March 26, 2025 • 11 mins
Roger Basick and Gillian Woodward look at the life of Leonardo da Vinci and his incredible and creative mind.
https://spotlightenglish.com/biography/leonardo-da-vinci-the-most-interested-man-in-the-world/
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https://spotlightenglish.com/biography/leonardo-da-vinci-the-most-interested-man-in-the-world/
Download our app for Android at http://bit.ly/spotlight-android
Download our app for iOS at http://bit.ly/spotlight-apple
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spotlightradio
Are you learning English? Are you looking for a way to practice your English? Listen to Spotlight to learn about people and places all around the world. You can learn English words, and even practice English by writing a comment.
Visit our website to follow along with the script: http://spotlightenglish.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Roger Basseg.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And I'm Gillian Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Imagine a painting. A young, brown haired woman peers out
at us. Her expression is subtle. It is difficult to
tell if she is smiling or not. Behind her is
a foggy land filled with hills and mountains. Like the
(00:47):
woman's smile, these landforms are unclear. They do not seem
to fit in any one place on this earth. They
could just as well belong in a dream. The background
of this painting makes the woman even more mysterious. She
looks out from the painting as if she has a
(01:09):
secret to tell.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
This is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. It
is one of the most famous pieces in all of
Western art. Though mostly known for his paintings, Leonardo's interests
included everything from the human body to engineering. These interests
were not always useful. He did not gain much from
(01:32):
his interest in many different subjects, but these diverse interests
made him one of the most important talents the world
has ever known. To day's spotlight is on Leonardo da Vinci.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Leonardo was born in fourteen fifty two in Vinci, near
the Italian city of Florence. He was his mother's firstborn son,
bo Ud. His birth was not considered legitimate. His father
and mother were not married, nor would they ever be.
Leonardo would not get the same rights as his brothers,
(02:11):
who were from his father's wife. He would not be
part of the family business.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
This may have saved Leonardo's work. The family's business in
law and property made the family wealthy, but it would
not have let him follow his interests. Even at a
young age, Leonardo had many of these. He watched birds
to understand how they flew. He painted, He made things
(02:38):
out of sticky clay. He studied how water flows in
streams and rivers. He observed how the muscles of horses
worked together to create movement.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
When he was twelve, Leonardo moved to Florence, a center
of art. In learning, his father got him a chance
to learn with Andreo de Verroccio, a well known artist.
This special kind of schooling fit Leonardo well. He did
not learn well from books. Verruccio would teach Leonardo how
(03:13):
to paint. He would give the boy real experience and
train him as a craftsman an artist.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
But Verruccio taught Leonardo more than just painting. He taught
the young man how to observe. He believed a person
needed to understand something in order to paint it. It
was not enough just to paint a person. You needed
to understand how the body moved. You needed to understand
(03:41):
the relationship between light and darkness. Verruccio and his students
studied life to make their paintings appear more life like.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Leonardo took this teaching to heart. His note books collected
at the end of his life show a huge array
of interests. Some contain paintings of animals and plants he
found in the city. Others show his interest in the
human body. He even cut up several dead bodies to
(04:14):
show how bones and muscles connected and to know the
internal parts of the body. The paintings and drawings he
made of these bodies are very true to life. His
studies gave him a better understanding of how and why
people moved.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
By the time he was twenty, most people in Florence
recognized that Leonardo was a great artist in his own right.
He opened up his own workshop he began making his
own paintings. He would move many times to work in
different cities, but this workshop marked the beginning of Leonardo's
(04:53):
most famous paintings.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
One of the most famous of these paintings is The
Last Supper. This painting shows a story from the Christian Bible.
In this story, Jesus, who Christians believe is the son
of God, invites his friends to a meal. He tells
his friends that he is going to die the next day.
(05:19):
But Jesus knows how these men will act. He even
knows the man who will betray him. But he forgives
them and tells them they will be saved by trusting him.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
This is a very important story for Christians. It describes
a tradition called communion. It shows them that their God
is a loving God for all people.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Leonardo's painting tries to show all of this in a
single image. Jesus sits in the very center of the painting.
His face is calm, he has accepted what is going
to happen to him. But his friends are anything but calm.
Each of them is frozen in a different state of emotion,
(06:07):
some show anger, some fear. One named Judas seems guilty.
Leonardo created their faces using real people in the city
as his models. This gives the painting a lifelike quality
that was shocking at the time. Kenneth Clark was a
British historian.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
He said, you cannot look long at the Last Supper
before you stop thinking about it as a painting, you
start speaking about it like theater.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Leonardo saw no real difference between science and art. He
made medical discoveries while he studied. For his paintings, he
painted ideas that appeared to be plans for inventions. His
interests were deep. He followed these interests wherever they took him.
These scientific interests were important for his inner process of
(07:05):
creating art.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
But Leonardo was sometimes difficult to work with. He was
interested in almost everything, but he had a hard time
finishing his work. He left many of his great paintings
half done. Many he did not consider finished, even when
most people would. Leonardo worked on the Mona Lisa itself
(07:32):
for sixteen years. Even then he did not consider it done.
Ludovico Svorza was the ruler of Milan, a kingdom in
modern day Italy. He paid Leonardo to paint the Last supper.
