In all his endeavours Leonardo favoured innovation over established knowledge and the traditions of his craft. There are examples of areas where Leonardo prevailed as a magnificent innovator, for e.g. the Sforza horse. Dedicated to the Sforza dynasty of M

In the modern day whence thinking of artists Leonardo da Vinci is possibly one of the world’s greatest, and yet he only shared a small percentage of his time and efforts focused upon the subject. Innovations developed from many of Leonardo’s interests one of which was improvement to aerial perspective.  An insight to Leonardo’s treatise of painting he writes “colours become weaker in proportion to their distance from the person who is looking at them” this was an innovation in art which was recognised by fellow artisans “it would please me if the painter were as learned as possible in all the liberal arts”- (Alberti On Painting 1435) quoted by Serena Quatermaine whence stating such skill requiring “good judgement in composition, inventiveness, and an ability to move the soul” Quatermaine continues “these were such qualities of Leonardo” Quatermaine is quoting Alberti with parity that Leonardo’s achievements in the Arts are both required and valued, above one has read the word inventiveness, which follows suit to innovation. Leonardo da Vinci was recognised as the greatest innovator who ever held a brush. Although fellow artisans and historians mention crafts it is the individual who must innovate to use them, to be remembered.

“Leonardo was startling for his time because as well as seeking truth in the bible or in classical writings, he sought it in the observations of nature, and accurate recording of what he saw”-Museum of Science Boston. This statement is apt as observations were a crucial element in Leonardo da Vinci’s career especially since 1503 when Leonardo conceived the possibility of manned flight. Such observation was imperative, when examining birds. Leonardo’s innovations to create a flying machine, a man with wings and a glider of course centuries ahead of their time had to use his traditional crafts of mathematics and physics to aid his imagination; he further combined his gatherings in his codex of flight. The argument here is that of course Leonardo favoured innovation over any traditional craft. One would suggest that if Leonardo were not educated at all he would still have been able to innovate regardless of any craft he utilised due to his imagination. However since he was a gifted artisan he certainly made use of his abilities in his crafts when commencing with new endeavours. It was innovation which came first as stated, then followed his abilities of perfecting such designs.

Leonardo was not deterred by great minds such as Galen or Aristotle, or forced by ecclesiastical doctrine in the catholic heart of Italy; instead he often challenged their theories. Which would later become a strong movement during the enlightenment called “dare to know” yet Leonardo began his struggles against the religious dogma centuries before, in a time when it was sacrilege, his scientific innovations ensued for the greater development of mankind, similar to Sir Isaac Newton.

Leonardo often made assumptions which were new and bold forming his own theories as to how the eye works and the speed of light, he disagreed with Aristotle and stated light could not be reflected from an object in order to see it, e.g. the sun is too far away thus would take far longer than any nearby object to receive. Therefore stating light did not travel at an infinite velocity. Hence innovations through scientific studies were also evident in Leonardo’s career when he discovered that light was travelling in particular patterns, and not consistently regular between objects. This was a large discovery for the artisan and a successful one to challenge the Aristotelian theme. In answering the question one would suggest that findings from Leonardo’s innovations in sight were indeed favoured over traditional crafts.

The year c1502 The Galata Bridge is the defining moment of Leonardo’s devotion to innovation, the bridge has various innovations including artistic, architectural and ambitious; this was a design wonder which went far beyond the traditional arts and crafts movement of the renaissance. Having never been conceived before this was the first of its size from the Bosporus to connect Constantinople. Had it been constructed it would still be one of the world’s longest bridges. Naturally condemned to be a disaster by contemporise the bridge was unfeasible to all those who simply could not conceptualize the idea. Yet it has acted as an inspiration for later generations of architects. Analysts have since concluded that the design of the Galata Bridge has qualities which are found within “large lightweight structures”. It would not have been until the Industrial revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when technology, materials and engineers were able to fully understand Leonardo’s design needs. Leonardo certainly favoured his innovation it was traditions of the crafts and technology in the early Sixteenth Century which were restraining his great mind when he attempted this feat. “We cannot be certain how Leonardo created his bridge, only that he did produce a viable design” -Mike Richards

Bibliography

Alesandro Vezzosi “Leonardo da Vinci Renaissance Man” (Thames & Hudson 1997)

Edward McCurdy “The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci” (New York 2005)

J Cottler “Man with Wings” (Edinburgh 1945)

Kenneth Clark “Leonardo da Vinci” (London 1958)

Michael White “Leonardo the First Scientist” (London 2003)

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