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Renaissance Man

Renaissance man

:Renaissance man links here. For the 1994 movie, see Renaissance Man. Renaissance Man] A polymath (also known as a polyhistor) is a person who excels in multiple fields, particularly in both arts and sciences. The most common other term for this phenomenon is Renaissance man, but also in use are Homo universalis and Uomo Universale, which in Latin and Italian, respectively, translate as "Universal Man" or "Universal Person". Note that in Latin homo may be male or female; the Latin word for a male human being is vir. Many notable polymaths lived during the European Renaissance period, and a rounded approach to education was typical of the ideals of the humanists of the time. A gentleman or courtier of that era was expected to speak several languages, play a musical instrument, write poetry and so on, thus fulfilling the Renaissance ideal. During the Renaissance, Baldassare Castiglione, in his The Book of the Courtier, wrote a guide to being a polymath. On the other hand "polymath" may be applied more strictly, taking Leonardo da Vinci or Goethe as prime examples, and requiring a universality of approach. A polymath may not necessarily be classed as a genius, which is a related classification; and certainly a genius may not display the breadth to qualify as a polymath. Albert Einstein is a prime example of a person generally regarded as a "genius" who was not a polymath.

Etymological differentiation between Polymath and Polyhistor

Many dictionaries and dictionaries of word origins list these words as synonyms. Thus today, regardless of any differentiation they may have had when originally coined, they are often taken to mean the same thing (except when used by specialists). The root terms "histor" and "math" have similar meanings in their etymological antecedents (to learn, learned, knowledge), though with some initial and ancillarily added differing qualities. Innate in "historíā" (Greek and Latin) is that the learning takes place via inquiry and narrative. "Hístōr" also implies erudition and wisdom in the polyhistor. From indo-european it shares a root with "wit." Inquiry and narrative are specific sets of pedagogical and research heuristics. Two conceivable definitions of polymath are the overt 'greatly learned,' which would be inclusive of polyhistor (though not all polymaths would be polyhistors, all polyhistors would be polymaths). Another would be that polymath via the adjunct of science from the Greek "mathēmatikè téchnē" implies that the knowledge and learning be specifically about sciences or have been gained through scientific inquiry or more broadly be mathematically-logically based. Science is a somewhat different set of specific research heuristics. References: "History", "Mathematics", "Polymath" and "Polyhistor" in one or more of: Chamber's Dictionary of Etymology, The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories, The Cassell Dictionary of Word Histories

Renaissance Man

This article is about the 1994 film. For other uses of the term Renaissance man, see the polymath article. Renaissance Man aka Army Intelligence is the title of a 1994 movie starring Danny DeVito. The film was written by Jim Burnstein and directed by Penny Marshall.

Plot

Danny DeVito plays Bill Rago, a divorced advertising executive down on his luck. When he loses his job in Detroit, the unemployment agency finds him a temporary job; teaching in the U.S. Army training base, Fort McClane. Initially unenthusiastic about this assignment, Rago finds that he has only six weeks to teach a group of "squeakers", who are especially low achievers, the basics of comprehension and use of English language. Most of the soldiers are only semi-literate and equally unenthusiastic. Unable to connect with his pupils and desperate to spark their interest, Rago quotes from his favorite play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, which they have never heard of. A small initial spark of interest is generated. Rago further introduces them to Henry V, which generates further interest. Despite the disapproval of their hard-as-nails Drill Sergeant Cass, and the loss of one of the trainees, revealed as a drug dealer hiding under an assumed identity, he sets them an end-of-term examination, which Cass doesn't expect them to pass - but they do. The climax comes as one of the soldiers proudly gives Cass the "Saint Crispin's Day" speech by King Henry V while in full combat gear in the middle of the rain at a night excercise. Rago realises that he has finally achieved success. Rago also does some investigation, as a result of which one of the soldiers is awarded the medal his father was to have been given posthumously after he was killed on duty in Vietnam. As the proud soldiers march at their passing-our parade, Rago signs on for a further period of teaching soldiers-in-training. The title "Renaissance Man" refers to Leone Battista Alberti (14 February 1404 – 25th April 1472), an Italian painter, poet, linguist, philosopher and cryptographer, who Rago greatly admires. The scenes at the fictional "Fort McClane" were actually filmed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Primary Cast of Characters

- Danny DeVito .... Bill Rago
- Gregory Hines .... Sergeant Cass
- James Remar .... Captain Tom Murdoch
- Ed Begley Jr. .... Jack Markin
- Lillo Brancato Jr. .... Pvt. Donnie Benitez
- Stacey Dash .... Pvt. Miranda Myers
- Kadeem Hardison .... Pvt. Jamaal Montgomery
- Richard T. Jones .... Pvt. Jackson Leroy
- Khalil Kain .... Pvt. Roosevelt (Nathaniel) Hobbs
- Peter Simmons .... Pvt. Brian Davis, Jr.
- Gregory Sporleder .... Pvt. Melvin Melvin
- Mark Wahlberg .... Pvt. Tommy Lee Haywood
- Cliff Robertson .... Colonel James
- Ben Wright .... Private Oswald
- Ann Cusack .... Bill's Secretary

Quote

Drill Sergeant Cass: If it ain't raining, we ain't training!

External Link

- Category:1994 films Category:Films directed by Penny Marshall

Humanist

Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on our ability to determine what is right using the qualities innate to humanity, particularly rationality. Humanism is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems. Humanism entails a commitment to the search for truth and morality through human means in support of human interests. In focusing on our capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on faith, the supernatural, sacred texts, or religious creeds. Humanists endorse a recognition of a universal morality based on the commonality of human nature, suggesting that the long-term solutions to our problems cannot be parochial. Two widely accepted doctorines of humanism are set forth in the Humanist Manifesto [http://www.americanhumanist.org/3/HumandItsAspirations.php] and A Secular Humanist Declaration [http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=main&page=declaration].

Aspects

Theism

While humanism in some ways fulfills or supplements the role of religions in people's lives, and therefore qualifies as a stance on religion, it is not a religion in itself. It is entirely compatible with naturalism and atheism, but doesn't strictly require either of these, and is in fact compatible with some types of religion. Though the dominant forms of humanism are atheistic (and express a disbelief in the supernatural), not all forms of humanism are. However, humanism denies the importance of the supernatural in human affairs, regardless of whether or not it exists. In this way, humanism does not necessarily rule out some form of theism or deism, and there are many humanists who consider themselves religious, some of whom are members of (typically, liberal) religious organizations. What humanism clearly rejects is blind deference to supernatural beliefs in resolving human affairs, not necessarily the beliefs themselves. For that matter, atheism on its own doesn't necessarily entail humanism. For example, Objectivism and Soviet Communism are both wholeheartedly atheistic and yet strongly incompatible with humanism due to their ethical views.

Knowledge

According to humanism, it is up to us to find the truth, not wait for it to be handed to us through revelation, mysticism, tradition, or anything else that is incompatible with the application of logic to the evidence. In demanding that we avoid blindly accepting unsupported beliefs, it supports scientific skepticism and the scientific method, rejecting authoritarianism and extreme skepticism, and rendering faith an unacceptable basis for action. Likewise, humanism asserts that knowledge of right and wrong is based on our best understanding of our individual and joint interests, rather than stemming from a transcendental or arbitrarily local source.

Speciesism

Some have interpreted humanism to be a form of speciesism, mostly because of the word itself, but this doesn't appear to be the case. Humanism does exalt human traits, but doesn't necessarily insist that no other species could or do have the same, or that other species have no rights just because they are not human. For these reasons, humanism appears to be neutral with regard to issues of animal rights.

Optimism

Humanism features an optimistic attitude about the capacity of people, but it does not involve believing that human nature is purely good or that each and every person is capable of living up to the humanist ideals of rationality and morality. If anything, there is the recognition that living up to our potential is hard work and requires the help of others. The ultimate goal is human flourishing; making life better for all of us. Even among humanists who do believe in some sort of an afterlife, the focus is on doing good and living well in the here and now, and leaving the world better for those who come after us, not on suffering through life to be rewarded afterwards.

