105-541: Fiesole ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈfjɛːzole] ) is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany , on a scenic height above Florence , 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Founded in the seventh century BC as Vipsul, the city became one of the most important and earliest urban centres of
210-455: A kite came to his cradle and opened his mouth with its tail; commentators still debate whether the anecdote was an actual memory or a fantasy. In the mid-1460s, Leonardo's family moved to Florence, which at the time was the centre of Christian Humanist thought and culture. Around the age of 14, he became a garzone (studio boy) in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio , who was the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his time. This
315-504: A building usually called the municipio , or palazzo comunale ( lit. ' town hall ' ). As of January 2021, there were 7,904 comuni in Italy; they vary considerably in size and population. For example, the comune of Rome , in Lazio , has an area of 1,287.36 km (497.05 sq mi) and a population of 2,758,454 inhabitants, and is both the largest and
420-461: A commission from the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. It is a complex composition, of about 250 x 250 centimetres. Leonardo did numerous drawings and preparatory studies, including a detailed one in linear perspective of the ruined classical architecture that forms part of the background. In 1482 Leonardo went to Milan at the behest of Lorenzo de' Medici in order to win favour with Ludovico il Moro, and
525-827: A comune as rione ( Italian: [riˈoːne] ; pl. : rioni ) or contrade . The term originated from the administrative divisions of Rome, and is derived from the Latin word regio ( pl. : regiones ), meaning "region". All currently extant rioni are located in Municipio I of Rome. The term has been adopted as a synonym of quartiere in the Italian comuni . Terzieri , quartieri , sestieri , rioni , and their analogues are usually no longer administrative divisions of these towns, but historical and traditional communities, seen especially in towns' annual Palio . A terziere ( pl. : terzieri )
630-612: A finger in her bible to mark the place and raises her hand in a formal gesture of greeting or surprise. This calm young woman appears to accept her role as the Mother of God , not with resignation but with confidence. In this painting, the young Leonardo presents the humanist face of the Virgin Mary, recognising humanity's role in God's incarnation. In the 1480s, Leonardo received two very important commissions and commenced another work that
735-469: A frequent namesake and subject in culture . Leonardo is identified as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art and is often credited as the founder of the High Renaissance. Despite having many lost works and fewer than 25 attributed major works – including numerous unfinished works – he created some of the most influential paintings in
840-537: A fur-lined cloak. On 12 August 1519, Leonardo's remains were interred in the Collegiate Church of Saint Florentin at the Château d'Amboise. Some 20 years after Leonardo's death, Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he
945-454: A hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined." Leonardo, instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso , resulting in a surface subject to mould and to flaking. Despite this, the painting remains one of the most reproduced works of art; countless copies have been made in various mediums. Toward the end of this period, in 1498 Leonardo's trompe-l'œil decoration of
1050-665: A letter which described the diverse things that he could achieve in the fields of engineering and weapon design, and mentioned that he could paint. He brought with him a silver string instrument – either a lute or lyre – in the form of a horse's head. With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to know the older Humanist philosophers of whom Marsiglio Ficino , proponent of Neoplatonism ; Cristoforo Landino , writer of commentaries on Classical writings, and John Argyropoulos , teacher of Greek and translator of Aristotle were
1155-646: A local oral tradition recorded by the historian Emanuele Repetti , is that he was born in Anchiano , a country hamlet that would have offered sufficient privacy for the illegitimate birth, though it is still possible he was born in a house in Florence that Ser Piero almost certainly had. Leonardo's parents both married separately the year after his birth. Caterina – who later appears in Leonardo's notes as only "Caterina" or "Catelina" –
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#17327717794751260-594: A painting commission of unknown subject matter, but cancelled it when the artist set about developing a new kind of varnish . Leonardo became ill, in what may have been the first of multiple strokes leading to his death. He practised botany in the Vatican Gardens , and was commissioned to make plans for the Pope's proposed draining of the Pontine Marshes . He also dissected cadavers , making notes for
1365-456: A posthumous inventory of his belongings; it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait. Despite the thousands of pages Leonardo left in notebooks and manuscripts, he scarcely made reference to his personal life. Within Leonardo's lifetime, his extraordinary powers of invention, his "great physical beauty" and "infinite grace," as described by Vasari , as well as all other aspects of his life, attracted
