The Renaissance, a time of revival of all values worthy of man, a reawakening of dormant ideas about the cosmos and man, about the beauty and meaning of science, art, politics, and religion.
Is the Earth round? How do planets move? How to achieve depth on a painting canvas? How to create an ideal city? What is a man? What is God? These are some of the questions that the Renaissance giants grapple with. Leonardo da Vinci, as well.
A PHILOSOPHER?
Many have written about Leonardo, seeing him as a painter, artist, engineer, architect, mathematician… It is less known that he also dealt with botany, anatomy, optics, geology, astronomy… Yes, all of that was Leonardo’s external face, but very little has been written about his inner being. One of Leonardo’s contemporaries, five years after his death, writes: “Leonardo da Vinci is not only an extraordinary painter but also a true Archimedes; likewise, a great philosopher.” He is considered a philosopher by the great artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari. King Franc of France himself acknowledges his philosophical pursuits, Njo I., for whom Leonardo worked in his last years of life, was said to be much more than a sculptor, painter, and architect – he was also a philosopher. The opinions of newer writers seem divided, it seems, mostly due to incomplete knowledge of his life and work. We can also, like Paul Valery, ask ourselves: “Is he, therefore, a philosopher or not?”
Let’s look for an answer in Pythagoras’ interpretation of a philosopher as someone who loves wisdom. How can we not call Leonardo – who has spent his entire life exploring art, science, ethics, and morality – a lover of the wisdom he often speaks of in his written works: Things accomplished in youth prevent decline in old age, and if you understand that old age is actually nourished by wisdom, behave in such a way that you don’t run out of nourishment in old age.
After all, a philosopher is not defined by the opinions of others, but by their own thoughts, words, and practical actions. The art historian, Corrado Ricci, says: “All the secrets of nature and all the works of an eminent human spirit” Leonardo was attracted to knowledge; he wanted to delve into everything, study everything, learn everything, and apply everything he learned in everyday life.
His knowledge of classical philosophy is evident in his manuscripts, where he mentions Socrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, Xenophon, Anaxagoras… Leonardo studies the anatomy of the human body, collaborating with the philosopher Marcantonio della Torre who was teaching in Pavia at the time. He assists his dear friend, the mathematician Luca Pacioli, in writing De divina proportione. He befriends Niccolò Machiavelli, Amerigo Vespucci, as well as Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, an astronomer and geographer, whose calculations were used by Columbus to discover America.
As soon as virtue is born, envy is also born alongside it, and it would sooner be a body without a shadow than virtue without envy.
EXPERIENCE AS A TEACHER
Leonardo primarily learns from nature, as man is an evolutionary being for him, whose progress depends on direct learning from nature and further exploration based on that, while decadence occurs when one simply imitates certain authors and turns away from nature. In the Atlantic. In the codex, it says: “…those who study only according to authors, and not according to the works of nature, are only nephews, not sons of nature itself, the teacher of good authors.”
…those who study only by authors,
and not by the works of nature, are only nephews,
not sons of nature itself,
the teacher of good authors.
The immediate teacher, the one who explains to man nature and its laws, is experience, about which it is written: “Experience, the interpreter between creative nature and the human race, teaches us what nature does to mortals, compelled by necessity. It cannot act differently than what its cause – its guide, commands.”
They often criticized him for not being able to express himself in written word. They will say that, because I did not become “literary”, I cannot properly say what I want to express. They do not know that my works originate more from experience than from other words, and experience was the teacher to those who wrote well, so I too take experience as a teacher and will rely on it in all cases. to expose… If, like them, I don’t mention authors, my witness is much higher and more dignified: experience – the teacher of their teacher.
ABOUT MAN AND VIRTUE
Well-versed in ancient philosophy, Leonardo writes: “The ancients called man a microcosm, and the word completely corresponds, because man is made up of earth, air, water, and fire.”
His study of anatomy led him to the conclusion that the human body is just a marvelous architecture, while the soul, the tenant of that building, is the one that deserves respect.
About virtue, he says: “Do not call wealth what can be lost. Virtue is our true wealth and the true reward for those who possess it. It cannot be lost and leaves us only with life itself. As for possessions and material goods, they should always be feared, because they often leave their owner in disgrace and if lost, subject them to ridicule.”
For Leonardo, nurturing virtue is precisely the path to true humanity, as he vividly describes in his stories, like Aesop. a.
Here are a few examples that speak of Leonardo’s philosophical and moral-ethical stances:
Love of virtue
Love of virtue never looks at something ugly and low, but always attaches itself to what is honest and noble, and resides in the heart as noble birds on blooming branches of green mountains. This love is seen better in adversity than in prosperity, just as light shines brighter where it is darker.
In his reflections, Leonardo always warns of the dangers of the path of virtue: As soon as virtue is born, envy is born against itself, and it would be easier for the body to be without a shadow than for virtue to be without envy.
Ask for advice
from the one who corrects himself well.
Vanity
For this vice, we read that the peacock inclines more than any other animal, because it continuously takes pride in its tail, spreads it like a fan, and attracts the attention of the surrounding birds with its cries. This vice is the hardest to overcome.
Lies
The mole has small eyes and constantly lives underground. While it is hidden – it lives, and As soon as it finds itself in the daylight – it dies because it is recognized. The same thing happens with lies.
One of the students at Leonardo’s academy, where it seems they didn’t just learn painting, wrote this on the back of one of the teacher’s drawings:
As for those who allow time to pass without growing in virtue, the more we think about them, the more we grieve. No person who sacrifices honor for gain is capable of virtue. Happiness is powerless to help someone who does not make much effort themselves. There is no perfect gift without great suffering. Our triumphs and our pomp pass: greed, laziness, and foolish luxury have driven virtue out of everything – so that our nature becomes distorted and submits to habit. Now and in the future, we need to cure ourselves of our laziness.
Wealth
People who desire nothing but material wealth and pleasure are deprived of the true wealth of wisdom, nourishment, and the only strength of the spirit.
How many philosophers were born rich and distributed their wealth themselves, so that it would not be wasted. corrupting… The more possessions one has, the greater fear they must have of losing them… The following proverbs suggest his optimism and strive for continuous creation:
– Obstacles cannot break me.
– Before effort, every obstacle gives way.
– Do not abandon the plow.
– Death before fatigue.
– All the deeds of this world cannot tire me.
– I would rather stop moving than stop being useful.
1 Giorgio Vasari: Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (first printed in 1550 in Florence).