History

Contemporary humanism can be traced back through the Renaissance to its ancient Greek roots. The evolution of the meaning of the word 'humanism' is fully explored in Nicolas Walter Humanism - What's in the Word.

Renaissance

Renaissance humanism was a movement in Europe, beginning in Florence in the last decades of the 14th century. It revived the study of the Latin and Greek languages; and caused the resultant revival of the studies of science, philosophy, art and poetry of classical antiquity. The "revival", or "re-birth" was based upon interpretations of Roman and Greek texts, whose emphasis upon art and the senses marked a great change from the contemplation upon the Biblical values of humility, introspection, and passivity, or "meekness". Beauty was held to represent a deep inner virtue and value, and "an essential element in the path towards God". The crisis of Renaissance humanism came with the trial of Galileo; which forced the choice between basing the authority of one's beliefs on one's observations, or upon religious teaching. The trial made the contradictions between humanism and traditional religion visibly apparent to all, and humanism was branded a "dangerous doctrine". Renaissance humanists believed that the liberal arts (music, art, grammar, rhetoric, oratory, history, poetry, using classical texts, and the studies of all of the above) should be practiced by all levels of wealth. They also approved of self, human worth and individual dignity.

Modern humanist philosophies

There are many people who consider themselves humanists, and much variety in the exact type of humanism they believe in. There is some disagreement over terminology and definitions, with some people using narrower or broader interpretations. Not all people who call themselves humanists hold beliefs that are genuinely humanistic, and not all people who do hold humanistic beliefs apply the label of humanism to themselves. All of this aside, humanism can be divided into secular and religious types.

Secular humanism

Secular humanism is the branch of humanism that rejects religion and the existence of a supernatural. It is often associated with scientists and academics, although it is not at all limited to these groups. Secular humanists generally believe that following humanist principles naturally leads to secularism, on the basis that religious views cannot be supported rationally. There are secular humanistic organizations, though these could not be accurately described as churches. More often than not, secular humanism is what people are referring to when they speak of humanism in general, making it something of a default. Some secular humanists take this even further by denying that religious humanists qualify as genuine humanists. Others feel that the ethical side of humanism transcends the issue of religion, because being a good person is more important than supernatural beliefs. Some non-secular people, particulary Christian fundamentalists, use the term humanist to refer to all atheists, a usage whose accuracy is disputed.

Religious humanism

Religious humanism is the branch of humanism that embraces some form of theism, deism, supernaturalism or religiosity, though not necessarily organized religion, as such. It is often associated with artists, liberal Christians, and scholars in the liberal arts. Other types of people that may be considered religious humanists are those who, despite believing in a religion, don't consider it necessary to derive all their moral values from it. Some feel that, because their religious beliefs are moral, and therefore humane, they are humanists. In particular, it is not uncommon for religious humanitarians to be referred to as humanists, although the accuracy of this usage is disputed. A number of religious humanists feel that secular humanism is too coldly logical and rejects the full emotional experience that makes us human. From this comes the notion that secular humanism is inadequate in fulfilling the general human need for a philosophy of life. Disagreements over things of this nature have resulted in some amount of friction between secular and religious humanists, despite their commonalities.

Other forms of humanism

Humanism is also sometimes used to describe "humanities" scholars, (particularly scholars of the Greco-Roman classics). As mentioned above, it is sometimes used to mean humanitarianism. There is also a school of humanistic psychology, and an educational method.

Educational humanism

Humanism, as a current in education began to dominate school systems, in the 17th century. It held that the studies that develop our intellect are those that make us "most truly human". The practical basis for this was faculty psychology, or the belief in distinct intellectual faculties, such as the analytical, the mathematical, the linguistic, etc. Strengthening one faculty was believed to benefit other faculties, as well (transfer of training). A key player in the late 19th-century educational humanism was U.S. Commissioner of Education W.T. Harris, whose "Five Windows of the Soul" (math, geography, history, grammar, and literature/art) were believed especially appropriate for "development of the faculties". Educational humanists believe that "the best studies, for the best kids" are "the best studies" for all kids. While humanism as an educational current was largely discredited by the innovations of the early 20th century, it still holds out, in some elite preparatory schools and some high school disciplines (especially, of course, in literature).

References

- Walter, Nicolas, 1997 Humanism - What's in the Word Rationalist Press Association, London, ISBN 0-301-97001-7.
- Petrosyan, M. 1972 Humanism: Its Philosophical, Ethical, and Sociological Aspects. Moscow: Progress Publishers.

Web resources

Founding documents

- [http://www.americanhumanist.org/3/HumandItsAspirations.php Humanist Manifesto]
- [http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=main&page=declaration A Secular Humanist Declaration].

Introductions to humanism

- [http://www.jcn.com/humanism.html What Is Humanism?] from the American Humanist Association
- [http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MHEC/humnism.htm Humanism: Why, What, and What For, In 882 Words]
- [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/humanism-civic/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Civic Humanism]
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07538b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia article on Renaissance Humanism]

Organizations

- [http://www.centerforinquiry.net Center for Inquiry International]
- [http://www.secularhumanism.org Council for Secular Humanism]
- [http://www.iheu.org International Humanist and Ethical Union]
- [http://www.iheyo.org/ International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation]
- [http://www.humaniststudies.org/ Institute for Humanist Studies]
- [http://www.rationalistinternational.net Rationalist International]
- [http://www.americanhumanist.org/ American Humanist Association]
- [http://www.humanism.org.uk British Humanist Association]
- [http://canada.humanists.net Humanist Association of Canada]
- [http://www.humanistcenterofcultures.org/wiki/wiki.cgi Chicago humanist wiki pages]
- [http://www.neuer-humanismus.de/ Humanist Movement - German]
- [http://www.humanist-net.org Humanist n.e.t. - German/ English]
- [http://www.human.no/ Norwegian Humanist Association]
- [http://www.humanism.ro Romanian association Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience - Romanian/ English]

Web articles

- [http://www.newhumanist.org.uk/ New Humanist] British magazine from the Rationalist Press Association (RPA)
- [http://www.TheSystemHasYou.com/ Nanovirus - A humanist perspective on politics, technology and culture]

Web books

- [http://www.humanisteurope.org/ Europen Region of the Humanist International] and [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Thinking_And_Moral_Problems Thinking And Moral Problems], [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Religions_And_Their_Source Religions And Their Source], [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Purpose Purpose], and [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Developing_A_Universal_Religion Developing A Universal Religion], four Parts of a Wikibook.

Web directories

- [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us317911/us53880/us62764/us282755/ LookSmart - Humanism] directory category
- [http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Humanism/ Open Directory Project - Humanism] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Philosophy/Humanism/ Yahoo - Humanism] directory category Category:Art movements Category:Epistemology Category:Renaissance
- Category:Humanists ja:ヒューマニズム

Gentleman

See also Gentleman (reggae artist) The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or gens, and "man", cognate with the French word gentilhomme, the Spanish gentilhombre, and the Italian gentil uomo), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, the Latin generosus (its invariable translation in English-Latin documents). In this sense the word equates with the French gentilhomme (nobleman), which latter term was in Great Britain long confined to the peerage. The term gentry (from the Old French genterise for gentelise) has much of the significance of the French noblesse or of the German Adel. This was what the rebels under John Ball in the 14th century meant when they repeated: :When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the Gentleman?
Are you Gentleman?^[1] John Selden in Titles of Honour, (1614), discussing the title "gentleman", speaks of "our English use of it" as "convertible with nobilis" and describes in connection with it the forms of ennobling in various European countries. To a degree, gentleman signified a man who did not need to work, and could not claim nobility or even the rank of esquire. It was at times applied genuinely or ironically to all men who did not work, leading to the phrase "gentleman of leisure" to mean "unemployed". Widening further, it became a politeness for all men, as in the phrase "Ladies and Gentlemen,..." and this was then used (often with the abbreviation Gents) to indicate where men could find a water closet, toilet, lavatory, bathroom, or restroom without the need to indicate precisely what was being described.