1470-734: A priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament . Vasari also records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story may be legend rather than fact. In accordance with his will, sixty beggars carrying tapers followed Leonardo's casket. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving, as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo's other long-time pupil and companion, Salaì, and his servant Baptista de Vilanis, each received half of Leonardo's vineyards . His brothers received land, and his serving woman received
1575-410: A rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a lily. Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now generally attributed to Leonardo. In the smaller painting, Mary averts her eyes and folds her hands in a gesture that symbolised submission to God's will. Mary is not submissive, however, in the larger piece. The girl, interrupted in her reading by this unexpected messenger, puts
1680-643: A rocky landscape rather than architectural details. The painting was eventually finished; in fact, two versions of the painting were finished: one remained at the chapel of the Confraternity, while Leonardo took the other to France. The Brothers did not get their painting, however, nor the de Predis their payment, until the next century. Leonardo's most remarkable portrait of this period is the Lady with an Ermine , presumed to be Cecilia Gallerani ( c. 1483–1490 ), lover of Ludovico Sforza. The painting
1785-538: A separate ruler, through the arbitration of Venice, which were known as sestieri . The island of Crete , a Venetian colony (the Kingdom of Candia ) from the Fourth Crusade , was also divided into six parts, named after the sestieri of Venice herself, while the capital Candia retained the status of a comune of Venice. The island of Burano north of Venice is also subdivided into sestieri . A variation of
1890-492: A successful career. Despite his family history, Leonardo only received a basic and informal education in (vernacular) writing, reading, and mathematics; possibly because his artistic talents were recognised early, so his family decided to focus their attention there. Later in life, Leonardo recorded his earliest memory, now in the Codex Atlanticus . While writing on the flight of birds, he recalled as an infant when
1995-620: A synonymous of neighbourhood, and an Italian town can be now subdivided into a larger number of quartieri . The Swiss town of Lugano (in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino) is also subdivided into quarters. The English word quarter to mean an urban neighbourhood (e.g. the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana) is derived from the cognate old French word quartier . A sestiere ( pl. : sestieri )
2100-450: A time. This was beyond the comprehension of the prior of the convent, who hounded him until Leonardo asked Ludovico to intervene. Vasari describes how Leonardo, troubled over his ability to adequately depict the faces of Christ and the traitor Judas , told the duke that he might be obliged to use the prior as his model. The painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterisation, but it deteriorated rapidly, so that within
2205-406: A town plan of Imola in order to win his patronage. Upon seeing it, Cesare hired Leonardo as his chief military engineer and architect. Later in the year, Leonardo produced another map for his patron, one of Chiana Valley , Tuscany, so as to give his patron a better overlay of the land and greater strategic position. He created this map in conjunction with his other project of constructing a dam from
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#17327717794752310-513: A treatise on vocal cords ; these he gave to an official in hopes of regaining the Pope's favour, but he was unsuccessful. In October 1515, King Francis I of France recaptured Milan. On 21 March 1516 Antonio Maria Pallavicini, the French ambassador to the Holy See , received a letter sent from Lyon a week previously by the royal advisor Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet , containing
2415-401: A very young man: a local peasant made himself a round buckler shield and requested that Ser Piero have it painted for him. Leonardo, inspired by the story of Medusa , responded with a painting of a monster spitting fire that was so terrifying that his father bought a different shield to give to the peasant and sold Leonardo's to a Florentine art dealer for 100 ducats , who in turn sold it to
2520-470: Is a list of the largest comuni in Italy, in descending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011. The provincial capitals are highlighted in bold. The following is a list of the smallest comuni in Italy, in ascending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011. The following is a list of the first comuni by altitude, in descending order. The indicated altitude coincides with
2625-454: Is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from sesto ( lit. ' sixth ' ), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the sestieri of Venice , but Ascoli Piceno , Genoa , Milan and Rapallo , for example, were also divided into sestieri . The medieval Lordship of Negroponte , on the island of Euboea , was also at times divided into six districts, each with
2730-609: Is a subdivision of several towns in Italy . The word derives from terzo ( lit. ' third ' ) and is thus used only for towns divided into three neighborhoods. Terzieri are most commonly found in Umbria , for example in Trevi , Spello , Narni and Città della Pieve ; towns divided into terzieri in other regions include Lucca in Tuscany , and Ancona and Macerata in
