people with the intelligence and discipline required to make these inventive breakthroughs.

Though known to many as the great architect, not one of his buildings designed was ever built. Though known as a great sculptor, not one of his sculptures exist today. What Da Vinci is little known for is what makes him the great man that he was. A handful of magnificent drawings, 20 or so masterpiece paintings, and countless filled notebooks of thoughts and observations lend way to the man that Leonardo Da Vinci really was; A truly brilliant universal genius.