Gentleman by conduct

Chaucer in the Meliboeus (circa 1386) says: "Certes he sholde not be called a gentil man, that ... ne dooth his diligence and bisynesse, to kepen his good name"; and in The Wife of Bath's Tale: :Loke who that is most vertuous alway :Prive and apert, and most entendeth ay :To do the gentil dedes that he can :And take him for the gretest gentilman And in the Romance of the Rose (circa 1400) we find: "he is gentil bycause he doth as longeth to a gentilman". This use develops through the centuries, until in 1714 we have Steele, in Tatler (No. 207), laying down that "the appellation of Gentleman is never to be affixed to a man's circumstances, but to his Behaviour in them", a limitation over-narrow even for the present day. In this connection, too, one may quote the old story, told by some—very improbably—of James II, of the monarch who replied to a lady petitioning him to make her son a gentleman, "I could make him a nobleman, but God Almighty could not make him a gentleman". Selden, however, in referring to similar stories "that no Charter can make a Gentleman, which is cited as out of the mouth of some great Princes that have said it", adds that "they without question understood Gentleman for Generosus in the antient sense, or as if it came from Genii/is in that sense, as Gentilis denotes one of a noble Family, or indeed for a Gentleman by birth". For "no creation could make a man of another blood than he is". The word "gentleman", used in the wide sense with which birth and circumstances have nothing to do, is necessarily incapable of strict definition. For "to behave like a gentleman" may mean little or much, according to the person by whom the phrase is used; "to spend money like a gentleman" may even be no great praise; but "to conduct a business like a gentleman" implies a high standard.

William Harrison

William Harrison, writing a century earlier, says "gentlemen be those whom their race and blood, or at the least their virtues, do make noble and known". But for the complete gentleman the possession of a coat of arms was in his time considered necessary; and Harrison gives the following account of how gentlemen were made in Shakespeare's day: :Gentlemen whose ancestors are not known to come in with William duke of Normandy (for of the Saxon races yet remaining we now make none accompt, much less of the British issue) do take their beginning in England after this manner in our times. Who soever studieth the laws of the realm, who so abideth in the university, giving his mind to his book, or professeth physic and the liberal sciences, or beside his service in the room of a captain in the wars, or good counsel given at home, whereby his commonwealth is benefited, can live without manual labour, and thereto is able and will bear the port, charge and countenance of a gentleman, he shall for money have a coat and arms bestowed upon him by heralds (who in the charter of the same do of custom pretend antiquity and service, and many gay things) and thereunto being made so good cheap be called master, which is the title that men give to esquires and gentlemen, and reputed for a gentleman ever after. Which is so much the less to be disallowed of, for that the prince doth lose nothing by it, the gentleman being so much subject to taxes and public payments as is the yeoman or husbandman, which he likewise doth bear the gladlier for the saving of his reputation. Being called also to the wars (for with the government of the commonwealth he medleth little) what soever it cost him, he will both array and arm himself accordingly, and show the more manly courage, and all the tokens of the person which he representeth. No man hath hurt by it but himself, who peradventure will go in wider buskins than his legs will bear, or as our proverb saith, now and then bear a bigger sail than his boat is able to sustain.

Shakespeare

In this way Shakespeare himself was turned, by the grant of his coat of arms, from a "vagabond" into a gentleman. The inseparability of arms and gentility is shown by two of his characters: :Petruchio: I swear I'll cuff you if you strike again. :Katharine: So may you lose your arms: If you strike me, you are no gentleman; :And if no gentleman, why then no arms. :(The Taming of the Shrew, Act II Scene i.)

Superiority of the fighting man

The fundamental idea of "gentry", symbolised in this grant of coat-armour, had come to be that of the essential superiority of the fighting man; and, as Selden points out (page 707), the fiction was usually maintained in the granting of arms "to an ennobled person though of the long Robe wherein he hath little use of them as they mean a shield". At the last the wearing of a sword on all occasions was the outward and visible sign of a "gentleman"; and the custom survives in the sword worn with "court dress". This idea that a gentleman must have a coat of arms (and that no-one is a "gentleman" without one) came about, however, comparatively late in history, the outcome of the natural desire of the heralds to magnify their office and collect fees for registering coats; and the same is true of the conception of gentlemen as a separate class.

Gentry

That a distinct order of "gentry" existed in England very early has, indeed, been often assumed, and is supported by weighty authorities. Thus the late Professor Freeman (in Encyclopedia Britannica xvii. page 540 b, 9th edition) said: "Early in the 11th century the order of 'gentlemen' as a separate class seems to be forming as something new. By the time of the conquest of England the distinction seems to have been fully established". Stubbs (Const. Hist., ed. 1878, iii. 544, 548) takes the same view. Sir George Sitwell, however, has conclusively proved that this opinion is based on a wrong conception of the conditions of medieval society, and that it is wholly opposed to the documentary evidence. The fundamental social cleavage in the middle ages was between the nobiles, i.e. the tenants in chivalry, whether earls, barons, knights, esquires or franklins, and the ignobiles, i.e. the villeins, citizens and burgesses; and between the most powerful noble and the humblest franklin there was, until the 15th century, no "separate class of gentlemen". Even so late as 1400 the word "gentleman" still only had the sense of generosus, and could not be used as a personal description denoting rank or quality, or as the title of a class. Yet after 1413 we find it increasingly so used; and the list of landowners in 1431, printed in Feudal Aids, contains, besides knights, esquires, yeomen and husbandmen (i.e. householders), a fair number who are classed as "gentilman".

Sir George Sitwell

Sir George Sitwell gives a lucid, instructive and occasionally amusing explanation of this development. The immediate cause was the statute I Henry V. cap. v. of 1413, which laid down that in all original writs of action, personal appeals and indictments, in which process of outlawry lies, the "estate degree or mystery" of the defendant must be stated, as well as his present or former domicile. Now the Black Death (1349) had put the traditional social organisation out of gear. Before that the younger sons of the nobiles had received their share of the farm stock, bought or hired land, and settled down as agriculturists in their native villages. Under the new conditions this became increasingly impossible, and they were forced to seek their fortunes abroad in the French wars, or at home as hangers-on of the great nobles. These men, under the old system, had no definite status; but they were generosi, men of birth, and, being now forced to describe themselves, they disdained to be classed with franklins (now sinking in the social scale), still more with yeomen or husbandmen; they chose, therefore, to be described as "gentlemen". On the character of these earliest "gentlemen" the records throw a lurid light. Sir George Sitwell (p. 76), describes a man typical of his class, one who had served among the men-at-arms of Lord Talbot at the Agincourt: :the premier gentleman of England, as the matter now stands, is 'Robert Ercleswyke of Stafford, gentilman' ... :Fortunately—for the gentle reader will no doubt be anxious to follow in his footsteps—some particulars of his life may be gleaned from the public records. He was charged at the Staffordshire Assizes with housebreaking, wounding with intent to kill, and procuring the murder of one Thomas Page, who was cut to pieces while on his knees begging for his life. If any earlier claimant to the title of "gentleman" be discovered, Sir George Sitwell predicts that it will be within the same year (1414) and in connection with some similar disreputable proceedings. From these unpromising beginnings the separate order of "gentlemen" evolved very slowly. The first "gentleman" commemorated on an existing monument was John Daundelyon of Margate (died circa 1445); the first gentleman to enter the House of Commons, hitherto composed mainly of "valets", was William Weston, "gentylman"; but even in the latter half of the 15th century the order was not clearly established. As to the connection of gentilesse with the official grant or recognition of coat-armour, that is a profitable fiction invented and upheld by the heralds; for coat-armour was but the badge assumed by gentlemen to distinguish them in battle, and many gentlemen of long descent never had occasion to assume it, and never did.