2835-460: Is characterised by the pose of the figure with the head turned at a very different angle to the torso, unusual at a date when many portraits were still rigidly in profile. The ermine plainly carries symbolic meaning, relating either to the sitter, or to Ludovico who belonged to the prestigious Order of the Ermine . Leonardo's most famous painting of the 1490s is The Last Supper , commissioned for
2940-724: Is granted to comuni that have been awarded it by decree of the King of Italy (until 1946) or of the provisional head of state (from 1946 to 1948) or, subsequently, of the President of the Republic (after 1948), on the proposal of the Ministry of the Interior , to which the comune concerned sends an application for a concession, by virtue of their historical, artistic, civic or demographic importance. The comuni endowed with
3045-541: Is speculation that since one of the accused, Lionardo de Tornabuoni, was related to Lorenzo de' Medici, the family exerted its influence to secure the dismissal. Since that date much has been written about his presumed homosexuality and its role in his art, particularly in the androgyny and eroticism manifested in Saint John the Baptist and Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings. Despite
3150-482: Is the only extant example of Leonardo's sculpture. Leonardo was otherwise free to pursue his scientific interests. Many of Leonardo's most prominent pupils either knew or worked with him in Milan, including Bernardino Luini , Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio , and Marco d'Oggiono . In 1507, Leonardo was in Florence sorting out a dispute with his brothers over the estate of his father, who had died in 1504. By 1508, Leonardo
3255-483: Is the setting of the frame narrative of the Decameron . Boccaccio 's poem Il Ninfale fiesolano is a mythological account of the origins of the community. It is also documented that the artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci experimented for the first time with early flying models on the hills of Fiesole. In the neighborhood are: The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio is set in the slopes of Fiesole. The city
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3360-567: Is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ( regioni ) and provinces ( province ). The comune can also have the title of città ( lit. ' city ' ). Formed praeter legem according to the principles consolidated in medieval municipalities , the comune is provided for by article 114 of the Constitution of Italy . It can be divided into frazioni , which in turn may have limited power due to special elective assemblies. In
3465-573: Is usually identified as the Caterina Buti del Vacca, who married the local artisan Antonio di Piero Buti del Vacca, nicknamed L'Accattabriga , 'the quarrelsome one'. Ser Piero married Albiera Amadori – having been betrothed to her the previous year – and after her death in 1464, went on to have three subsequent marriages. From all the marriages, Leonardo eventually had 16 half-siblings (of whom 11 survived infancy) who were much younger than he (the last
3570-559: Is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works comprise a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary Michelangelo . Born out of wedlock to a successful notary and a lower-class woman in, or near, Vinci , he was educated in Florence by the Italian painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio . He began his career in
3675-411: The frazioni , but the comune still retains the name of the capoluogo . In some cases, a comune might not have the same name of capoluogo . In these cases, it is a comune sparso ( lit. ' dispersed comune ' ) and the frazione which hosts the town hall ( municipio ) is a sede municipale (compare county seat ). Some towns refer to neighborhoods within
3780-584: The Duke of Milan . By 1472, at the age of 20, Leonardo qualified as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke , the guild of artists and doctors of medicine, but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate and live with him. Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a 1473 pen-and-ink drawing of the Arno valley (see below). According to Vasari,
3885-544: The Etruscan Viesul , Viśl , Vipsul ) was probably founded sometime during the ninth century BC, as it was an important member of the Etruscan confederacy. The remains of its prehistoric walls and ancient structures have been preserved and an archaeological museum in the town presents artifacts from and information about these cultural periods. The earliest known recorded mention of the town dates to 283 BC, when
3990-485: The Marches . The medieval Lordship of Negroponte , on the island of Euboea , was also divided into three distinct rulerships, which were known as terzieri . A quartiere ( Italian: [kwarˈtjɛːre] ; pl. : quartieri ) is a territorial subdivision, properly used, for towns divided into four neighborhoods ( quarto ; lit. ' fourth ' ) by the two main roads. It has been later used as
4095-680: The Mona Lisa , the Last Supper , and the Virgin of the Rocks . Leonardo first gained attention for his work on the Baptism of Christ , painted in conjunction with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at Verrocchio's workshop, both of which are Annunciations . One is small, 59 centimetres (23 in) long and 14 cm (5.5 in) high. It is a " predella " to go at
4200-529: The Renaissance . Some of his smaller inventions, however, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy , civil engineering, hydrodynamics , geology, optics , and tribology , but he did not publish his findings and they had little to no direct influence on subsequent science. Leonardo da Vinci, properly named Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ("Leonardo, son of ser Piero from Vinci"),
