Leonardo da vinci (1452 – 1519)

Leonardo da Vinci is an outstanding artist, the man of genius of Renaissance and Humanism. He was a painter, sculptor, architect and engineer.

Leonardo was born in 1452 on his father’s family estate in Vinci. His father was a Florentine notary and landlord. His mother was a young peasant woman. Leonardo grew up in his father’s house, where he was treated as a legitimate son and received the usual elementary education of that day: reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Leonardo’s artistic inclinations must have appeared early. When he was about 15, his father took him to a renowned workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. Leonardo received a many-sided training that included not only painting and sculpture but the technical-mechanical arts as well. In 1472 Leonardo was accepted in the painters’ guild of Florence and worked independently until 1481.

In 1482 he moved to Milan where he spent 17 years serving the Duke until Ludovico’s fall from power in 1499. Highly esteemed, Leonardo da Vinci was constantly kept busy as a painter and sculptor and as a designer of court festivals, technical adviser and engineer. He created a monumental wall painting of the “Last Supper”. He wrote treatises on painting, architecture, a book on the elements of mechanics, a work on human anatomy, geographical, botanical, hydrological and aerological researches.

From 1500 till 1502 Leonardo travelled from one city to another. For ten months he travelled across the territories and sketched some of the city plans and topographical maps that laid the groundwork for modern cartography. In 1503 he returned to Florence and for three years worked on “Battle of Anghiari” but it remained unfinished. These same years he painted the portrait of “Mona Lisa” and the painting of a standing “Leda” which is not completed either and has survived only in copies.

In 1506 the governor of Milan invited Leonardo da Vinci and the latter accepted the invitation. In Milan he did very little as a painter but his scientific activity flourished.

In 1513 Leonardo da Vinci went to Rome hoping to find employment there. He remained in the Eternal City for three years. While Raphael was painting the last rooms of the Pope’s apartments, Michelangelo was struggling to complete the tomb of Pope Julius, and many younger artists were active there, the ageing master worked in his studio on mathematical studies and technical experiments.

He died on May 2, 1519. During the French Revolution the church where he had been buried was devastated. Hence, his grave can no longer be located. But his masterpieces live and we can admire their perfect beauty.

TASKS:

I. Give Russian equivalents of the following:

artistic inclinations; “The Last Supper”; treatise; an outstanding artist; to flourish; to sketch; scientific activity; to lay the groundwork for smth.; to survive; to be highly esteemed; the latter; to complete smth.; “The Eternal City”; to struggle to do smth.; to devastate smth.; a legitimate son; a renowned workshop; the Pope; to be kept busy; to treat smb as smth.; a many-sided training; smb’s fall from power.

II. Give English equivalents of the following:

принять кого-л. в гильдию /союз/ художников; работа по анатомии человека; глубоко уважать кого-л.; знаменитый (два варианта); работать над картиной; семейное имение; заложить основу чего-л.; стареющий мастер; разностороннее образование; путешествовать из города в город; крестьянка; не только (что-л.), но и (что-л. ещё); поэтому; включать (в себя) / состоять из чего-л..

III. Make up sentences of the following words:

1. as, treated, Leonardo, a legitimate son, in his father’s house, was;

2. but the technical-mechanical arts, as well, received, Leonardo, not only painting and sculpture, included, a many-sided training, which;

3. kept, a painter and sculptor, Leonardo, busy, as, was.

4. Leonardo, topographical maps, modern cartography, the city plans, and, had sketched, the groundwork for, laid.

IV. Fill in the blanks with the proper prepositions:

1. He remained … the Eternal City …three years. 2. Leonardo was accepted … the painters’ guild. 3. Leonardo is said to be a man …genius. 4. Leonardo was born …1452 … his father’s family estate … Vinci. 5. His father took him … a renowned workshop … Andrea del Verrocchio. 6. …ten months he traveled … the territories. 7. He was treated … a legitimate son. 8. …1500 …1502 Leonardo traveled …one city …another. 9. He wrote a treatise … painting. 10. He died … May 2, 1519. 11. …1503 he returned … Florence and … three years worked … “Battle … Aghiari”.

V. Fill in the blanks with the corresponding verb-forms.

1. The Plain Stem	2. The Past Simple Tense	3. The Past Participle	4. The Present Participle
		accepted
admire
			ageing
	appeared
		been
		buried
complete
	created
		devastated
	did
	died
	grew
have
			hoping
	included
		kept
	laid
	moved
	received
			serving
			struggling
		survived
	took
	travelled
		treated
	was
	wrote

VI. Put the italicized words in the corresponding column. Mind that there may be borderline cases with verbals having acquired the qualities of nouns and adjectives.

