A True Renaissance Man

Renaissance means ‘rebirth’ and it refers to the rebirth of interests and ideas about the world. There was a new attitude among artists, doctors and scientists; people during that time wanted to find out more about the world by studying it. People learned by making careful and detailed observations and conducted scientific experiments about anything that interested them. Art and architecture changed as artists developed new interests and skills. Medicine changed as people improved their understanding of the world. Scientific knowledge changed as people conducted more experiments and observations.

Leonardo da Vinci like people of the Renaissance was interested in learning about the world around him and to understand as much as he could. He had an immense curiosity to learn about everything including art, architecture, science, military and astronomy. Throughout his life he produced great works of art, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He also designed military equipment for Milan and Florence, constructed bridges and canals, and designed and built an enormous dome for Milan Cathedral. He did many experiments in mathematics and geometry, and made drawings in his notebooks of flying machines, finely observed human anatomy, submarine and other war machines. He observed birds in flight which inspired him to design a flying machine. He made drawings of the human anatomy, studied the weather, made mirrors and telescopes to study the stars, design water pumps and whatever interested him. He learned by carefully observing things around him and making precise documents of his observations. During his time, he was renowned as an inventor, scientist, engineer, architect, painter, sculptor, musician, mathematician, anatomist, astronomer, geologist, biologist, and philosopher. Leonardo’s works reveal his great interest to learn about almost everything in the world which characterizes him as a true Renaissance man.