4305-831: The Sala delle Asse was painted for the Duke of Milan in the Castello Sforzesco . In 1505, Leonardo was commissioned to paint The Battle of Anghiari in the Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred) in the Palazzo Vecchio , Florence. Leonardo devised a dynamic composition depicting four men riding raging war horses engaged in a battle for possession of a standard, at the Battle of Anghiari in 1440. Michelangelo
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4410-458: The Western canon . The Mona Lisa is his best known work and is the world's most famous individual painting. The Last Supper is the most reproduced religious painting of all time and his Vitruvian Man drawing is also regarded as a cultural icon. In 2017, Salvator Mundi , attributed in whole or part to Leonardo, was sold at auction for US$ 450.3 million , setting a new record for
4515-477: The most expensive painting ever sold at public auction. Revered for his technological ingenuity , he conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle , concentrated solar power, a ratio machine that could be used in an adding machine , and the double hull . Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime, as the modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during
4620-644: The province of Isernia has 81,415 inhabitants in 52 comuni , or 1,640 inhabitants per comune – roughly 24 times more communal units per inhabitant. The coats of arms of the comuni are assigned by decree of the Prime Minister of Italy by the Office of State Ceremonial and Honors, Honors and Heraldry Service (division of the Presidency of the Council born from the transformation of
4725-507: The 1490s Leonardo had already been described as a "Divine" painter. Among the qualities that make Leonardo's work unique are his innovative techniques for laying on the paint; his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology; his interest in physiognomy and the way humans register emotion in expression and gesture; his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition; and his use of subtle gradation of tone. All these qualities come together in his most famous painted works,
4830-474: The 16th century that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Walter Isaacson in his biography of Leonardo makes explicit his opinion that the relations with Salaì were intimate and homosexual. Earlier in Leonardo's life, court records of 1476, when he was aged twenty-four, show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with sodomy in an incident involving a known male prostitute. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence, and there
4935-402: The Baptist , a work that won such admiration that "men [and] women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if they were going to a solemn festival." In Cesena in 1502, Leonardo entered the service of Cesare Borgia , the son of Pope Alexander VI , acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron. Leonardo created a map of Cesare Borgia's stronghold,
5040-498: The Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie . In the spring of 1485, Leonardo travelled to Hungary (on behalf of Sforza) to meet king Matthias Corvinus , and was commissioned by him to paint a Madonna . In 1490 he was called as a consultant, together with Francesco di Giorgio Martini , for the building site of the cathedral of Pavia and
5145-526: The Duke of Milan to paint the Sala delle Asse in the Sforza Castle , c. 1498. The project became a trompe-l'œil decoration that made the great hall appear to be a pergola created by the interwoven limbs of sixteen mulberry trees, whose canopy included an intricate labyrinth of leaves and knots on the ceiling. When Ludovico Sforza was overthrown by France in 1500, Leonardo fled Milan for Venice , accompanied by his assistant Salaì and friend,
5250-461: The Etruscan civilisation. Since the fourteenth century, the city has always been considered a getaway for members of the upper class of Florence and, up to this day, Fiesole remains noted for its very expensive residential properties, just as well as its centuries-old villas and their formal gardens. The city is generally considered to be the wealthiest and most affluent suburb of Florence. In 2016,
5355-630: The Etruscan town, then known as Faesulae , was conquered by the Romans . In Roman antiquity, it was the seat of a famous school of augurs and, every year, twelve young men were sent there from Rome to study the art of divination. The old town was either destroyed in the Social War or alternatively by Sulla in 80 BC, in reprisal for supporting the populares faction in Rome. Sulla later colonized it with veterans. This colony who afterward, under
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#17327717794755460-405: The French king's instructions to assist Leonardo in his relocation to France and to inform the artist that the King was eagerly awaiting his arrival. Pallavicini was also asked to reassure Leonardo that he would be well received at court, both by the King and by his mother, Louise of Savoy . Leonardo entered Francis's service later that year, and was given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé near
5565-462: The Holy Family on the road to Egypt. The painting demonstrates an eerie beauty as the graceful figures kneel in adoration around the infant Christ in a wild landscape of tumbling rock and whirling water. While the painting is quite large, about 200×120 centimetres , it is not nearly as complex as the painting ordered by the monks of San Donato, having only four figures rather than about fifty and
