Leonardo Da Vinci 首师大英教系精读上机考试课文及重点词汇

Leonardo Da Vinci
The Renaissance period of Western history stretched from about A.
D. 1300-1600. It was a time of new discoveries, new experiments and new ideas. People began to study ancient art, literature and philosophy from Greek and Roman civilization. Artists invented new techniques to make their works more beautiful and lifelike. Writers and musicians no longer centered their compositions only on religious subjects. Like the Greeks and Romans, they began to make man the center of their work. Leonardo da Vinci is an outstanding example of the “Renaissance man, ”a man who combined intellect and creativity in startling new ways.
Leonardo was born on an estate near Vinci, Italy, in 1452. As a very young boy, he showed interest in living things. His drawings of plants and animals amazed his elders. When he was about 17, he met the famous Italian painter, Verrocchio. Leonardo was excited with the hope of studying with a great master. Verrocchio quickly saw the boy’s talent and took him into his art studio in Florence. Leonardo’s formal studies began as he learned basic techniques of painting. Soon he was working on paintings with his master, a common practice of the day. His diligent studies and hard work earned him the respect of both young and old artists. But Leonardo was much more than a painter . He was an inventor, an architect, , an
engineer, a philosopher and a scientist. He never attended university or earned an academic degree. But his nature intellect and curiosity about life drove him to examine everything around him. He observed and drew everything he saw. He believed sight to be the most important of the five senses. Leonardo filled more than 40 notebooks with observations of all kinds. When something interested him, he would make quick sketches on scraps of paper. Later he organized them by theme and recorded them in his notebooks. Leonardo tried to be as exact as possible in his observations. He combined sketches and text to communicate what he saw. When he wrote in his notebooks, he used mirror writing. Because he was left-handed, writing backward was easier for Leonardo.
The drawings in his notebooks show that he had ideas way ahead of his time. He sketched a flying machine, a helicopter and other mechanical devices. He also completed detailed drawings of the human body, both inside and out. His studies of human anatomy helped Leonardo people his paintings with very lifelike figures. Leonardo’s two most well-known paintings, the mysterious Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, a religious masterpiece, are some of the greatest paintings of all time. They have been studied and copied for centuries. The Mona Lisa’s famous smile fascinates the world. For centuries scholars have tried to guess why she smiles. The Last
Supper shows Jesus and each of his disciples with very human expressions. Instead of just appearing serene, they look like real people. This was a new way to paint religious subjects. Leonardo never married, but was a man with loyal disciples and frineds. He lived and worked in Florence, Milan and France. Leonardo’s gentle spirit, combined with his brilliant mind, made him a man of unusual qualities. Perhaps this is a part of the reason why this “Renaissance m an”has captivated admireers for nearly 600 years.。