14 Facts About Leonardo da Vinci’s Incredible Life

有關達·芬奇的14件不可思議的事情（上篇）

Source

：14 Fascinating Facts About Leonardo Da Vinci‘s Incredible Life （mymodernmet。com）

From the Mona Lisa to the

Vitruvian Man

， so much of Leonardo da Vinci‘s artwork is

iconic

。 The original Renaissance Man， Leonardo was not only a painter， but also a scientist， musician， engineer， and mathematician。 Many of his scientific

musings

and theories were later discovered to have a basis in fact and his paintings have made an

indelible

mark on art history。

從《蒙娜麗莎》到《維特魯威人》，列奧納多·達·芬奇創作了很多知名的藝術作品。作為文藝復興時期的早期人物，列奧納多不僅是一位畫家，還是科學家、音樂家、工程師和數學家。他的許多科學想法和理論後來被證明是有事實根據的，同時他的繪畫在藝術史上也留下了不可磨滅的印記。

Vitruvian Man

，《維特魯威人》，是列奧納多·達·芬奇在1487年前後創作的素描作品。它是鋼筆和墨水繪製的手稿，規格為34。4 cm × 25。5 cm。

iconic

，形容詞，指“（尤指能代表某種觀點或某一時代）非常出名的，受歡迎的”（very famous or popular， especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time）

例：John Lennon gained iconic status following his death。

約翰‧列儂死後成了偶像級人物。

musings

，名詞，複數，指“深刻的思考，深思熟慮的想法”（your thoughts or comments on something you have been thinking about carefully and for a long time）

例：We had to sit and listen to his musings on life。

我們只好坐著聽他談論人生。

indelible

，形容詞，指“洗不掉的；無法去除的”（An indelible mark or substance is impossible to remove by washing or in any other way。）

Together with Michelangelo and Raphael， Leonardo is considered one of the pillars of the Italian Renaissance。 Born in 1452， his career began when this great period of art was

heating up

， and he continued to keep up with his younger colleagues throughout his career。

列奧納多，和米開朗基羅、拉斐爾一起被認為是義大利文藝復興的三大支柱。達·芬奇出生於1452年，他的藝術生涯便是始於這一偉大的時期，且創造力一直不輸給後輩同事。

heat up

，不及物動詞，指“激化，加劇，變得激烈（或熱烈）”（When a situation heats up， things start to happen much more quickly and with increased interest and excitement among the people involved。）

例：Then in the last couple of years， the movement for democracy began to heat up。

然後在過去幾年裡，民主運動開始升溫。

So what do we know about the life of this great thinker？ Where did his thirst for knowledge come from and where would it take him？ As one can imagine， his love of learning and his creative mind led him in many different directions。 Let’s take a look at some interesting facts about Leonardo da Vinci‘s life in order to get a better understanding of his incredible mind。

那麼，大家對這位偉大的思想家瞭解多少呢？他對知識的渴求因何而起？又會將他帶去何方？顯然，是因為熱愛學習，以及創造性思維，才使得他在多個領域都成為了大師。接下來，讓我們分享一些關於列奧納多·達·芬奇的有趣事實，幫助大家更深入地瞭解這位天才。

HE HAD NO REAL LAST NAME

他並沒有真實的姓氏

Though often referred to simply as “da Vinci，” the reality is that Leonardo did not have a last name， at least not as we think of it in the modern sense。 Da Vinci literally translates to “of Vinci，” which is his hometown。 This was common at the time。 During Leonardo’s lifetime，

hereditary

surnames become more popular with the upper class but wouldn’t be common practice until the mid-16th century。 That’s why you’ll still find that most museums and academic books simply refer to him as Leonardo。

儘管我們經常把他的名字簡稱為“達·芬奇”，但事實上，列奧納多並沒有姓，至少是沒有我們所認為的現代意義上的姓氏。達·芬奇（Da Vinci）的字面意思是“芬奇的”（of Vinci），這是他故鄉的名字。這種情況在當時很普遍。在達·芬奇所生活的年代，姓氏的傳承在上層社會比較流行，但在民間直到16世紀中期才普及。這也就是為什麼在大多數的博物館和文獻資料中，只是簡單地稱他為“列奧納多”。

hereditary

，名詞，指“（特點或疾病）遺傳的；（稱號或爵位）世襲的”（（of characteristics or diseases） passed from the genes of a parent to a child， or （of titles and positions in society） passed from parent to a child as a right）

