Leonardo da Vinci was one of the great masters due to his vast understanding of perspective, light, shadows and coloring. He developed this understanding through observation and experimentation. He was both a scientist and an artist, and the way he combined the two made his paintings extraordinary. I love art, especially his painting depicting “The Last Supper”. That is why I chose to research Leonardo da Vinci. The way he used his talents and scientific knowledge is very significant to me, because I learned his thought process and gained a better understanding of the effort that he put into his paintings. Leonardo observed and came to the conclusion that anything we see in the light is not its true color, due to shadows. In his notebooks, he would make notes about how and where light originates, and the deviation of light to darkness. His scientific ideas led him to concentrate on light in his art. It was amazing how he would study each of his paintings, and calculate where each object should be placed within its optical context. He would carefully arrange the people first, and then determine the reflection and refraction of light on other objects in the painting. It was important to him to know where the shadows would fall on their faces. …show more content…
His studies in astronomy gave him a greater understanding of light. He asked the question, “Why is moonlight fainter than sunlight, and why are some areas of the moon darker than others?” He was convinced that the quality of light depended on the composition of the moon. If the moon was smooth, the sun would only be a spot of intense light. Therefore, he concluded that the moon was covered with a layer of water, which reflected the