5670-472: The King's residence at the royal Château d'Amboise . He was frequently visited by Francis, and drew plans for an immense castle town the King intended to erect at Romorantin . He also made a mechanical lion, which during a pageant walked towards the King and – upon being struck by a wand – opened its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies. Leonardo was accompanied during this time by his friend and apprentice Francesco Melzi, and
5775-500: The Royal Consulta Araldica , eliminated pursuant to the provisions final of the Constitution of Italy ). Administrative subdivisions within comuni vary according to their population size. Comuni with at least 250,000 residents are divided into circoscrizioni (roughly equivalent to French arrondissements or London boroughs ) to which the comune delegates administrative functions like
5880-414: The art of combining complex figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. Piero della Francesca had made a detailed study of perspective , and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and Leon Battista Alberti 's treatise De pictura were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks. Much of
5985-643: The artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting, and modelling. Leonardo was a contemporary of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino, who were all slightly older than he was. He would have met them at the workshop of Verrocchio or at the Platonic Academy of the Medici . Florence was ornamented by the works of artists such as Donatello's contemporaries Masaccio , whose figurative frescoes were imbued with realism and emotion, and Ghiberti , whose Gates of Paradise , gleaming with gold leaf , displayed
6090-495: The autonomous region of the Aosta Valley , a comune is officially called a commune in French. The comune provides essential public services: registry of births and deaths, registry of deeds , and maintenance of local roads and public works. Many comuni have a Polizia Comunale ( lit. ' Communal Police ' ), which is responsible for public order duties. The comune also deal with
6195-475: The base of a larger composition, a painting by Lorenzo di Credi from which it has become separated. The other is a much larger work, 217 cm (85 in) long. In both Annunciations, Leonardo used a formal arrangement, like two well-known pictures by Fra Angelico of the same subject, of the Virgin Mary sitting or kneeling to the right of the picture, approached from the left by an angel in profile, with
6300-526: The capital of the province of Reggio Emilia , in the Emilia-Romagna region, and Reggio di Calabria , the capital of the homonymous metropolitan city , in the Calabria region. Many other towns or villages are likewise partial homonyms (e.g. Anzola dell'Emilia and Anzola d'Ossola , or Bagnara Calabra and Bagnara di Romagna ). The title of città ( lit. ' city ' ) in Italy
6405-775: The city had the highest median family income in the whole of Tuscany. Fiesole is a centre of higher education. The campus of the European University Institute is situated in the suburb and uses several historical buildings including the Badia Faesolina and the Villa Schifanoia. Additionally, the American universities, Harvard , Georgetown , and Saint Mary's of Minnesota all maintain campuses at Fiesole. Fiesole ( Latin Faesulae from
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#17327717794756510-613: The city, but then spent much time in the service of Ludovico Sforza in Milan. Later, he worked in Florence and Milan again, as well as briefly in Rome , all while attracting a large following of imitators and students. Upon the invitation of Francis I , he spent his last three years in France, where he died in 1519. Since his death, there has not been a time where his achievements, diverse interests, personal life , and empirical thinking have failed to incite interest and admiration, making him
6615-416: The coalition of the elected mayor (who needs a relative majority or an absolute majority in the first or second round of voting, depending on the population) gains three fifths of the consiglio 's seats. The giunta comunale is chaired by the mayor, who appoints others members, called assessori , one of whom serves as deputy mayor ( vicesindaco ). The offices of the comune are housed in
6720-523: The curiosity of others. One such aspect was his love for animals, likely including vegetarianism and according to Vasari, a habit of purchasing caged birds and releasing them. Leonardo had many friends who are now notable either in their fields or for their historical significance, including mathematician Luca Pacioli , with whom he collaborated on the book Divina proportione in the 1490s. Leonardo appears to have had no close relationships with women except for his friendship with Cecilia Gallerani and
6825-459: The definition and compliance with the piano regolatore generale ( lit. ' general regulator plan ' ), a document that regulates the building activity within the communal area. All communal structures or schools, sports and cultural structures such as communal libraries, theaters, etc. are managed by the comuni . Comuni must have their own communal statute and have a climatic and seismic classification of their territory for
6930-509: The foreground sprawls his symbol, a great lion whose body and tail make a double spiral across the base of the picture space. The other remarkable feature is the sketchy landscape of craggy rocks against which the figure is silhouetted. The daring display of figure composition, the landscape elements and personal drama also appear in the great unfinished masterpiece, the Adoration of the Magi ,
