Points to ponder after learning about Leonardo's life and work.
Leonardo's Childhood
Of the many things he could have done in life, which influences caused Leonardo to decide to become an artist?Describe how receiving nothing more than a basic education may have affected Leonardo's learning habits for the rest of his life.
Do you think that spending a lot of free time outdoors on his grandfather's farm as a child impacted Leonardo's later work? If yes, how, specifically?
Training
How and why had Florence become such a nurturing training ground for artists in Leonardo's time?Besides learning how to draw and paint, what other skills did Leonardo acquire during his apprenticeship?
Travels
Why did Leonardo leave Florence in 1482?When he returned to Florence in 1500, had he gone there directly from Milan?
For what reason did Leonardo spend about a year (1502-03) traveling around central Italy?
Leonardo wasn't called by the Pope to work in Rome until many years after Michelangelo and other Florentine artists had been. Why?
How did Leonardo come to spend his last years in France?
Work Habits
Leonardo is probably the most famous procrastinator of all time, and was well-known during his own for leaving paintings and projects unfinished. Why do you suppose he did this?He took pupils, but had greater luck at securing them in Milan. He was not as fortunate at this in his native Florence. Can you think of any reasons why this might have been?
Of the pupils he took, it is said that Leonardo left no great artists as his teaching legacy. Were they simply not talented artists, did he lack focus as a teacher or might it have been a combination of the two?