例：It is a hereditary title， so Mark Howard will become Sir Mark Howard on his father’s death。

這是個世襲的頭銜，所以馬克‧霍華德在他父親去世後將成為馬克‧霍華德爵士。

HE WAS AN ILLEGITIMATE CHILD

他是個私生子

Leonardo was born out of

wedlock

to Ser Piero， a wealthy Florentine

notary

， and a young peasant named Caterina。 Leonardo’s mother married an

artisan

shortly after his birth。

列奧納多是佛羅倫薩公證員瑟·皮耶羅和一位名叫卡特琳娜的農村少女的私生子。在列奧納多出生後不久，他的母親就嫁給了一位工匠。

wedlock

，名詞，指“已婚狀態”（the state of being married）

notary

，名詞，指“公證員”（an official who has the legal authority to say that documents are correctly signed or true or to make an oath （= promise） official）

例：This agreement was drawn up and verified by a notary。

這份協議草擬之後經過了公證員的公證。

artisan

，名詞，指“工匠；手藝人”（someone who does skilled work with their hands）

Leonardo was treated as the

legitimate

son of Ser Piero and grew up on his family’s estate。 He also had 12 half-siblings from his father， who were far younger than him and with whom he had little contact。

瑟·皮耶羅承認列奧納多是自己的孩子，並將他帶回家族的莊園裡撫養長大。列奧納多還有12個同父異母的兄弟姐妹，他們都比他小得多，幾乎沒有聯絡。

legitimate

，形容詞，指“合法的，正當的，法律允許的”（allowed by law）

HE DIDN’T HAVE A FORMAL EDUCATION

他沒有接受過正規教育

For all of his genius， it might be surprising to know that Leonardo didn’t receive much formal education。 He learned the basics of reading， writing， and

arithmetic

， but much of his deep learning came later in life。

儘管列奧納多才華橫溢，但他沒有接受過多少正規教育，這聽起來可能會讓人感到驚訝。雖然他掌握了認字、寫作和算術等基礎知識，但他的大部分深奧知識都是後來學習的。

arithmetic

，名詞，指“算術”（the part of mathematics that involves the adding and multiplying， etc。 of numbers）

For instance， Latin， which was the language of academics at the time， was something he largely taught himself。 And advanced mathematics， a topic he was passionate about， only entered his life in his 30s when he started devoting himself to the subject。

例如，拉丁語是當時學術界的通用語言，但他基本上是自學的。還有他酷愛的高等數學，直到他30多歲打算研究這一學科時才開始學習。

HE WAS LEFT-HANDED

他是左撇子

There are some studies that suggest left-handed people are more creative； and， if true， that is certainly the case with Leonardo。 The Renaissance man is one of the most famous artists that is confirmed to have had a

dominant

left hand。 Recent historians believe that Leonardo may have even been

ambidextrous

。

一些研究表明，左撇子的人更有創造力；如果這是真的，那列奧納多肯定也是這種情況。這位文藝復興時期的大師被證實是慣用左手的最著名的藝術家之一。近來，一些歷史學家認為列奧納多甚至可能左右手都很靈活。

dominant

，形容詞，指“主要的；主導的；佔優勢的”（more important， strong， or noticeable than anything else of the same type）

ambidextrous

，形容詞，指“雙手都很靈巧的；左右開弓的”（able to use both hands equally well）

HE DIDN'T PAINT THAT MUCH

他的畫作並沒有那麼多

Though Leonardo is considered one of the greatest artists of all time， his artistic output was relatively small。 In fact， there are only about 17 surviving works that can be definitively attributed to him。

