In the grand history of the Western world, there is no single individual whose name is more synonymous with inventiveness, curiosity, and creative genius than Leonardo da Vinci. His life and works would not just remake the Renaissance in Italy—they would go on to inspire developments and innovations in our own world. Leonardo has always exerted an extraordinary fascination. For unlike his artistic peers, such as Michelangelo and Raphael, who were known solely for their artistic accomplishments, Leonardo was the very epitome of the Renaissance man, whose skills and influences touched on nearly every aspect of human endeavor.
- As an artist, he helped develop artistic techniques of perspective, classical composition, and naturalism in works such as The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa.
- As an engineer, he devised marvelous inventions that aimed to transform the way people thought about warfare, transportation, and even plumbing.
- As a scientist, he exposed to everyday eyes the previously mysterious workings of human anatomy, the biology of various flora and fauna, and the properties of optics.
- As a thinker and writer, he advanced ideas and theories about art, mathematics, and science that would guide generations of other great minds.
- As a mentor, he inspired and prodded the techniques and careers of artists like Bramante, Michelangelo, and Raphael, who would go on to become masters of High Renaissance art and architecture as well.
And Leonardo continues to compel our interest long after his death and the subsequent end of the Renaissance he helped define. As expert art historian Professor George R. Bent of Washington and Lee University observes, "Without Leonardo, the things we know and the things we have just might not be with us today.” Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian High Renaissance is Professor Bent's powerful and engrossing look at this grand master, the intriguing world he inhabited and shaped, and the legacies he left behind for us. This 36-lecture course—packed with illustrations and animations that bring you closer than ever before to Leonardo's paintings, sculptures, sketches, and notebooks—is like touring an imaginary and comprehensive exhibit devoted to his entire career. You'll gain fresh insights into his iconic paintings, his important anatomical studies, and his astonishingly prescient visions for machines we now take for granted. But more than that, you'll experience what it was like to live in Leonardo's world and to understand the High Renaissance as it swept through great Italian cities such as Florence, Milan, and Rome. So prepare yourself for a fascinating and unforgettable encounter with the quintessential Renaissance man in Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian High Renaissance—an immersive, comprehensive, and expertly delivered course that only The Great Courses can bring you.