Further decline of standards

This fiction, however, had its effect; and by the 16th century, as has been already pointed out, the official view had become clearly established that "gentlemen" constituted a distinct order, and that the badge of this distinction was the heralds' recognition of the right to bear arms. It is unfortunate that this view, which is quite unhistorical and contradicted by the present practice of many undoubtedly "gentle" families of long descent, has of late years been given a wide currency in popular manuals of heraldry. In this narrow sense, however, the word "gentleman" has long since become obsolete. The idea of "gentry" in the continental sense of noblesse is extinct in England, and is likely to remain so, in spite of the efforts of certain enthusiasts to revive it (see A. C. Fox-Davies, Armorial Families, Edinburgh, 1895). That it once existed has been sufficiently shown; but the whole spirit and tendency of English constitutional and social development tended to its early destruction. The comparative good order of England was not favourable to the continuance of a class developed during the foreign and civil wars of the 14th and 15th centuries, for whom fighting was the sole honourable occupation. The younger sons of noble families became apprentices in the cities, and there grew up a new aristocracy of trade. Merchants are still "citizens" to William Harrison; but he adds "they often change estate with gentlemen, as gentlemen do with them, by a mutual conversion of the one into the other".

A line between classes

A frontier line between classes so indefinite could not be maintained, especially as in England there was never a "nobiliary prefix" to stamp a person as a gentleman by his surname, as in France or Germany. The process was hastened, moreover, by the corruption of the Heralds' College and by the ease with which coats of arms could be assumed without a shadow of claim; which tended to bring the science of armory into contempt. The prefix "de" attached to some English names is in no sense "nobiliary". In Latin documents de was the equivalent of the English "of", as de la for "at" (so de la Pole for "Atte Poole"; compare such names as "Attwood" or "Attwater"). In English this "of" disappeared during the 15th century: for example the grandson of Johannes de Stoke (John of Stoke) in a 14th-century document becomes "John Stoke". In modern times, under the influence of romanticism, the prefix "de" has been in some cases "revived" under a misconception, e.g. "de Trafford", "de Hoghton". Very rarely it is correctly retained as derived from a foreign place-name, e.g. "de Grey".

Modern usage

The word "gentleman" as an index of rank had already become of doubtful value before the great political and social changes of the 19th century gave to it a wider and essentially higher significance. The change is well illustrated in the definitions given in the successive editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica. In the 5th edition (1Sf 5) "a gentleman is one, who without any title, bears a coat of arms, or whose ancestors have been freemen". In the 7th edition (1845) it still implies a definite social status: "All above the rank of yeomen". In the 8th edition (1856) this is still its "most extended sense"; "in a more limited sense" it is defined in the same words as those quoted above from the 5th edition; but the writer adds, "By courtesy this title is generally accorded to all persons above the rank of common tradesmen when their manners are indicative of a certain amount of refinement and intelligence". The Reform Act 1832 did its work; the "middle classes" came into their own; and the word "gentleman" came in common use to signify not a distinction of blood, but a distinction of position, education and manners. The test is no longer good birth, or the right to bear arms, but the capacity to mingle on equal terms in good society. In its best use, moreover, "gentleman" involves a certain superior standard of conduct, due, to quote the 8th edition once more, to "that self-respect and intellectual refinement which manifest themselves in unrestrained yet delicate manners". The word "gentle", originally implying a certain social status, had very early come to be associated with the standard of manners expected from that status. Thus by a sort of punning process the "gentleman" becomes a "gentle-man". In Time Enough for Love, Robert A. Heinlein described being a gentlemen as part of the (slowly) emerging realization in the human consciousness of motives higher than simple self-service.

Language

A language is a system of symbols, generally known as lexemes and the rules by which they are manipulated. The word language is also used to refer to the whole phenomenon of language, i.e., the common properties of languages. Though language is commonly used for communication, it is not synonymous with it. Human language is a natural phenomenon, and language learning is instinctive in childhood. In their natural form, human languages use patterns of sound or gesture for the symbols in order to communicate with others through the senses. Though there are thousands of human languages, they all share a number of properties from which there are no known deviations. Humans have also invented (or arguably in some cases discovered) many other languages, including constructed human languages such as Esperanto or Klingon, programming languages such as Python or Ruby, and various mathematical formalisms. These languages are not restricted to the properties shared by natural human languages.

Properties of language

Languages are not just sets of symbols. They also contain a grammar, or system of rules, used to manipulate the symbols. While a set of symbols may be used for expression or communication, it is primitive and relatively unexpressive, because there are no clear or regular relationships between the symbols. Because a language also has a grammar, it can manipulate its symbols to express clear and regular relationships between them. For example, imagine going on a walk with a person who only knew individual symbols, or words. If you saw a dog, he might say, "Dog scare" or "Scare Dog". Although any English speaker would have some notion of what he was talking about, the relationship between the words is unclear. Is he scared of dogs? Or just that dog? Or does he want to scare the dog off? Does he think the dog is scared? But if you respond, "I’m not scared of dogs," the relationship between dog and scare is quite apparent and hence the meaning of the utterance. Another important property of language is the arbitrariness of the symbols. Any symbol can be mapped onto any concept (or even onto one of the rules of the grammar). For instance, there is nothing about the Spanish word nada itself that forces Spanish speakers to use it to mean nothing. That is the meaning all Spanish speakers have memorized for that sound pattern. But for Croatian speakers nada means hope. However, it must be understood that just because in principle the symbols are arbitrary does not mean that a language cannot have symbols that are iconic of what they stand for. Words such as meow sound similar to what they represent, but they could be replaced with words such as jarn, and as long as everyone memorized the new word, the same concepts could be expressed with it.

Human languages

Human languages are usually referred to as natural languages, and the science studying them is linguistics. Making a principled distinction between one language and another is usually impossible. For example, the boundaries between named language groups are in effect arbitrary due to blending between populations (the dialect continuum). For instance, there are dialects of German very similar to Dutch which are not mutually intelligible with other dialects of (what Germans call) German. Some like to make parallels with biology, where it is not always possible to make a well-defined distinction between one species and the next. In either case, the ultimate difficulty may stem from the interactions between languages and populations. (See Dialect or August Schleicher for a longer discussion.) The concepts of Ausbausprache, Abstandsprache, and Dachsprache are used to make finer distinctions about the degrees of difference between languages or dialects.

Origins of human language

Scientists do not yet agree on when language was first used by humans (or their ancestors). Estimates range from about two million (2,000,000) years ago, during the time of Homo habilis, to as recently as forty thousand (40,000) years ago, during the time of Cro-Magnon man. The nature of speech means that there is almost no data on which to base conclusions on the subject.

Language taxonomy

The classification of natural languages can be performed on the basis of different underlying principles (different closeness notions, respecting different properties and relations between languages); important directions of present classifications are:
- paying attention to the historical evolution of languages results in a genetic classification of languages—which is based on genetic relatedness of languages,
- paying attention to the internal structure of languages (grammar) results in a typological classification of languages—which is based on similarity of one or more components of the language’s grammar across languages,
- and respecting geographical closeness and contacts between language-speaking communities results in areal groupings of languages. The different classifications do not match each other and are not expected to, but the correlation between them is an important point for many linguistic research works. (There is a parallel to the classification of species in biological phylogenetics here: consider monophyletic vs. polyphyletic groups of species.) The task of genetic classification belongs to the field of historical-comparative linguistics, of typological—to linguistic typology. See also: Taxonomy, Taxonomic classification—for the general idea of classification and taxonomies.

Genetic classification

The world’s languages have been grouped into families of languages that are believed to have common ancestors. Some of the major families are the Indo-European languages, the Afro-Asiatic languages, the Austronesian languages, and the Sino-Tibetan languages. The shared features of languages from one family can be due to shared ancestry. (Compare with homology in biology.)

Typological classification

An example of a typological classification is the classification of languages on the basis of the basic order of the verb, the subject and the object in a sentence into several types: SVO, SOV, VSO, and so on, languages. (, for instance, belongs to the SVO language type.) The shared features of languages of one type (= from one typological class) may have arisen completely independently. (Compare with analogy in biology.) Their cooccurence might be due to the universal laws governing the structure of natural languages—language universals.