1. An outstanding artist; 2. The usual elementary education of that day: reading, writing, and arithmetic; 3. A renowned workshop; 4. He received a many-sided training; 5. He spent 17 years serving the Duke; 6. Highly esteemed, Leonardo was constantly kept busy as a painter; 7. It remained unfinished; 8. He painted the painting of a standing “Leda”; 9. Leonardo went to Rome hoping to find employment; 10. Raphael was painting the last rooms of the apartments; 11. The ageing master; 12. The church where he had been buried was devastated.

The Present Participle	The Past Participle	The Gerund	The Verbal Noun	The Verbal Adjective

VII. Identify the tenses and voices of the following verb forms:

1. is ; 2. was; 3. grew up; 4. took; 5. was accepted; 6. is completed; 7. has survived; 8. had been buried; 9. was painting; 10. was devastated; 11. live.

VIII. Match the underlined words with their syntactical functions and part of speech identification:

1. Leonardo da Vinci is an outstanding artist.

2. Leonardo was accepted in the painters’ guild of Florence.

3. Leonardo received the usual elementary education of that day: reading, writing, and arithmetic.

4. His inclinations must have appeared early.

5. Leonardo da Vinci went to Rome hoping to find employment there.

6. He went to Rome hoping to find employment.

7. In Milan he did very little as a painter.

8. Governor invited Leonardo and the latter accepted the invitation.

9. The ageing master worked in his studio on mathematical studies and technical experiments.

10. The painting remained unfinished.

11. His grave can no longer be located.

A. An Attribute expressed by a Noun in the Possessive Case;

B. Appositions;

C. An Object expressed by an Infinitive;

D. The Adverbial Modifier of Degree expressed by an Adverb;

E. The Nominal Part of the Compound Nominal Predicate expressed by a Noun;

F. One of the Subjects expressed by a Substantivized Adjective in the Comparative Degree;

G. The Compound Nominal Predicate with the Link-verb followed by an Adjective;

H. The Compound Modal Predicate with a Modal Verb followed by a Perfect Infinitive;

I. The Compound Modal Predicate with a Modal Verb followed by a Passive Infinitive;

J. The Adverbial Modifier of Place expressed by a Noun;

K. The Adverbial Modifier of Attending Circumstances expressed by a Present Participle.

IX. Give comprehensive answers to the following questions.

1. What is Leonardo Da Vinci remembered by? 2. When and where was Leonardo born? 3. Who were Leonardo's parents? 4. How was Leonardo treated in his father's family, he being a bastard? 5. How early in his life did Leonardo engage in artistic activities? 6. What was he trained to do? 7. What did Leonardo do in Milan? 8. In what way is Leonardo associated with geography? 9. What are Leonardo's three famous paintings? 10. Did Leonardo manage to complete all his paintings? 11. Have all of Leonardo's paintings survived? 12. What are the cities Leonardo lived and worked in? 13. What was the ageing master engaged in during his stay in Rome? 14. Where is Leonardo's burial place?

X. Work in pairs. One of you argues in favour of the following statements, the other against them. Make use of the vocabulary phrases (p. 88).

1. Leonardo was not a legitimate son, so his father treated him accordingly. 2. Leonardo could not possibly receive a many-sided training in the Middle Ages. 3. Even though Leonardo da Vinci was kept busy both as an artist and an engineer, he did much better in art than in sciences. 4. The city plans and topographical maps that Leonardo sketched could hardly lay the groundwork for modern cartography because the topographical techniques of that time left much to be desired. 5. In the autumn of his life Leonardo gave up his artistic activities, as he felt he was no rival to the younger generation of artists. 6. Leonardo has had little, if any, influence upon the European art, since he was more a scientist than an artist.

XI. Speak on the following points:

1. Leonardo da Vinci’s biography; 2. The range of Leonardo’s interests; 3. Leonardo’s legacy.

UNIT II.

