The da Vinci Mode

Received this letter in my mail today, from Robert Genn, who started the excellent art website painterskeys.com :

The da Vinci Mode

May 23, 2006

Leonardo da Vinci's life was a living demo of his "seven
virtues." For those artists of life and of art who might plot
to develop higher levels of accomplishment and greater
self-realization, here are his seven virtues, as I understand
them:

"Curiosita"--an attitude of curiosity and continuous learning.
What, when, where, why, and how?
"Dimostrazione"--an ability to learn and to test knowledge by
experience. Experimental nature.
"Sensazione"--a development of awareness and refinement of
sight and other senses. High sensitivity.
"Sfumato"--a tendency to embrace and accept uncertainty,
ambiguity and paradox. Free thinking.
"Arte/Scienza"--a development of balance between science and
art, logic and imagination. Whole-brain thinking.
"Corporalita"--a calculated desire to achieve poise, fitness
and ambidexterity. Physical action.
"Connessione"--a recognition that all things are connected.
Systems thinking.

"How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius
Every Day," by Michael J. Gelb, and, "The Notebooks of Leonardo
da Vinci," edited by Pamela Taylor, are two of the noteworthy
sources of Leonardo insights. In the latter, the first chapter,
"The Painter," is particularly valuable. For example, Leonardo
neatly divides perspective into three types: "Linear
perspective"--scientific diminution of objects as they recede
from the eye; "The perspective of colour"--variations in
colours as they recede from the eye; and "The perspective of
disappearance"--the increasingly unfinished rendering of
objects as they become more remote. Could anything be clearer?

In my daily evangelizing, I'm constantly devising ways to press
creative people into thinking about things in a Leonardo mode.
Whether we're talking about flying machines, military engines
or easel paintings, we are led to a greater realization of our
potential through personal, self-generated knowledge of the
what, when, where, why and how. Perhaps because of Leonardo's
charming admissions of personal weaknesses (procrastination,
for one), we feel the uncanny presence of a contemporary who's
just dropped in from the local Brotherhood and Sisterhood. For
many of us, an evening curled up with The da Vinci Mode would
not be a waste of time.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "Nothing is more apt to deceive us than our own judgment of
our work. We derive more benefit from having our faults pointed
out by our enemies than from hearing the opinions of friends."
(Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519)

Esoterica: The last time I looked, our own Resource of Art
Quotations had 69 quotes from Leonardo. Now it seems that
contemporary psychological research has revealed Leonardo-like
info about the extent of our potential. Our brains are much
better than we think. They are more flexible and
multi-dimensional than any computer. They can learn seven facts
per second, every second, for the rest of our lives--and
there's still plenty of RAM to go. If used properly, our brains
improve with age. And this is not just in our heads--it's in
every cell of our bodies. Mona Lisa is winking at us. How
totally Renaissance!

(c) Copyright 2006 Robert Genn.