Areal classification

The following language groupings can serve as some linguistically significant examples of areal linguistic units, or sprachbunds: Balkan linguistic union, or the bigger group of European languages; Caucasian languages. Although the members of each group are not closely genetically related, there is a reason for them to share similar features, namely: their speakers have been in contact for a long time within a common community and the languages converged in the course of the history. These are called areal features. NB. One should be careful about the underlying classification principle for groups of languages which have apparently a geographical name: besides areal linguistic units, the taxa of the genetic classification (language families) are often given names which themselves or parts of which refer to geographical areas.
Constructed languages
One prominent artificial language, called Esperanto, was created by L. L. Zamenhof. It is a compilation of various elements of different languages, and it is intended to be an easy-to-learn language. Another prominent artificial language, called Ido, is intended to be reformed Esperanto. Other constructed languages strive to be more logical than natural languages; a prominent example of this is Lojban. Other writers, such as J. R. R. Tolkien, have created fantasy languages, for literary, artistic, or personal reasons. One of Tolkien’s languages is called Quenya, which is a form of Elvish. It has its own alphabet, and its phonology and syntax are modelled on Finnish. Linguist Mark Okrand has devised Klingon and Vulcan for Star Trek, which have since been developed into full languages.
The study of language
The oldest surviving written grammar for any language is believed to be the Tolkāppiyam (தொல்காப்பியம்), a book on the grammar of the Tamil language, written around 200 BCE by Tolkāppiyar. Its classification of the alphabet into consonants and vowel was a breakthrough. The historical record of the study of language begins in North India with Pāṇini, the 5th century BCE grammarian who formulated 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology, known as the (अष्टाध्यायी). grammar is highly systematized and technical. Inherent in its analytic approach are the concepts of the phoneme, the morpheme, and the root; the phoneme was only recognized by Western linguists some two millennia later. In the Middle East, the Persian linguist Sibawayh made a detailed and professional description of Arabic in 760 CE in his monumental work, Al-kitab fi an-nahw (الكتاب في النحو, The Book on Grammar), bringing many linguistic aspects of language to light. In his book he distinguished phonetics from phonology. Later in the West, the success of science, mathematics, and other formal systems in the 20th century led many to attempt a formalization of the study of language as a "semantic code". This resulted in the academic discipline of linguistics, the founding of which is attributed to Ferdinand de Saussure.
Animal (nonhuman) language
While the term animal languages is widely used, most researchers agree that they are not as complex or expressive as human language; a more accurate term is animal communication. Some researchers argue that there are significant differences separating human language from the communication of other animals, and that the underlying principles are not related. In several widely publicised instances, animals have been trained to mimic certain features of human language. For example, chimpanzees and gorillas have been taught hand signs based on American Sign Language; however, they have never been taught its grammar. There was also a case in 2003 of Kanzi, a captive bonobo chimpanzee allegedly independently creating some words to mean certain concepts. While animal communication has debated levels of semantics, it has not been shown to have syntax in the sense that human languages do. Some researchers argue that a continuum exists among the communication methods of all social animals, pointing to the fundamental requirements of group behaviour and the existence of "mirror cells" in primates. This, however, may not be a scientific question, but is perhaps more one of definition. What exactly is the definition of the word "language"? Most researchers agree that, although human and more primitive languages have analogous features, they are not homologous.
Formal languages
Mathematics and computer science use artificial entities called formal languages (including programming languages and markup languages, but also some that are far more theoretical in nature). These often take the form of character strings, produced by some combination of formal grammar and semantics of arbitrary complexity.
See also

- Common phrases in different languages
- Computer-assisted language learning (a historical perspective)
- Deception
- Ethnologue, which provides a fairly complete list of languages, locations, population and genetic affiliation
- Extinct language
- FOXP2 (Language gene)
- ILR scale (defines five levels of language proficiency)
- ISO 639 (2- and 3-letter codes for language names)
- Language education
- Language reform
- Language policy
- Language school
- Linguistic protectionism
- Linguistics basic topics
- List of language academies
- List of languages
- List of official languages
- Naming
- Non-verbal communication
- Non-sexist language
- Official language
- Orthography
- Philology and Historical linguistics
- Philosophy of language
- Profanity
- Psycholinguistics
- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
- Slang
- Symbolic communication
- Speech therapy
- Terminology
- Tongue-twister
- Translation
- Whistled language
References

- Crystal, David (1997). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- Crystal, David (2001). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- Katzner, K. (1999). The Languages of the World. New York, Routledge.
- McArthur, T. (1996). The Concise Companion to the English Language. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
- Kandel, Jessel, and Schwartz (1991). Principles of Neural Science. McGraw Hill (esp. p. 1173).
External links

- [http://www.zompist.com/ Mark Rosenfelder’s Metaverse] provides a useful listing of 5000 languages and dialects (grouped by their relationships), where the numbers one to ten in each language may be found
- [http://www.geocities.com/agihard/mohl/mohl_languages.html Museum of Languages]
- The [http://www.ethnologue.com/ Ethnologue], a catalog of the world’s languages
- [http://www.language-capitals.com Language Capitals] Guide to 8 major languages of the world with facts, characteristics and varieties
- [http://www.vistawide.com/languages/ World Languages and Cultures] — Practical information and resources on languages and language learning
- [http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/animals/animals.html Animal sounds in different languages]
- [http://www.netz-tipp.de/languages.html Distribution of languages on the Internet]
- [http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/ Speech accent archive]
- [http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/G_Kunkel/homepage.htm a collection of bird songs] provides many kinds of bird songs
- [http://acp.eugraph.com The Animal Communication Project]
- [http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/categories/lang.html Language Articles]
- [http://www.primitivism.com/language.htm Language: Origin and Meaning by John Zerzan] Category:Technology als:Sprache zh-min-nan:Gí-giân ko:언어 ms:Bahasa nb:Språk ja:言語 simple:Language th:ภาษา

Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound, and can somehow be controlled by a musician, can serve as a musical instrument. The expression, however, is reserved generally to items that have a specific musical purpose. The academic study of musical instruments is called organology.

Types of musical instruments

Instruments are often divided by the way in which they generate sound:
- Wind instruments generate a sound when a column of air is made to vibrate inside them. The frequency of the wave generated is related to the length of the column of air and the shape of the instrument, while the tone quality of the sound generated is affected by the construction of the instrument and method of tone production. The group is typically subdivided into Brass and Woodwind instruments.
- Percussion instruments create sound, with or without pitch, when struck. The shape and material of the part of the instrument to be struck and the shape of the resonating cavity, if any, determine the sound of the instrument.
- String instruments generate a sound when the string is plucked, strummed, slapped, etc. The frequency of the wave generated (and therefore the note produced) usually depends on the length of the vibrating portion of the string, its mass, the tension of each string and the point at which the string is excited; the tone quality varies with the construction of the resonating cavity.
- Voice, that is, the human voice, is an instrument in its own right. A singer generates sounds when airflow from the lungs sets the vocal cords into oscillation. The fundamental frequency is controlled by the tension of the vocal cords and the tone quality by the formation of the vocal tract; a wide range of sounds can be created.
- Electronic instruments generate sound through electronic means. They often mimic other instruments in their design, particularly keyboards.
- Keyboard instruments are any instruments that are played with a musical keyboard. Every key generates one or more sounds; most keyboard instruments have extra means (pedals for a piano, stops for an organ) to manipulate these sounds. They may produce sound by wind (organ), vibrating strings either hammered (piano) or plucked (harpsichord), by electronic means (synthesizer) or in some other way. Sometimes, instruments that do not usually have a keyboard, such as the Glockenspiel, are fitted with one. Many alternate divisions and further subdivisions of instruments exist. To learn about a specific instruments, consult the list of musical instruments or list of archaic musical instruments.

History

All classes of instruments save the electronic are mentioned in ancient sources, such as Egyptian inscriptions and the Bible, and probably predate recorded history. The human body, generating both vocal and percussive sounds, may have been the first instrument, or, perhaps, found percussion instruments such as stones and hollow logs. For instance, nine-thousand-year-old bone flutes or recorders have been found in Chinese archeological sites. The oldest known man made instrument is a mousterian bone flute from the "Divje babe I" cave site (Slovenia), made by neanderthals around 45.000-50.000 years ago from a cave bear bone.