儘管列奧納多被認為是有史以來最偉大的畫家之一，但他的畫作相對較少。事實上，現存的作品中只有17幅可以確定是他的手筆。

Part of this was due to his busy mind。 Occupied with scientific research and engineering matters， he often went through long

stretches

where he wasn’t accepting commissions or painting much。

部分原因是他太忙了。因為忙著科學研究和工程建造，他沒那麼多時間接受別人的作畫委託或自己畫畫。

stretch

，名詞，指“（連續的）一段時間”（a continuous period of time）

例：The elderly generally need far less rest than the young， and tend to sleep in several short stretches。

年長者一般需要的休息時間比年輕人要少得多，而且往往會分成幾個小段時間睡覺。

Some of his famous works， like

The Battle of Anghiari

and Leda are known only through preparatory sketches or copies made by other painters after having been lost， destroyed， or

deteriorated

over time。 However， his

unparalleled

reputation speaks to the power of his artistry。 Even with so few complete paintings， it’s impossible to deny his influence on artists of his own day and for generations to come。

他的一些著名畫作，例如《安吉里之戰》和《萊達》，原稿已丟失、破壞，或隨著時間的推移而損壞了，還是透過其他畫家的預備草圖或臨摹才發現的。然而，他無人能及的盛名足可以說明他的藝術造詣。即使他留下的完整畫作如此之少，也無法否認他對同時代以及後世畫家的影響。

The Battle of Anghiari

，《安吉里之戰》，是達·芬奇創作的一幅壁畫，取材於15世紀佛羅倫薩和米蘭之間的戰爭，是達·芬奇少有的關於軍事題材的美術作品。《安吉里之戰》描繪了戰爭的心臟部分，展示了人與戰馬的軀體痛苦、恐怖的糾纏，透露出達·芬奇對人性暴力的看法。

deteriorate

，不及物動詞，指“惡化，變壞”（to become worse）

例：She was taken into hospital last week when her condition suddenly deteriorated。

她是在上週病情突然惡化時被送進醫院的。

unparalleled

，形容詞，指“無雙的，無比的；空前的”（having no equal； better or greater than any other）

HE STARTED APPRENTICING AT 15

他15歲開始當學徒

As was typical at the time， Leonardo began his artistic training as a teenager。 Thanks to his father’s good reputation， he was able to enter into the studio of respected artist

Andrea del Verrocchio

at age 15。

和當時普遍的情況一樣，列奧納多從十幾歲就開始接受藝術訓練。由於父親的良好聲譽，他在15歲時就進入了受人尊敬的藝術家安德烈·德爾·韋羅基奧的工作室。

Andrea del Verrocchio

，安德烈·韋羅基奧（1435-1488年），原名安德烈·迪·米凱萊·迪·弗朗切斯科·德·喬尼（Andrea di Michele di Francesco de‘ Cioni），義大利雕刻家、畫家和金首飾匠，雕塑家，達·芬奇和波提切利等著名畫家都是他的學生，他的學生中還有佩魯吉諾，而佩魯吉諾是拉斐爾的老師。他對米開朗基羅也有很大的影響，是十五世紀下半葉最具影響力的藝術家之一。

It was here that he would not only learn the basics of painting and sculpture， but also engineering and technical arts。 This included things like chemistry， drafting， metallurgy， and metalworking。 At the same time， he also worked in the workshop of

Antonio Pollaiuolo

， as it was located just next store。

在那裡，他不僅要學習繪畫和雕塑的基礎知識，還要學習工程和工藝技術，包括化學、製圖、冶金和金屬加工。與此同時，他也在安東尼奧·波拉伊奧羅的工作室工作，因為它就在隔壁的商店。

Antonio Pollaiuolo

，安東尼奧·波拉伊奧羅（1431-1498），義大利畫家，雕塑家，雕刻師，金匠，是文藝復興時期的一位代表性人物之一。

At 20 he was accepted into Florence’s painter’s guild but continued to spend the next five years under the tutelage of Verrocchio before branching out on his own。

20歲時，他獲得佛羅倫薩畫家行會的認可，但在自立門戶之前，他在韋羅基奧的指導下繼續學習了五年。

guild

，名詞，指“（中世紀的）行會，同業公會”（an association of skilled workers in the Middle Ages）

tutelage

，名詞，指“教導；指導；輔導”（the teaching and instruction that one person gives to another）

未完待續……