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eastchance.com essays feature
Author: Joshgun Karimov
Leonardo da Vinci
“There may not be in the world an example of another genius so universal, so incapable of fulfillment, so full of yearning for the infinite, so naturally refined, so far ahead of his own century and the following centuries.” H. Taine (1866)
I tried to concentrate on what I should write about Leonardo da Vinci but as I immersed myself into evaluating his life-time achievements I felt so miserable that I gave up on writing. After all that information I compiled about him, it was easy to understand Vasari’s aim to figure out whether this genius was an ordinary human being or a heavenly creature with supernatural abilities. Giorgio Vasari, 16th century biographer of Renaissance painters, spent his whole life on understanding the true virtues of Leonardo da Vinci. His admiration for Leonardo’s personality grew to an extent in which his abilities were mystified and even were given heavenly features:
"In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvelously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill. Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty, who displayed infinite grace in everything that he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied he solved with ease."
Vasari lived in 16th century and his sentences carry a lot of essence from that particular period. Yet, we live in a century where every single thing is explainable and comprehensible. I am a student and I know that successful students excel only through hard-work. I also know that Leonardo da Vinci spent much of his time on making hundreds of notes and drawing hundreds of sketches before the actual work or painting. If everything he did, came from God rather than from human skill, why would he waste his time on sketches and notes. Should not he be doing everything in an instance? Just like outstanding students, Leonardo, rejected the very idea of chance and risk. He knew that perfect results came from hours of endless work. His countless achievements were the results of his constant self-perfection. He was the type of person that never said, “I should”. He was the person that did what he wanted to do. Leonardo had so many things to discover and such a little time. What was his key to success? What made him stand ahead of his own century and influence the following centuries? Nietzsche explains it the best:
“I make for my goal, I follow my course; over the loitering and tardy will I leap.”
We are all human beings and curiosity is our greatest virtue. When properly handled, our curiosity may lead us to outstanding accomplishments.
Though, many of us remain passive observers rather than being active accomplishers.
Only exceptional human beings such as Leonardo da Vinci understand the significance of knowledge and follow their courses (acquiring and applying knowledge) till the end. Centuries later, we still adore such people not even realizing that they are of the same bone and flesh. We tend to neglect the fact that we can also be outstanding achievers. We tend to idolize Leonardo da Vinci instead of idolizing his pursuit of knowledge and beauty. Even Vasari admits that as a young boy Leonardo always set himself to learn a multitude of things. He was an archetype of Modern Man. Modern times require us to have numerous abilities. If people today want to succeed they need to gather more information and exhibit more abilities. Leonardo’s desire to understand and to acquire made me question my own life. His achievements are so incredible and so indisputable. His works are jewels of our world. In many countries, governments still implement his projects. (On May, 2006, the Turkish government decided to construct Leonardo's bridge to span the Golden Horn). Even five hundred years later his ideas work efficiently. At an age of 22, I wonder if I will serve our world the way Leonardo da Vinci did. There is only one thing that I can do for such a great man.
It is impossible for us (modern people) to distinguish only one accomplishment of an Italian polymath who lived in between 15th-16th centuries. To point out only one of Leonardo da Vinci’s accomplishments would be an insult to his universal personality and to those who admire him. We could perhaps consider one of his famous drawings, the Last Supper, which could help us while decision-making.
Jesus suddenly utters a sentence that strikes his disciples who sit around his table. Their faces change instantly as he says, “One of you will betray me!” Jesus had twelve disciples, whereas Leonardo da Vinci had eleven life-time disciples (He was a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, writer and philosopher)
To distinguish one of his accomplishments would rather be an intention to add the twelfth disciple, the Judah, which would spoil the perfect harmony of his genius life. Leonardo da Vinci was not destined to share the fate of Jesus. (Betrayal) His fate was to exhibit the realm of humanity through accomplishments that belong only to genuine human beings. His fate was to open the doors to infinite knowledge. Our obligation is to continue his pursuit of knowledge and beauty.
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