External links

- [http://www.windworld.com/emi/ Experimental Musical Instruments]
- [http://www3.uakron.edu/ssma/instruments/instruments.shtml University of Akron Bierce Library Smith Archives: Invented Instruments]
- [http://geocities.com/kumiko1400/ List of free Musical Instruments software]
- [http://www.nime.org/ New Interfaces for Musical Expression]
- [http://www.prosono.co.za/english/Wood-Musical-Instruments.html Wood for musical instruments] ko:악기 ja:楽器 simple:Musical instrument

Baldassare Castiglione

Baldassare Castiglione, count of Novellata (December 6, 1478 – February 2, 1529), was a diplomat and one of the most important Renaissance authors. author He was born in Mantua, Italy to an ancient family from Lombardy that had moved to Mantua at the time of marquis Lodovico Gonzaga, a relative of Luigia Gonzaga, mother of Castiglione. He studied again in the court of Gonzaga. In 1499, his father died, and Castiglione succeeded him in the representative duties of the head of a noble family. Soon his duties would have included representative offices for the court; for instance, he accompanied his marquis for the arrival in Milan of Louis XII. For Gonzaga he travelled quite often; during one of his missions to Rome, he met Guidubaldo da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, and in 1504 Gonzaga, although reluctant, allowed him to pass to that court. Urbino was at that time the most refined and elegant among Italian courts, a real meeting point of culture superbly directed and managed by duchess Elisabetta Gonzaga and her sister-in-law Maria Emilia Pia; among most constant guests Pietro Bembo, Giuliano de' Medici, Cardinal Bibbiena, Ottaviano and Federico Fregoso, Cesare Gonzaga (a cousin of both Castiglione and the duke), and many others. Notably, guests used to organise intellectual competitions which resulted in an interesting, stimulating cultural life that produced a brilliant literary activity. In 1506, Castiglione wrote (and played together with Cosimo Gonzaga) his eclogue Tirsi, in which allusively, beyond the figures of three shepherds, he originally depicted the court of Urbino. The work contains echoes of both ancient and contemporary poetry, with recalls Virgil, Poliziano, and Sannazzaro. Castiglione wrote about his works and of those of other guests in some letters to other princes, maintaining an activity very near to diplomacy, though in a literary form, like with Ludovico da Canossa. Francesco Maria della Rovere succeeded Guidubaldo at his death, and Castiglione remained at his court; with Francesco Maria, he took part in Pope Julius II's expedition against Venice and this made him deserve the title of Novellata, a county near Pesaro. When Pope Leo X was elected, Castiglione was sent to Rome as an ambassador of Urbino. In Rome he shared friendship with many artists and writers; among these, Raphael soon became a close friend of his, frequently asking for his suggestions. Raphael gratefully painted a famous portait of Castiglione that now is at the Louvre (Paris). In 1516, Castiglione was back in Mantua, where he married Ippolita Torelli, descendant of another ancient noble family. He wrote two passionate letters to her, expressing a deep sentiment, but she unfortunately died only 4 years later, when Castiglione was in Rome again as an ambassador, this time for Mantuan Dukes. In 1521, Pope Leo X conceded him the tonsura (first sacerdotal ceremony), and there began Castiglione's ecclesiastical career. In 1524, Pope Clement VII sent him to Spain as nuncius apostolicus (ambassador of the Holy See) in Madrid, and in this role he followed Charles V to Toledo, Sevilla, and Granada. When in 1527 Lansquenets invaded and ruined Rome (Sacco di Roma), the Pope suspected him of "special friendship" for the Spanish emperor: effectively Castiglione should have informed the Holy See about the intentions of Charles V, it was his duty to investigate what Spain was planning against the Eternal City. On the other side, Alonso de Valdes (brother of Juan de Valdes and the secretary of the emperor) publicly declared that the Sacco was a divine punishment for the too many sins of clergy. Castiglione, in an undoubtedly uncomfortable position, answered both, the Pope and Valdes, in two famous letters from Burgos. Valdes received a very long and severe letter in which the nuncius used hard terms to define the Sacco and Valdes' comments. The Pope received instead a letter (dated December 10, 1527) in which Castiglione dared to underline that several aspects of Vatican politics were ambiguous and contradictory, not at all a valid support in his action of pursuing a fair agreement with the Empire; this lack of coherence in the Church's actions had therefore irritated Charles V, was the sense of his argument. Against any expectation, he received the excuses of the Pope and great honours by the emperor. Today it seems quite certain that Castiglione had no responsibility in the Sacco, and he had played honestly his role in Spain. Also, a popular story about his death due to remorse found no confirmation: he died by Black Death. In 1528, the year before his death, the book by which he is most famous, The Book of the Courtier (Il Cortegiano), was published in Venice by Andrea d'Asolo (father-in-law of Aldo Manuzio). The book is based upon Castiglione's times at the court of Duke Guidobaldo Montefeltro of Urbino. It describes the ideal court and courtier, going into great detail about the philosophical and cultured discussions that occurred at Urbino. The book defined the ideal Renaissance gentleman. In the Middle Ages, the perfect gentleman was a chivalrous knight who distinguished himself by his prowess on the battlefield. Castiglione's book changed that; now the perfect gentleman had to be educated in the classics as well. The book was soon translated into Spanish, German, French, and English, and 108 editions were published between 1528 and 1616. Pietro Aretino's La cortigiana is a parody of this famous work. Minor works are less known, yet still interesting. Love sonnets and four Amorose canzoni he wrote with reference to his Platonic love for Elisabetta Gonzaga, with a style that recalls very intensively Francesco Petrarca's through Pietro Bembo's ones. Pre-romantics will find in his sonnet Superbi colli e voi, sacre ruine a focal inspiration, however more written by the man of letters than by the poet. Latin poetries are to be remembered, together with his elegy De morte Raphaellis pictoris (for the death of Raphael), and the other elegy in which he imagined his wife (dead) was writing him. In vulgar prose it is remembered a prologo for Bibbiena's Calandria. His letters are another point of interest, describing not only the man and his personality, but also details about the famous people he met and frequented, or about his diplomat activity; they are considered very important for political, literary, and historical studies. He died in Toledo, Spain. Castiglione Castiglione Castiglione Castiglione Castiglione Castiglione ja:バルダサーレ・カスティリオーネ

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian Renaissance architect, musician, anatomist, inventor, engineer, sculptor, geometer, and painter. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius, a man both infinitely curious and infinitely inventive. Leonardo is famous for his masterly paintings, such as The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. He is also known for designing many inventions that anticipated modern technology, although few of these designs were constructed in his lifetime. In addition, he advanced the study of anatomy, astronomy, and civil engineering. Of his works, only a few paintings survive, together with his notebooks (scattered among various collections) containing drawings, scientific diagrams and notes. The Columbia Encyclopedia (1963) states, "The richness and originality of intellect in his notebooks reveal one of the great minds of all time." civil engineering, circa 1512 to 1515, widely accepted as a genuine self portrait although somewhat disputed.]]

Life

Personal life

civil engineering The first known biography of Leonardo was published in 1550 by Giorgio Vasari who wrote Vite de' piu eccelenti architettori, pittori e scultori italiani ("The lives of the most excellent Italian architects, painters and sculptors"), and later became an independent painter in Florence. Most of the information collected by Vasari was from first-hand accounts of Leonardo's contemporaries, (Vasari was only a child when Leonardo died), and it remains the first reference in studying Leonardo's life. Leonardo, the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary named Ser Piero and a local peasant woman called Caterina, was born before modern naming conventions developed in Europe; his name "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", simply means "Leonardo, son of [Mes]ser Piero, from Vinci". Leonardo signed his works "Leonardo" or "Io, Leonardo" ("I, Leonardo"). Leonardo grew up with his father, Ser Piero, in Florence where he started drawing and painting. His early sketches were of such quality that his father soon showed them to the painter Andrea del Verrocchio, who subsequently took on the fourteen-year old Leonardo as an apprentice. In this role, Leonardo also worked with Lorenzo di Credi and Pietro Perugino. :But the greatest of all Andrea's pupils was Leonardo da Vinci, in whom, besides a beauty of person never sufficiently admired and a wonderful grace in all his actions, there was such a power of intellect that whatever he turned his mind to he made himself master of with ease. —Vasari It is apparent from the works of Leonardo and his early biographers that he was a man of high integrity and very sensitive to moral issues. His respect for life led him to being a vegetarian at least part of his life (although the term 'vegan' would fit him well, as he even entertained the notion that taking milk from cows amounts to stealing. Under the heading, "Of the beasts from whom cheese is made," he answers, "the milk will be taken from the tiny children." [http://www.propheties.it/variouspeople/leonardo.htm]). Vasari reports a story that as a young man in Florence he often bought caged birds just to release them from captivity. He was also a respected judge on matters of beauty and elegance, particularly in the creation of pageants.

