Leonardo Da Vinci's Accomplishments

The Genius of the Renaissance Famous figures are usually discussed in terms of perfection and flawlessness. That is how people first view Leonardo da Vinci. He was born in 1452, in the town of Vinci, Italy, and admittedly he was an extraordinary child, always fascinated with the scenery and objects around him. When he was around the age of twelve, his biological father sent da Vinci’s drawings to a famous Florentine painter and sculptor, Andrea del Verrocchio. He thought da Vinci’s drawings were very impressive and soon it was arranged for Leonardo da Vinci to become an apprentice. Under the care and teachings of Andrea del Verrocchio, da Vinci learned how to prepare wooden panels for painting, how to grind color by hand, how to make …show more content…
As the years went by, da Vinci showed increasing mastery in the fields of science, engineering, and art. He thought up some of the greatest ideas that are still used today such as cars, submarines, helicopters, flying machines, which would not even have been invented for many more years. People wonder why da Vinci was not recognized as a great artist while he was alive. Unfortunately, Leonardo da Vinci had flaws, just like any other human being. He procrastinated on many of his assigned projects and was very disorganized. He died unhappy because he did not think anything was ever accomplished. He was given many opportunities to prove his genius, but he failed to complete most of his projects which kept him from being acknowledged as a mastermind while he was still alive. Even though Leonardo da Vinci portrayed many characteristics of a modern high school student such as disorganization, procrastination, and incompletion of many projects, the projects that were finished are looked upon as …show more content…
He seemed “endlessly distracted” by his notebooks and experiments because he understood the “fleeting quality of imagination” (Pannapacker 3). Leonardo da Vinci believed that if one did not get an insight down on paper and later develop it while the “excitement lasts” one is “squandering the rarest” and “most unpredictable” of his human capabilities which feels like the moments are “touched by the hand of God” (Pannapacker 3). One of the biggest examples of da Vinci’s procrastinations were his notebooks. He kept them for a long time, away from people’s eyes and never thought of ever publishing them, stating that they were “never quite finished” (Williams 45). He left his notebooks a mess and never published “the treatises” that could have modernized science during his lifetime. Furthermore, Leonardo da Vinci was more interested by his inventions and solving the glitches of those inventions rather than actually trying to build them. His procrastination caused him much grief in later years and despite his contributions he felt he could have achieved much more. As a result of his procrastination, da Vinci did not receive very good pay therefore he was never able to live in lavish homes or have any luxurious