Da Vinci The Genius

After a quick morning tennis session, I popped down to the Science Centre which is only 5 bus stops away from my home to catch the Da Vinci Exhibition on its second last day.



I thought I was running late. (We were supposed to meet at 10.30am, but when I reached at 11am, I realised that I was still earlier than the rest of my friends!)

No photo taking inside the showcase leaves us taking photos on the outside only.

The old man on the left is Da Vinci? The Mona Lisa.. and the Vitruvian Man.

So there we spent about two and half hours learning about the life and the works of Da Vinci.

Da Vinci was born illegitimate on 15 April 1452, and lived till 2 May 1519.

He was indeed a brilliant man -> we know about Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, the Vitruvian Man.

This curious man who was so keen to find out about how nature works also dissected animals and human bodies and drew out with utmost accuracy of the human anatomy.

Da Vinci claimed to be a good sculptor (and his 'arch-enemy' was actually Michealango) but none of his works survived. There was one commission particularly worth mentioning: A bronze horse 3 times the actual size of the horse. Da Vinci took 16 years to design and make a prototype in plaster. 16 years! Such patience and pain taken to observe nature so that his work will be as perfect and as realistic as ever. Unfortunately, he never got the sculpture casted in bronze because by the time he was ready to cast, the king decided that it was more crucial to use the metal to make a canon for the upcoming war. What a pity!

Apart from art, Da Vinci also designed parachutes and perhaps the first aeroplane (which looked more like a helicopter today). He was indeed an observant man. Initially he made wing-like structures for man to fit their hands in and flap like the birds. But he soon realised that the proportion of the man's body and the "wings" are not in the same ratio as the bird's body and wings. So he discarded that idea because the man-made "wings" would be too heavy for the man's body and he began to look from the perspective of leveraging the effects of nature. From there, he invented a glider of sorts, very much similar to what we are using today.

Da Vinci also invented a scuba diving suit! If you've been to the exhibition, you'll be amazed by his line of thoughts in his invention! The scuba diving suit had a very long pipe which linked to a floating tub made of wood because that would float above water (to reach air) while the diver can swim in the water below!

Because he lived in an era of war, Da Vinci also realised that people can make do more with his ideas for weapons than for his art. As a result, he invented the machine guns, the army "tank", the submarines. He invented a lot of other stuff too. Things which would help people save energy. I can't describe them over here, but those include hammering with an asymmetrical "gear", rotating using natural momentum and using ball bearings to reduce friction.

When we looked at the painting of the Last Supper (yes, i know that the picture's all wrong) but I'm still surprised by the efforts he put in. Instead of drawing the usual halo, he used the light from the window. He subtlely drew Christ bigger than the rest to draw the attention to Him, and he also made the effort to have every symmetrical lines drawn to subtlely intersect at where Jesus is.

As I went through the whole process of Joconde - oh, that's the French name for Mona Lisa, I too am amazed by how intricately Da Vinci had painted her - layer by layer. And all the "additional" touch up today has probably resulted in people not seeing the real thing when they do visit the French Museum! I saw and realised that there are actually background drawings behind where Mona Lisa sat. Apparently, Da Vinci had some sort of a theme.. from man-made to nature to heaven..

Da Vinci was always interested in the beauty and the purpose of nature. To him, there could be no art without science. He is known to be a perfectionist who aimed to reproduce nature perfectly. Because of that, it was unthinkable that he actually left out Mona Lisa's eyebrows and eyelashes in his painting. But then again, Da Vinci had considered Mona Lisa unfinished even at his deathbed (he started painting her at 1503). To him, Art is never finished, only abandoned. Perhaps that's the reason why he carried the painting of Mona Lisa with him whereever he went, and even across countries. Such dedication.. No one knows if it was actually a commissioned work, or otherwise.

Throughout the whole exhibition, I was awed by the thoughts, ideas, concept and inventions and attitude of this genius. Yet, first what caught my attention was the last paragraph at the very beginning of the gallery. And it remained in me a deep impression as I walked through the whole exhibition.

Da Vinci wrote in his journal "I had offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."

Such genius, such brilliant works, yet he declared his work unworthy. What about us? Would we have offended God more because of how much smaller and unworthy our works have been?

One of the last quotes I read in the exhibition hall was this: "Da Vinci believed that truth about the world could only be learned through careful observation and that all theories had to be seen & experienced in the real world."

Perhaps because Da Vinci had believed in himself too much, that he lost sight of the intangible things which cannot be seen -- the unconditional love and grace of God. Da Vinci's works may be unworthy of our Glorious God, but surely, our Gracious God will also have been pleased with his work because he had given his best in it all.

Matthew 25:14-17,19-23

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

Lord, may I be a faithful servant pleasing You with all that You've blessed me with. =)