7035-528: The foremost. Also associated with the Platonic Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher Pico della Mirandola . In 1482, Leonardo was sent as an ambassador by Lorenzo de' Medici to Ludovico il Moro , who ruled Milan between 1479 and 1499. Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 1499. He was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks for
7140-407: The height above sea level of the town hall. List of the first comuni by population in descending order, according to ISTAT data updated to 28 February 2022. The regional capitals are in bold. The data is updated as of 1 January 2021. The data is updated as of 1 January 2021. Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519)
7245-530: The household of his paternal grandfather, Antonio da Vinci, but it is possible that he spent the years before then in the care of his mother in Vinci, either Anchiano or Campo Zeppi in the parish of San Pantaleone. He is thought to have been close to his uncle, Francesco da Vinci, but his father was probably in Florence most of the time. Ser Piero, who was the descendant of a long line of notaries, established an official residence in Florence by at least 1469 and had
7350-527: The leadership of Gaius Mallius, supported the cause of Catilina . The Roman theatre, below the cathedral to the northeast, has 19 tiers of stone seats and is 37 yards (34 m) in diameter. It has been restored partially enough to provide a good idea of its structure. Above it is an embanking wall of irregular masonry, and below it some remains of Roman baths, including five parallel vaults of concrete. More than 1,000 silver denarii , all coined before 63 BC, were found at Faesulae in 1829. A small museum contains
7455-444: The mathematician Luca Pacioli . In Venice, Leonardo was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack. On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of Santissima Annunziata and were provided with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the cartoon of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John
7560-421: The most populated. Atrani in the province of Salerno ( Campania ) was the smallest comune by area, with only 0.1206 km (0.0466 sq mi), and Morterone ( Lombardy ) is the smallest by population. Many present-day comuni trace their roots along timescales spanning centuries and at times millennia. The northernmost comune is Predoi , the southernmost one Lampedusa e Linosa ,
7665-405: The next thirty years. Salaì executed a number of paintings under the name of Andrea Salaì, but although Vasari claims that Leonardo "taught him many things about painting," his work is generally considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils, such as Marco d'Oggiono and Boltraffio . At the time of his death in 1524, Salaì owned a painting referred to as Joconda in
7770-679: The objects found in the excavations of the theatre. Fiesole was the scene of Stilicho 's great victory over the Germanic hordes of the Vandals and Suebi under Radagaisus in 406. During the Gothic War (536–553), the town was besieged several times. In 539, Justin , the Byzantine general, captured it and razed its fortifications. It was an independent town for several centuries in the early Middle Ages, no less powerful than Florence in
7875-799: The only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, Donatello 's Gattamelata in Padua and Verrocchio's Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, and became known as the Gran Cavallo . Leonardo completed a model for the horse and made detailed plans for its casting , but in November 1494, Ludovico gave the metal to his brother-in-law to be used for a cannon to defend the city from Charles VIII of France . Contemporary correspondence records that Leonardo and his assistants were commissioned by
7980-482: The painting in Verrocchio's workshop was done by his assistants. According to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his The Baptism of Christ ( c. 1472–1475 ), painting the young angel holding Jesus's robe with skill so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio purportedly put down his brush and never painted again (the latter claim probably being apocryphal). The new technique of oil paint
8085-448: The painting is barely begun, the composition can be seen and is very unusual. Jerome , as a penitent , occupies the middle of the picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His kneeling form takes on a trapezoid shape, with one arm stretched to the outer edge of the painting and his gaze looking in the opposite direction. J. Wasserman points out the link between this painting and Leonardo's anatomical studies. Across
8190-430: The painting was abandoned. The third important work of this period is the Virgin of the Rocks , commissioned in Milan for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. The painting, to be done with the assistance of the de Predis brothers , was to fill a large complex altarpiece . Leonardo chose to paint an apocryphal moment of the infancy of Christ when the infant John the Baptist , in protection of an angel, met
8295-583: The papacy (as Leo X); Leonardo went to Rome that September, where he was received by the pope's brother Giuliano . From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere Courtyard in the Apostolic Palace , where Michelangelo and Raphael were both active. Leonardo was given an allowance of 33 ducats a month and, according to Vasari, decorated a lizard with scales dipped in quicksilver . The pope gave him
