The Renaissance was a time of economic and intellectual changes in Europe.
ideals of the Renaissance were individualism, humanism and secularism; one who personified .
these characteristics was coined as a "Renaissance Man". One such man was Leonardo Da .
Vinci, an Italian artist, scientist, inventor and engineer. .
During the Middle Ages, everyone thought of themselves as one. Individualism, one key .
aspect to the renaissance, was heavily conveyed by Da Vinci in the fact that he signed his work. .
A more or less rebel for his day, Leonardo was left handed, (something due to superstitions was .
considered "the devils work", forcing most lefties to instead write right handedly) One element .
of his genius is in his "backwards writing", a more or less type of shorthand which he invented .
himself, that allowed him to see beyond the ordinary, and this made it so that his writings could .
only be easily deciphered with the use of a mirror. .
The next ideal aspect of the Renaissance Man, according to Jacob Burckhart is .
humanism. It goes without saying that Leonardo Da Vinci was a well rounded man. Not only .
was he interested in painting and sculpturing, which is what he is probably primarily known for, .
but also showed great interest in architecture, mechanics, sculpturing, and the study of anatomy. .
He had a quick eye which helped him to make important scientific discoveries. Leonardo Da .
Vinci's portfolio includes several drawings which reveal his intense study of human and animal .
anatomy and plant life. This was recorded in his descriptively illustrated notebooks. One such .
proof is in his picture of the "Vitruvian Man" which proved many relationships, including the .
ratio between height and width. Because he wrote down and sketched so many of these .
discoveries and observations in his notebooks, we can see that he was one of the first to .
scientifically approach understanding how we see our world, and how it works.
