Leonardo Da Vinci Architecture Drawings History Essay

Leonardo Da Vinci's Architecture Drawings
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 Leonardo da Vinci's Architectural Drawings
Leonardo Da Vinci remains to be a revered artist known throughout the world for his aesthetic, innovation and logical designs which we still make use of today i.e. parachutes, helicopters, and tanks. Delving into his architectural designs, we would see how he cleverly combined both beauty and functionality – a commendable feat that merges both arts and sciences.  To discover the philosophies and to analyze the inner workings behind da Vinci’s architectural drawings and designs, this paper investigates da Vinci’s influences, his perspective on matter and form, his disegno, fictive architecture, and central plans. 
Introduction
Following the middle ages where artists are mostly revered as artisans and craftsmen whose main existence is to praise God, the renaissance paved way for the rebirth – the blossoming of the culture, arts, and sciences in Italy and Europe . The Renaissance was an age characterized by innovation and the booming curiosities that forever transformed the way people perceived the world. This age owes to the humanist movement lead by the intellectuals of Florence Italy in the mid-1300s who dedicated themselves to the “stylish revival of Greek and Roman learning” which brings man at the center of the works . 
Born in the midst of the Italian Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) would then become one of the most influential artists with his boundless imagination and skill. Widely known as an influential painter, Leonardo also wore many hats in the course of his life. He was a “sculptor, architect, scientist, mathematician, poet, inventor, astronomer, geologist, historian, and cartographer” . His multiple proficiencies reflect his deep curiosity about the workings of the world and his imaginative mind. 
At a young age, Leonardo went to become an apprentice of Andrea del Verrocchio, a Florentine artist at par with the greats within that age. Verrochio’s workshop was also home to other eminent artists such as Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Sandro Botticelli . Working in Verrochio’s workshop served as an artistic training ground for Leonardo, where he would learn in particular the specifics of human anatomy that were central during the Renaissance. Verrocchio was well-versed in the anatomical representation and was even called a “master of perspective” in his day. Aside from painting, he busied himself with sculpting in almost all available mediums. His sculptures were even commissioned by the prominent Medici family . 
The Renaissance authors have been preoccupied with the idea of imitating nature through art which they found desirable because this too was the practice of the ancient Greeks and Romans. This was evidenced by the rediscovery of Vitruvius’s explanation perspective’s importance in creating a visually accurate representation of buildings in his Ten Books (first century BC), the only surviving Roman treatise on Architecture . 
 This predilection towards naturalism accompanied the most, if not all, Italian Renaissa...