8400-466: The purposes of hazard mitigation and civil protection . Comuni also deal with the waste management . It is headed by a mayor ( sindaco or sindaca ) assisted by a legislative body, the consiglio comunale ( lit. ' communal council ' ), and an executive body, the giunta comunale ( lit. ' communal committee ' ). The mayor and members of the consiglio comunale are elected together by resident citizens:
8505-447: The recent awareness and admiration of Leonardo as a scientist and inventor, for the better part of four hundred years his fame rested on his achievements as a painter. A handful of works that are either authenticated or attributed to him have been regarded as among the great masterpieces. These paintings are famous for a variety of qualities that have been much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics. By
8610-528: The refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. It represents the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death, and shows the moment when Jesus has just said "one of you will betray me", and the consternation that this statement caused. The writer Matteo Bandello observed Leonardo at work and wrote that some days he would paint from dawn till dusk without stopping to eat and then not paint for three or four days at
8715-443: The running of schools, social services and waste collection; the delegated functions vary from comune to comune . These bodies are headed by an elected president and a local council. Smaller comuni usually comprise: Sometimes a frazione might be more populated than the capoluogo ; and rarely, owing to unusual circumstances (like depopulation), the town hall and its administrative functions can be moved to one of
8820-503: The sea to Florence, in order to allow a supply of water to sustain the canal during all seasons. Leonardo had left Borgia's service and returned to Florence by early 1503, where he rejoined the Guild of Saint Luke on 18 October of that year. By this same month, Leonardo had begun working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo , the model for the Mona Lisa , which he would continue working on until his twilight years. In January 1504, he
8925-422: The son of a Lombard aristocrat, who is considered to have been his favourite student. The Council of Florence wished Leonardo to return promptly to finish The Battle of Anghiari , but he was given leave at the behest of Louis XII , who considered commissioning the artist to make some portraits. Leonardo may have commenced a project for an equestrian figure of d'Amboise; a wax model survives and, if genuine,
9030-429: The title of città usually carry the golden crown above their coat of arms, except with different provisions in the decree approving the coat of arms or in the presence). "The crown of the city ([...]) is formed by a golden circle opened by eight city gates (five visible) with two cordoned walls on the margins, supporting eight towers (five visible) joined by curtain walls, all in gold and black walled." The following
9135-765: The two Este sisters, Beatrice and Isabella . While on a journey that took him through Mantua , he drew a portrait of Isabella that appears to have been used to create a painted portrait, now lost. Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. His sexuality has been the subject of satire, analysis, and speculation. This trend began in the mid-16th century and was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably by Sigmund Freud in his Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood . Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salaì and Melzi . Melzi, writing to inform Leonardo's brothers of his death, described Leonardo's feelings for his pupils as both loving and passionate. It has been claimed since
9240-552: The valley below, and many wars arose between them. In 1010 and 1025, Fiesole was sacked by the Florentines. Later, it was conquered by Florence in 1125, when its leading families were obliged to take up their residence in Florence. Dante reflects this rivalry in his Divine Comedy by referring to "the beasts of Fiesole" (Inferno XV.73). By the fourteenth century, rich Florentines had countryside villas in Fiesole, and one of them
9345-530: The westernmost Bardonecchia and the easternmost Otranto . The comune with the longest name is San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore , while the comuni with the shortest name are Lu , Ro , Ne , Re and Vo' . The population density of the comuni varies widely by province and region . The province of Barletta-Andria-Trani , for example, has 381,091 inhabitants in 10 comuni , or over 39,000 inhabitants per comune ; whereas
9450-427: The word is occasionally found: the comune of Leonessa , for example, is divided into sesti or sixths. There are not many perfect homonymous comuni . There are only six cases in 12 comuni : This is mostly due to the fact the name of the province or region was appended to the name of the comune in order to avoid the confusion. Two provincial capitals share the name Reggio : Reggio nell'Emilia ,
9555-513: The young Leonardo was the first to suggest making the Arno river a navigable channel between Florence and Pisa . In January 1478, Leonardo received an independent commission to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel of Saint Bernard in the Palazzo Vecchio , an indication of his independence from Verrocchio's studio. An anonymous early biographer, known as Anonimo Gaddiano , claims that in 1480 Leonardo
9660-540: Was 65, which may indicate why he left works such as the Mona Lisa unfinished. He continued to work at some capacity until eventually becoming ill and bedridden for several months. Leonardo died at Clos Lucé on 2 May 1519 at the age of 67, possibly of a stroke. Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari describes Leonardo as lamenting on his deathbed, full of repentance, that "he had offended against God and men by failing to practice his art as he should have done." Vasari states that in his last days, Leonardo sent for
