Word: leonardo
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...Leonardo da Vinci, Florentine painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, naturalist, writer, was one of the wisest and most universal of men. This spring and summer, to celebrate the sooth anniversary of his birth, a few remaining fruits of Leonardo's vast labors are being exhibited in England, France, Italy...
...Leonardo's name conjures up a heavy-browed, sad, hawk-eyed man, with a straight nose, mouth firm to the point of cruelty, and a flowing silver beard. In contrast to that awesome image of masculine rigor, it also recalls the dark, soft femininity of his most famed creation-the Mono. Lisa. This painting, which hangs in the Louvre, is probably as well known as any in existence-though few admirers pretend to grasp it fully. A portrait of the wife of a Florentine merchant named Francesco del Giocondo, it has been the subject of a towering stack...
...strange about the Mono, Lisa was the 16th century's Giorgio Vasari, who praised the painting for its naturalism. "In this head," Vasari wrote, "every peculiarity that could be depicted by the utmost subtlety of the pencil has been faithfully reproduced . . . Mona Lisa was exceedingly beautiful, and while Leonardo was painting her portrait, he took the precaution of keeping someone constantly near her, to ... amuse her, to the end that she might continue cheerful...
Answered Ferri: "They are slow to accept new ideas here in Rome. Leonardo himself had difficulty. He was put to work on machinery instead of painting...
...Painted on the refectory wall at Milan's Santa Maria della Grazie, Leonardo's masterpiece started going to pot even before his death, has faded and flaked so badly that only the barest details remain...