Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci produced detailed studies and sketches of the flight of birds, based on these he drew plans for several flying machines, including a helicopter powered by four men. (Da Vincis helicopter would not have worked because the body of the helicopter would have rotated) He also designed a hang glider which could have flown. On January 3, 1496 he tested a flying machine he had constructed, but failed to make it work.

Leonardo da Vinci was highly estimated as an engineer during his working life. In a letter to Ludovico il Moro he claimed to be able to create all sorts of war machines both for the protection of a city and for siege. When he fled to Venice in 1499, he was engaged as an engineer and developed a system of moveable barricades to protect the city of Venice from attacks. He also prepared a scheme for diverting the flow of the Arno River in order to flood Pisa, should an attacker gain access to the city.

His genius also is apparent in his civil engineering plans and drawings: In 1502, Leonardo drew the detailed plans for a single span 720-foot (240 m) bridge as part of a civil engineering project for Ottoman Sultan Beyazid II of Istanbul. The bridge was meant to span an inlet at the mouth of the Bosporus known as the Golden Horn. Sultan Beyazid did not pursue the project, because he could not believed that such a construction was possible.

He was wrong: Leonardo's vision was brought to life in 2001 when a smaller bridge based on his design was constructed in Norway. And on 17th May 2006, the Turkish government decided to construct Leonardo's bridge to span the Golden Horn.

Leonardo Da Vinci never signed his paintings. Certain works still in existence are cited by Vasari or are referred to in contracts.

The painitngs listed below are produced entirely by Leonardo da Vinci alone:

- The Last Supper (1498) - Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy

- Mona Lisa or La Gioconda (1503-1505/1507) - Louvre, Paris, France

- Adoration of the Magi unfinished painting (1481) - Uffizi, Florence, Italy

- The Virgin and Child with St. Anne (c. 1510) - Louvre, Paris, France

- Virgin of the Rocks, Louvre, Paris, considered by most historians to be the earlier of two versions and to therefore date from 1483-86.

- The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist large drawing (c. 1499-1500) - National Gallery, London, UK.

- St. Jerome in the Wilderness, (c.1480), Vatican. unfinished painting.

Art is never finished, only abandoned.
Leonardo da Vinci

Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!
Leonardo da Vinci

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.
Leonardo da Vinci