The Vitruvian Man (c. 1485) Accademia, Venice (photograph courtesy of Luc Viatour – www.lucnix.be)

Leonardo da Vinci almost needs no introduction.  You know of his famous artworks.  Even the youngest Readers of my Blogs will have seen da Vinci’s works referenced on television and in published articles.

Best-selling books such as ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown have further catapulted this great Painter and Inventor’s fame throughout the globe to a growing international audience.

The Vitruvian Man is undoubtedly a gifted composition especially when studying other Vitruvius inspired artworks depicting the human form in an architectural manner.  Da Vinci had a thirst for knowledge, learning and personal interpretation.

Please take a look at his scientific drawing of human anatomy here:

It is inconceivable that Charles Darwin and his Scientific contemporaries of the 19th Century would be unaware of such detailed representations of biological organisms and detailed architecture.

Looking back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans it’s clear art and architecture are two crafts interlinked with each other.  Ancient Egyptian architecture is art and proceeding cultures literally built upon this past ingenuity, developing powerfully sculpted themes of their own much as we do today across various art genres.

In every perceptible way our minds are constantly acquiring information.

With regards to Leonardo da Vinci the most apt quotation I wish to reference within this Blog is that ‘The Eyes Are The Window To The Soul’.

We can see his thirst for knowledge and his personal interests within his paintings.

Over proceeding minutes I’m going to look at most every Leonardo art work and write with pen on paper using pure Hyper Intuition – detailing his personality as best I can, unedited.

You can call it a Sixth Sense if you prefer.  I quite like the description Hyper Intuition as the mind naturally collects data from as many senses as we are able to perceive and draws upon the information usefully.  Perhaps at the end of my Blog I will tell you a little story too.  Maybe it’s fiction, maybe it’s true.

Anyway here goes, completely unedited:

“Order, symmetry, higher-purpose, perfectionist, disparate, immensely technical, exceptionally organised, fragile, secretive, caring, awe-inspired, Head of Leda – most interesting, loved and loathed human nature, not flamboyant, reserved in habits.”

30 words. Doesn’t seem like 5 minutes of careful consideration however I was trying not to enjoy his beautiful work too much and focus on his sensibilities.  I actually laughed loudly when I quickly looked at the ‘Head of Leda’.  Hyper Intuition, what a glorious choice.

Quite the charming lady, wouldn’t you say?

I appreciate that my own personality chose this from other great art works by Leonardo.  Absolutely exquisite.  Hopefully I’m not the only person to have nearly fell off their chair whilst trying to concentrate.

Oh the story?  I will tell this best I can.

A well known railway station.  A certain man carries his much loved briefcase.  A gift.  Suddenly he is aware of eyes upon him, he knows not where except he absolutely does know.  He is looking above to where eyes are not, and yet eyes he perceives.  Cosseting his much loved briefcase closely; its unimportant contents of no concern.  After awhile he walks about taking in sights and sounds and the jostling of a multitudinous peoples.

Sitting relaxed at a retired strong boat and a famed bridge upon a river.  A certain man takes pictures of the sights opposite.  Architectural designs and shapes that are pleasing to his eyes.  He sits upon one of the benches perhaps to eat or rest from walking.

The bespectacled man appears and sits down.  Robust yet likeable of character.  He also has a briefcase.  What a wonderfully small world.  Politely a certain man smiles and says hello in forethought to relax the bespectacled man’s seemingly unknown interest and concentration.  The easy conversation works and all is very well.

Hyper Intuition.  Sometimes it’s best to pretend there are things that you don’t know.

Interestingly I once photographed three ducks in a gorgeous sunset.  Regrettably I no longer have this photo to share with you.  Thankfully I still have my much loved briefcase.