PRE-TASKS:

I. Practice the pronunciation of the following words and word-combinations and learn them.

to set to work ['set tə 'wз:k] – приступить к работе

in earnest [ɪn 'з:nɪst] – всерьёз

to be inaccurate in smth [ɪn'ækjʊrɪt] – быть неточным в чём-л.

to loiter over smth ['lɔɪtə◡rəʊvə … ]

– неспеша, медленно, «с ленцой», работать над чем-л.

ultimately ['ʌltɪmətlɪ] – в конце концов

to depict [dɪ'pɪkt] – изображать

subtlety of the pencil ['sʌtltɪ əv ðə 'pensl] – тонкая работа карандашом

proper to nature ['prɒpə tə 'neɪt∫ə] – присущий природе

admirable ['ædm(ə)rəbl] – восхитительный

(but: to admire [əd'maɪə] – восхищаться, восторгаться)

lustrous ['lʌstrəs] – сияющий, блестящий

to subject to smth [səb'dʒekt] – подвергать чему-л.

the free and merciless restoration [ðə 'fri: ənd 'mə:sɪlɪs restə'reɪ∫n]

– вольная и безжалостная реставрация

to take the precaution of doing smth ['teɪk ðə prɪ'kɔ:∫n]

– предусмотрительно сделать что-л.

little more than smth ['lɪtl 'mɔ: ðən … ]

– всего лишь что-л (едва ли нечто большее чем что-л)

to form any idea of smth [ 'fɔ:m 'enɪ(◡r)aɪ'dɪə(◡r)əv … ]

– составить себе некое мнение о чем-л.; представить себе что-л.

worldly-minded ['wз:ldlɪ 'maɪndɪd]

– светский, мирской, приземлённый («с земными мыслями»)

(здесь: a worldly-minded woman – обычная (простая) женщина)

sphinx-like smile ['sfɪnkslaɪk 'smaɪl] – улыбка как у сфинкса

to pose smb against a landscape background

['pəʊz … ə'genst ə 'lændskeɪp 'bækgraʊnd]

– помещать (изображать) кого-л. на фоне пейзажа

II. Practice the pronunciation of the following proper names:

the Louvre [ðə 'lu:və] – Лувр (бывший королевский дворец в Париже,

ныне музей изобразительного искусства)

Antonio Gherardini [ən'təʊnɪəʊ 'gerədɪnɪ] – Антонио Герадини

(отец Моны Лизы (Джоконды))

Cesare Borgia [sə'zɑ:rɪ 'bɔ:dʒɪə] – Чезаре Борджиа (1475 – 1507)

(видный итальянский политик)

Christ [kraɪst] – Христос, Иисус

Francesco di Bartolomeo de Zenobi del Giocondo

[frən'tʃeskəʊ dɪ 'bɑ:tələˌmjəʊ də 'zɪnəbaɪ dəl ˌdʒɪəʊ'kɒndəʊ] –

Франческо ди Бартоломео де Зеноби дель Джокондо

(член муниципалитета Флоренции, муж Моны Лизы (Джоконды))

Francis I ['frænsɪs ðə 'fз:st] Франциск I (1494 – 1547)

(король Франции (1515 – 1547))

La Joconde [lə dʒə'kɒnd] – Джоконда

Lisa di Anton Maria di Noldo Gherardini

['li:zə dɪ 'æntən mə'rɪə dɪ 'nɒldəʊ 'gerədɪnɪ] –

Лиза ди Антон Мария ди Нольдо Герадини

Vasari [və'zɑ:rɪ] – Вазари, Джорджо (1511 – 1574)

(живописец, архитектор и первый историк искусства)

III. Try to guess the meaning of the italicized words. Match them with the corresponding cognate words in Russian where possible. When translating the words, mind the so-called pseudo-international words.

1. Vasari is probably inaccurate in saying that Leonardo “loitered over it for four years”. 2. Owing to having taken service under Cesare Borgia in the following year, Leonardo put it on one side, ultimately completing it after working on the "Battle of Anghiari". 3. Every peculiarity that could be depicted by the utmost subtlety of the pencil has been faithfully reproduced in this picture. 4. The eyes have the lustrous brightness and moisture. 5. One can see the beating of the pulses. 6. Leonardo kept some one constantly near his sitter to amuse her. 7. Leonardo da Vinci painted this picture in the full maturity of his talent. 8. It is difficult for the unpractised eye today to form any idea of its original beauty. 9. The head of the Christ at Milan is Leonardo's conception of divinity expressed in perfect humanity.

IV. Scan the text and single out the main points of each paragraph.

V. Look through the text and write out all the unfamiliar words and phrases. Look them up in your English-Russian Dictionary. Single out the terms on the fine arts and learn them.

VI. Put the “V + -ed” forms from the text into appropriate columns. Pronounce the words minding that there are three ways of pronouncing “-ed”: [-d], [-t] and [-ɪd] (revise the rule if necessary).

Past Simple	Past Participle	Adjective

VII. Read and translate the text.