Relationships

pageant Leonardo kept his private life particularly secret, going as far as writing his journals in code. He also claimed to have a distaste of physical relations: The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions, a comment later interpreted by Freud, in an analysis of the artist, as indicative of his "frigidity" (Gesammelte Werke bd VIII, 1909-1913). He concludes that Leonardo is driven by a homosexual libido, one that is sublimated in his scientific investigations. Indeed, Leonardo surrounded himself with handsome youths throughout his life, and allowed his art to reflect an appreciation of masculine beauty. His lasting and loving relationship with young men and lack of close relationships with women, together with surviving legal records and contemporary writings have led some modern historians to conclude that he had a strong erotic interest, one focused exclusively on males, although this is disputed by most serious researchers. The first known instance of his interest in youths occurred in 1476. While still living with Verrocchio, he was twice accused anonymously of sodomy with a 17 year-old model, Jacopo d’Andrea Saltarelli, a boy already known to the authorities for his sexual escapades with men. After two months in jail, he was acquitted because no witnesses stepped forward. For some time afterwards, Leonardo and the others were kept under observation by Florence's Officers of the Night - a Renaissance organisation charged with suppressing the practice of sodomy, as shown by surviving legal records of the Podestà and the Officers of the Night. Leonardo's alleged love of boys was a topic of discussion even in the sixteenth century. In "Il Libro dei Sogni " (The Book of Dreams) a fictional dialogue on l'amore masculino (male love) written by the contemporary art critic and theorist Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Leonardo appears as one of the protagonists and declares, "Know that male love is exclusively the product of virtue which, joining men together with the diverse affections of friendship, makes it so that from a tender age they would enter into the manly one as more stalwart friends." In the dialogue, the interlocutor inquires of Leonardo about his relations with his assistant, il Salaino, "Did you play the game from behind which the Florentines love so much?" Leonardo answers, "And how many times! Keep in mind that he was a beautiful young man, especially at about fifteen." Gian Paolo Lomazzo Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed il Salaino ("The Little Unclean One" i.e., the devil), was described by Vasari as "a graceful and beautiful youth with fine curly hair, in which Leonardo greatly delighted." Il Salaino entered Leonardo's household in 1490 at the age of 10. The relationship was not an easy one. A year later Leonardo made a list of the boy’s misdemeanors, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton." The "Little Devil" had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions, and spent a fortune on apparel, among which twenty four pairs of shoes. Nevertheless, il Salaino remained his companion, servant and assistant for the next thirty years, and Leonardo’s notebooks during their early years contain pictures of a handsome, curly-haired adolescent. Il Salaino's name also appears (crossed out) on the back of an erotic drawing (ca. 1513) by the artist, The Incarnate Angel, at one time in the collection of Queen Victoria. It is seen as a humorous and revealing take on his major work, St. John the Baptist, also a work and a theme imbued with homoerotic overtones by a number of art critics such as Martin Kemp and James Saslow (Saslow, 1986, passim). Another erotic work, found on the verso of a foglio in the Atlantic Codex, depicts il Salaino's behind, towards which march several penises on two legs (Augusto Marinoni, in "Io Leonardo", Mondadori, Milano 1974, pp.288, 310). Some of Leonardo's other works on erotic topics, his drawings of heterosexual human sexual intercourse, were destroyed by a priest who found them after his death. In 1506, Leonardo met Count Francesco Melzi, the 15 year old son of a Lombard aristocrat. Melzi himself, in a letter, described Leonardo's feelings towards him as a sviscerato et ardentissimo amore ("a passionate and most fiery love"). (Crompton, p.269) Salai eventually accepted Melzi's continued presence and the three undertook journeys throughout Italy. Though Salai was always introduced as Leonardo's "pupil", he never produced any work of artistic merit. Melzi, however, became Leonardo's pupil and life companion, and is considered to have been his favorite student. Both of these relationships follow the pattern of eroticized apprenticeships which were frequent in the Florence of Leonardo's day, relationships which were often loving and not infrequently sexual. See Historical pederastic couples Besides them, Leonardo had many other friends who are now figures renowned in their fields, or for their influence on history. These included Cesare Borgia, in whose service he spent the years of 1502 and 1503. During that time he also met Niccolò Machiavelli, with whom later he was to develop a close friendship. Also among his friends are counted Franchinus Gaffurius and Isabella d'Este, whose portrait he drew while on a journey which took him through Mantua.

Professional life

Mantua The earliest known dated work of Leonardo's is a drawing done in pen and ink of the Arno valley, drawn on the 5th of August 1473. It is assumed that he had his own workshop between 1476 and 1478, receiving two orders during this time. From around 1482 to 1499, Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#rossiPage33], employed Leonardo and permitted him to operate his own workshop complete with apprentices. It was here that seventy tons of bronze that had been set aside for Leonardo's "Gran Cavallo" horse statue (see below) were cast into weapons for the Duke in an attempt to save Milan from the French under Charles VIII in 1495. When the French returned under Louis XII in 1498, Milan fell without a fight, overthrowing Sforza [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#tracyPage41]. Leonardo stayed in Milan for a time, until one morning when he found French archers using his life-size clay model of the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. He left with Salai and his friend Luca Pacioli (the first man to describe double-entry bookkeeping) for Mantua, moving on after 2 months to Venice (where he was hired as a military engineer), then briefly returning to Florence at the end of April 1500. In Florence he entered the services of Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, acting as a military architect and engineer; with Cesare he travelled throughout Italy. In 1506 he returned to Milan, now in the hands of Maximilian Sforza after Swiss mercenaries had driven out the French. From 1513 to 1516, he lived in Rome, where painters like Raphael and Michelangelo were active at the time, though he did not have much contact with these artists. However, he was probably of pivotal importance in the relocation of David (in Florence), one of Michelangelo's masterpieces, against the artist's will. David In 1515 Francis I of France retook Milan, and Leonardo was commissioned to make a centrepiece (a mechanical lion) for the peace talks between the French king and Pope Leo X in Bologna, where he must have first met the King. In 1516, he entered Francis' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé (also called "Cloux") next to the king's residence at the royal Chateau Amboise. The King granted Leonardo and his entourage generous pensions: the surviving document lists 1000 écus for the artist, 400 for Melzi (named "apprentice") and 100 for Salai (named "servant"). In 1518 Salai left Leonardo and returned to Milan, where he eventually perished in a duel. Francis became a close friend. Leonardo da Vinci died at Clos Lucé, France, on 2nd May, 1519. According to his wish, 60 beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the castle of Amboise. Although Melzi was his principle heir and executor, Salai was not forgotten; he received half of Leonardo's vineyard. 1519

Art

Leonardo pioneered new painting techniques in many of his pieces. One of them, a colour shading technique called "Chiaroscuro", used a series of glazes custom-made by Leonardo. It is characterized by subtle transitions between colour areas. Another effect created by da Vinci is called sfumato, which creates an atmospheric haze or smoky effect. Chiaroscuro is a technique of bold contrast between light and dark.

