meant the discovery of America, the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, who today is considered a master of literature, Michelangelo -- an Italian artist who painted the Sistine Chapel, Leonardo da Vinci -- artist and scientist whose works included the world famous painting Mona Lisa, and Raphael -- another great artist from Italy whose work also can be seen in the Sistine Chapel. These people were all individuals each of whom made great contributions in their field by understanding and learning from the past and bringing that into their works.Leonardo da Vinci is a good example of the perfect personification of the Renaissance belief in man’s power to shape his own destiny and to shape the world as an individual. He was born as the illegitimate son of a Tuscan village notary and a 16-year-old peasant girl, and was said to have died in the arms of the King of France. Throughout his life, Leonardo da Vinci accomplished many things as both a scientist and an artist. One of his greatest works is The Last Supper. It represents the theme of Jesus sharing a last meal with his disciples telling them that one of them will betray him. The interesting part here is that da Vinci brings a classical theme to life, but he does it using an experimental technique that unfortunately was doomed from the beginning and caused the painting to decade very early. Another thing that sets Leonardo da Vinci’s work aside from other paintings over the same theme is the way he used math in the construction of his painting. Looking at The Last Supper, we notice how the disciples are grouped in units of three, centering the figure of Christ in the middle of the picture. This shows how he as a Renaissance man not only gave rebirth to classical values and ideas, but also how he as an individual contributed to those with his own experimenting ideas and methods.Leonardo da Vinci was not the only talented artist from that period. In fact, there were many; another...
