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Lesson 6 
Art Master of the Week: Leonardo da Vinci was born on Saturday, April 15th, 1452 in Vinci, Italy. We recognize his name from his most famous works, The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. He was an artist who was famous during his lifetime for his many works. He was a artist, musician and inventor. We discussed 3-D pictures in a previous lesson. It is said that Leonardo told fellow artists to place a light figure in front of a dark background in order to make it look 3 dimensional. This is called the chiaroscuro style, using lights and darks to show depth and dimension. This truly shows in his painting of Ginevra de'Benci. Her face and hair looks like he shined a light on it while the bush placed behind her is very dark. Leonardo today has some of his paintings preserved in the Louvre in Paris, one of the greatest museums in the world. His painting of The Last Supper of Christ has the disciples in groups of 3 with 6 total on each side of Christ. Each group of 3 is interacting with each other. The whole painting is telling the story to you as you see it. Jesus is sad as he looks down. His right hand reaches for a glass of wine and his left is palm up gesturing towards the unleavened bread that he will bless, break and eat with his disciples. Leonardo wrote that "the good painter has essentially two things to represent: a person and that person's state of mind. The first is easy, the second is difficult, for one has to achieve it through the gestures and movements of the limbs." In order to keep his works secret Leonardo wrote his notes backwards in either print or cursive. This is also called mirror writing because you need to hold it in front of a mirror to read it.
Site of the Week: Leonardo da Vinci
Additional Sites to look at: Leonardo Da Vinci: Man of Both Worlds
Mark Harden's Artchive - "Leonardo da Vinci"
Master Page This page contains the music of Leonardo
the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
Art Project Supplies: picture of yourself, 1 piece white thick construction paper or small poster board, scraps of veggies or odds and edds around the house or yard, paint, (optional for older kids: bar of soap or potato, potato/carrot peeler), glue.
Art Project: By now you've probably seen Leonardo's painting titled "Mona Lisa." Today we are going to take a picture of us smiling = ) and make a frame for it using a type of print making. Cut out a piece of poster board the size you would like your picture frame to be. I like to use an 8 x 10 because it gives you plenty of working space and will fit in a glass frame when your picture is finished for hanging. After you have your poster board cut take your picture and place it in the center of the board and trace around it with a pencil. Once you've traced around your picture remove it to a safe area until your frame is finished and then we will glue it back in place. Younger children can use leaves, pieces of veggies, pieces of bark, nuts and bolts, etc. Dip the edge in your paint or paint the edge with a brush and press it down on your poster board anywhere around the outside edge of your pencil mark. Fill in your whole frame with your prints. You can try to make a design or just make prints in any order you want. Older children can take a bar of soap and a hand held potato/carrot peeler. Make a simple design on your soap with the tip of your peeler and then peel away around it. This will leave your design raised and you can dip it in your paint, press it on your frame and have a "block print." You can also do this with a potato. Slice your potato in half, draw your design and cut away the potato around your design just on the top. When your prints are dry you can glue your picture inside. How does your Mona Lisa smile look?
Optional Science Project: Did you know there is currently an annual science competition in Leonardo's name! Check out past ones at: Da Vinci home page
Optional Writing Project:When Leonardo was born, Johannes Gensfleisch of Mayence, better known as Guetenberg, had just invented a printing press with movable type. What would you write about if you had a printing press? Maybe you could even do a report on the Guetenberg Press. Can you find a picture of it on the web or in the library? Here are a couple of sites you might enjoy learning more about printing at:
Optional History Project: The evolution of the rotary wing aircraft goes back to LEONARDO DA VINCI What can you find out about the rotary wing aircraft? Can you find and list other inventions of Leonardo's? Did you know he worked out his own cosmology which is the system of the universe. Can you make your own chart of the solar system?
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