Early works in Florence (1452-1482)

Leonardo was apprenticed to the artist Verrocchio in Florence when he was about 15. In 1476 Leonardo worked with Verrocchio to paint for the friars of Vallombrosa The Baptism of Christ. He painted the angel at the front and the landscape, and the difference between the two artists' work can be seen, with Leonardo's finer blending and brushwork. Giorgio Vasari told the story that when Verrochio saw Leonardo's work he was so amazed that he resolved never to touch a brush again. Leonardo's first painting completed wholly by himself was the Madonna and Child painting completed in 1478, he also painted at the same time a picture of a little boy eating sherbert. In 1480-81 he created a small Annunciation painting which is now in the Louvre. In 1481 he painted an unfinished work of St. Jerome. Between 1481 and 1482 he started a painting called The Adoration of the Kings (also known as The Adoration of the Magi). He made extensive, ambitious plans and many drawings for the painting, but it was not finished, as Leonardo's services had been accepted by the Duke of Milan, to which he traveled. Milan

Milan (1482-1499)

Leonardo spent 17 years in Milan under the services of Duke Ludovico (between 1482 and 1499). He did many paintings, sculptures, and drawings during this time. He also designed court festivals, and did many of his sketches related to engineering. He was given basically a free reign to work on any project he chose, though he left many projects unfinished, completing only about six paintings during this time. This included The Last Supper (Ultima Cena or Cenacolo, in Milan) 1498 and Virgin of the Rocks. He worked on many of his notebooks between 1490 and 1495. He painted the Virgin of the rocks in 1494. In 1499 he painted Madonna and Child with St. Anne. He often planned grandiose paintings with many drawings and sketches, only to leave the projects unfinished. One of his projects involved making plans and models for a monumental seven metre (24 ft) high horse statue in bronze called "Gran Cavallo". Because of war with France, the project was never finished. (In 1999 a pair of full-scale statues based on his plans were cast, one erected in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the other in Milan [http://www.leonardoshorse.org/].) The Hunt Museum in Limerick, Ireland has a small bronze horse, thought to be the work of an apprentice from Leonardo's original design. The French invaded Milan in 1499, and Ludovico Sforza lost control. Leonardo was forced to search for a new patron.

Nomadic Period - Italy and France (1499-1519)

Limerick, Ireland Limerick, Ireland Between 1499 and 1516 Leonardo worked for a number of people, travelling around Italy doing several commissions, before moving to France in 1516. This has been described as a 'Nomadic Period'. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15440a.htm] He stayed in:
- Mantua (1500)
- Venice (1501)
- Florence (1501-06) known sometimes as his Second Florentine Period.
- Travelled between Florence and Milan staying in both places for short periods before settling in Milan.
- Milan (1506-13) (known sometimes as his Second Milanese Period, under the patronage of Charles d'Amboise until 1511)
- Rome (1514)
- Florence (1514)
- Pavia, Bologna, Milan (1515)
- France (1516-19) (patronage of King Francis I) In 1500 he went to Mantua where he sketched a portrait of the Marchesa Isabella d'Este. He left for Venice in 1501, and soon after returned to Florence. After returning to Florence, he was commissioned for a large public mural, The Battle of Anghiari; his rival Michelangelo was to paint the opposite wall. After producing a fantastic variety of studies in preparation for the work, he left the city, with the mural unfinished due to technical difficulties. The painting was destroyed in a war in the middle of the sixteenth century. He began work on the Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda, now at the Louvre in Paris) in 1503, which he did not finish until 1506. He most likely kept it with him at all times, and did not travel without it. Thousands of people see it each year in the Louvre, perhaps drawing their own interpretation on what is known as the Mona Lisa's most infamous and enigmatic feature - her smile. It is well known that Leonardo made extensive use of many tricks in this painting, including the so-called Golden Ratio. The name Mona Lisa is not the one given to the piece of art at the time, nor was it known by this title until much later. The Mona Lisa was probably his favourite piece. He painted St Anne in 1509. Between 1506 and 1512, he lived in Milan and under the patronage of the French Governor Charles d'Amboise, he painted several other paintings. These included The Leda and the Swan, known now only through copies as the original work did not survive. He painted a second version of The Virgin of the Rocks (1506-1508). While under the patronage of Pope Leo X, he painted St. John the Baptist (1513-1516). During his time in France, Leonardo made studies of the Virgin Mary for The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, and many drawings and other studies.

List of artworks

- The Baptism of Christ (1472-1475) – Uffizi, Florence, Italy (from Verrocchio's workshop; angel on the left-hand side is generally agreed to be the earliest surviving painted work by Leonardo)
- Annunciation (1475-1480) – Uffizi, Florence, Italy
- Ginevra de' Benci (c. 1475) – National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States
- The Benois Madonna (1478-1480) – Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- The Virgin with Flowers (1478-1481) – Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
- Adoration of the Magi (1481) – Uffizi, Florence, Italy
- The Madonna of the Rocks (1483-86) – Louvre, Paris, France
- Lady with an Ermine (1488-90) – Czartoryski Museum, Krakow, Poland
- Portrait of a Musician (c. 1490) – Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy
- Madonna Litta (1490-91) – Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- La belle Ferronière (1495-1498) – Louvre, Paris, France
- Last Supper (1498) – Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
- The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist (c. 1499-1500) – National Gallery, London, UK
- Madonna of the Yarnwinder 1501 (original now lost)
- Mona Lisa or La Gioconda (1503-1505/1507) – Louvre, Paris, France
- The Madonna of the Rocks or The Virgin of the Rocks (1508) – National Gallery, London, UK
- Leda and the Swan (1508) - (Only copies survive – best-known example in Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy)
- The Virgin and Child with St. Anne (c. 1510) – Louvre, Paris, France
- St. John the Baptist (c. 1514) – Louvre, Paris, France
- Bacchus (or St. John in the Wilderness) (1515) – Louvre, Paris, France Bacchus Divina Proportione, 1509.]]

Science and engineering

Renaissance humanism saw no mutually exclusive polarities between the sciences and the arts, and as impressive and innovative as Leonardo's artistic work are his studies in science and engineering, recorded in notebooks comprising some 13,000 pages of notes and drawings, which fuse art and science. These notes were made and maintained through Leonardo's travels through Europe, during which he made continual observations of the world around him. He was left-handed and used mirror writing throughout his life. This is explainable by the fact that it is easier to pull a quill pen than to push it; by using mirror-writing, the left-handed writer is able to pull the pen from right to left. His approach to science was an observational one: he tried to understand a phenomenon by describing and depicting it in utmost detail, and did not emphasize experiments or theoretical explanations. Throughout his life, he planned a grand encyclopedia based on detailed drawings of everything. Since he lacked formal education in Latin and mathematics, contemporary scholars mostly ignored Leonardo the scientist. mathematics mathematics

Anatomy

Leonardo started to discover the anatomy of the human body at the time he was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio, as his teacher insisted that all his pupils learn anatomy. As he became successful as an artist, he was given permission to dissect human corpses at the hospital Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. Later he dissected also in Milano in the hospital Maggiore and in Rome in the hospital Santo Spirito (the first mainland Italian hospital). From 1510 to 1511 he collaborated with the doctor Marcantonio della Torre (1481 to 1511). In 30 years, Leonardo dissected 30 male and female corpses of different ages. Together with Marcantonio, he prepared to publish a theoretical work on anatomy and made more than 200 drawings. However, his book was published only in 1580 (long after his death) under the heading Treatise on painting. Leonardo drew many images of the human skeleton, and was the first to describe the double S form of the backbone. He also studied the inclination of pelvis and sacrum and stressed that sacrum was not uniform, but composed of five vertebrae. He was also able to represent exceptionally well the human skull and cross-sections of the brain (transversal, sagittal, and frontal). He drew many images of the lungs, mesentery, urinary tract, sex organs, and even coitus. He was one of the first who drew the fetus in the intrauterine position (he wished to learn about "the miracle of pregnancy"). He often drew muscles and tendons of the cervical muscles and of the shoulder. He was a master of topographic anatomy. He not only studied the anatomy of human, but also of other beings. It is important to note that he was not only interested in structure but also in function, so he was anatomist and physiologist at the same time. Because he actively searched for bodily deformed people to paint them, he is also considered to be the beginner of caricature. His study of human anatomy led also to the design of the first known robot in recorded history. T

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