9765-482: Was a very great philosopher." Salaì , or Il Salaino ("The Little Unclean One", i.e., the devil), entered Leonardo's household in 1490 as an assistant. After only a year, Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton," after he had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions and spent a fortune on clothes. Nevertheless, Leonardo treated him with great indulgence, and he remained in Leonardo's household for
9870-542: Was about the time of the death of Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor Donatello . Leonardo became an apprentice by the age of 17 and remained in training for seven years. Other famous painters apprenticed in the workshop or associated with it include Ghirlandaio , Perugino , Botticelli , and Lorenzo di Credi . Leonardo was exposed to both theoretical training and a wide range of technical skills, including drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics, and woodwork, as well as
9975-481: Was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he has also become known for his notebooks , in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and palaeontology . Leonardo
10080-559: Was applied to areas of the mostly tempera work, including the landscape, the rocks seen through the brown mountain stream, and much of Jesus's figure, indicating Leonardo's hand. Additionally, Leonardo may have been a model for two works by Verrocchio: the bronze statue of David in the Bargello and the archangel Raphael in Tobias and the Angel . Vasari tells a story of Leonardo as
10185-549: Was back in Milan, living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila. In 1512, Leonardo was working on plans for an equestrian monument for Gian Giacomo Trivulzio , but this was prevented by an invasion of a confederation of Swiss, Spanish and Venetian forces, which drove the French from Milan. Leonardo stayed in the city, spending several months in 1513 at the Medici's Vaprio d'Adda villa. In March 1513, Lorenzo de' Medici's son Giovanni assumed
10290-460: Was born on 15 April 1452 in, or close to, the Tuscan hill town of Vinci , 20 miles from Florence . He was born out of wedlock to Piero da Vinci (Ser Piero da Vinci d'Antonio di ser Piero di ser Guido; 1426–1504), a Florentine legal notary , and Caterina di Meo Lippi ( c. 1434–1494 ), from the lower class. It remains uncertain where Leonardo was born; the traditional account, from
10395-484: Was born when Leonardo was 46 years old) and with whom he had very little contact. Very little is known about Leonardo's childhood and much is shrouded in myth, partially because of his biography in the frequently apocryphal Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550) by 16th-century art historian Giorgio Vasari . Tax records indicate that by at least 1457 he lived in
10500-434: Was featured equally in the novels Peter Camenzind (1904) by Hermann Hesse , A Room with a View (1908) by E. M. Forster , and in the book of travel essays Italian Hours (1909) by Henry James . Comune A comune ( Italian: [koˈmuːne] ; pl. : comuni , Italian: [koˈmuːni] ) is an administrative division of Italy , roughly equivalent to a township or municipality . It
10605-597: Was living with the Medici and often worked in the garden of the Piazza San Marco, Florence , where a Neoplatonic academy of artists, poets and philosophers organised by the Medici met. In March 1481, he received a commission from the monks of San Donato in Scopeto for The Adoration of the Magi . Neither of these initial commissions were completed, being abandoned when Leonardo went to offer his services to Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza . Leonardo wrote Sforza
10710-491: Was of ground-breaking importance in terms of composition. Two of the three were never finished, and the third took so long that it was subject to lengthy negotiations over completion and payment. One of these paintings was Saint Jerome in the Wilderness , which Bortolon associates with a difficult period of Leonardo's life, as evidenced in his diary: "I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die." Although
10815-528: Was part of a committee formed to recommend where Michelangelo's statue of David should be placed. He then spent two years in Florence designing and painting a mural of The Battle of Anghiari for the Signoria, with Michelangelo designing its companion piece, The Battle of Cascina . In 1506, Leonardo was summoned to Milan by Charles II d'Amboise , the acting French governor of the city. There, Leonardo took on another pupil, Count Francesco Melzi ,
10920-425: Was struck by the equestrian statue of Regisole , of which he left a sketch. Leonardo was employed on many other projects for Sforza, such as preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions; a drawing of , and wooden model for, a competition to design the cupola for Milan Cathedral ; and a model for a huge equestrian monument to Ludovico's predecessor Francesco Sforza . This would have surpassed in size
11025-522: Was supported by a pension totalling 10,000 scudi . At some point, Melzi drew a portrait of Leonardo ; the only others known from his lifetime were a sketch by an unknown assistant on the back of one of Leonardo's studies ( c. 1517 ) and a drawing by Giovanni Ambrogio Figino depicting an elderly Leonardo with his right arm wrapped in clothing. The latter, in addition to the record of an October 1517 visit by Louis d'Aragon , confirms an account of Leonardo's right hand being paralytic when he
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