With the Holy Spirit

Monday, April 06, 2009

I thought I would dedicate an entry for one of men I most admire - Leonardo da Vinci.

If he were alive right now, I would be the first to beg him to let me be him apprentice!! His close friend, Vasari had said this of him:

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 marvellously 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.

—Giorgio Vasari

Indeed so, I share his sentiments. Not only was Leonardo an Italian polymath, he was also a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. Imagine that even from humble beginnings (he was born from a peasant mother), his works stretched far and beyond borders, and live on, even after his death..Of which I enjoy seeing his art-pieces with my very own eyes in Paris, Milan, Rome...

This painting is the oh-so-famous "Mona Lisa". In Lourve, Paris, it's smaller than u would imagine it to be. From where I stood (10metres I think))away from the small teeny weeny painting, I couldn't even see it properly because of the reflection of the bullet proof cover and to the annoyance of excited patrons jostling and elbow-ing my ribs. And I got scolded by the guards for taking a pic. Of which the security did not erase my photos, thank goodness.

Ahh, of wonders and wonders. These sketches unveil the hidden knowledge of anatomy of which Leonardo da Vinci had soaked as an apprentice. Lovely.

At the chapel at Milan, unfortunately, instead of an English speaking guide, the one which I had was an Italian guide. Didn't understand. I remember that thereafter, when the guide realised how lost our faces were, he spoke in English for 5-10mins to explain. God's grace. Apparently, the painting was so blurred and almost marred, that the faces of the apostles are hardly well-defined unless Adobe photoshop was done. Last supper.

Virgin in the rocks. Shows John the Baptist with Jesus. I love this piece. Found in Lourve, Paris too. Because Lourve was so BIG, and I had only 2hours, so the first pieces I zoomed to, were obviously the ones created by Leonardo da Vinci. In case my blog gets taken down because of copyright laws, all these photos are in acknowledgment of wikipedia. =) I dare not show originals I took, in case I get charged.

-Yours truly ;