Once Savartza protested his timeliness, Leonardo told him.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Men of great talent sometimes do the most when they
work the least. Their minds are occupied with it ideas
and making them perfect. Afterward, they give these ideas form.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Leonardo's talents often seemed aimless. He did not always produce
what others wanted from him, but his interest in observing
everything around him led him to projects outside the world
of art. When he was in Milan, he designed new
water pipes for the city. He designed a machine to
take water out of a wetland. On another occasion, he
(08:34):
created machines for theater. His notebooks are full of inventions
like flying machines, futuristic weapons, and even a car. Many
of these inventions were never built. Some were too modern
for their time. They were not realistic, but Leonardo was
(08:55):
the first person to think of them. Walter Isaacson hes
a history writer, in his book on Leonardo da Vinci,
he said.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
The things Leonardo saw for the future often happened. It
took a few centuries. Machines to breathe under the water,
flying machines and helicopters now exist, Pumps now empty, wetlands
sometimes dreams lead to reality.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Leonardo da Vinci died in fifteen nineteen. He was sixty
seven years old. Today, art historians consider him one of
the most important painters in history. He invented hundreds of
machines and explored ideas others would consider impossible. In his lifetime,
(09:49):
he was known for the beauty of his work. Today
we also recognize him for the beauty of his mind.
It was a mind that imagined w wildly, that explored
everything it touched. It was a mind that has led
some historians to call him the most interested man in
(10:10):
the world.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Leonardo was a master of many areas. Is this mastery
of so many different subjects still possible for someone today?
You can leave a comment on our website at www
dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us
on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and x You can also get
(10:37):
our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device
through our free official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
The writer and producer of this program was Dan Chrisman.
The voices you heard were from the United States and
the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program
and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called Leonardo da Vinci,
the most interested man in the world.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
We hope you can join us again for the next
Spotlight program. Good Bye,
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Roger Basseg.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And I'm Gillian Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Imagine a painting. A young, brown haired woman peers out
at us. Her expression is subtle. It is difficult to
tell if she is smiling or not. Behind her is
a foggy land filled with hills and mountains. Like the
(00:47):
woman's smile, these landforms are unclear. They do not seem
to fit in any one place on this earth. They
could just as well belong in a dream. The background
of this painting makes the woman even more mysterious. She
looks out from the painting as if she has a
(01:09):
secret to tell.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
This is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. It
is one of the most famous pieces in all of
Western art. Though mostly known for his paintings, Leonardo's interests
included everything from the human body to engineering. These interests
were not always useful. He did not gain much from
(01:32):
his interest in many different subjects, but these diverse interests
made him one of the most important talents the world
has ever known. To day's spotlight is on Leonardo da Vinci.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Leonardo was born in fourteen fifty two in Vinci, near
the Italian city of Florence. He was his mother's firstborn son,
bo Ud. His birth was not considered legitimate. His father
and mother were not married, nor would they ever be.
Leonardo would not get the same rights as his brothers,
(02:11):
who were from his father's wife. He would not be
part of the family business.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
This may have saved Leonardo's work. The family's business in
law and property made the family wealthy, but it would
not have let him follow his interests. Even at a
young age, Leonardo had many of these. He watched birds
to understand how they flew. He painted, He made things
(02:38):
out of sticky clay. He studied how water flows in
streams and rivers. He observed how the muscles of horses
worked together to create movement.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
When he was twelve, Leonardo moved to Florence, a center
of art. In learning, his father got him a chance
to learn with Andreo de Verroccio, a well known artist.
This special kind of schooling fit Leonardo well. He did
not learn well from books. Verruccio would teach Leonardo how
(03:13):
to paint. He would give the boy real experience and
train him as a craftsman an artist.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
But Verruccio taught Leonardo more than just painting. He taught
the young man how to observe. He believed a person
needed to understand something in order to paint it. It
was not enough just to paint a person. You needed
to understand how the body moved. You needed to understand
(03:41):
the relationship between light and darkness. Verruccio and his students
studied life to make their paintings appear more life like.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Leonardo took this teaching to heart. His note books collected
at the end of his life show a huge array
of interests. Some contain paintings of animals and plants he
found in the city. Others show his interest in the
human body. He even cut up several dead bodies to
(04:14):
show how bones and muscles connected and to know the
internal parts of the body. The paintings and drawings he
made of these bodies are very true to life. His
studies gave him a better understanding of how and why
people moved.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
By the time he was twenty, most people in Florence
recognized that Leonardo was a great artist in his own right.
He opened up his own workshop he began making his
own paintings. He would move many times to work in
different cities, but this workshop marked the beginning of Leonardo's
(04:53):
most famous paintings.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
One of the most famous of these paintings is The
Last Supper. This painting shows a story from the Christian Bible.
In this story, Jesus, who Christians believe is the son
of God, invites his friends to a meal. He tells
his friends that he is going to die the next day.
(05:19):
But Jesus knows how these men will act. He even
knows the man who will betray him. But he forgives
them and tells them they will be saved by trusting him.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
This is a very important story for Christians. It describes
a tradition called communion. It shows them that their God
is a loving God for all people.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Leonardo's painting tries to show all of this in a
single image. Jesus sits in the very center of the painting.
His face is calm, he has accepted what is going
to happen to him. But his friends are anything but calm.
Each of them is frozen in a different state of emotion,
(06:07):
some show anger, some fear. One named Judas seems guilty.
Leonardo created their faces using real people in the city
as his models. This gives the painting a lifelike quality
that was shocking at the time. Kenneth Clark was a
British historian.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
He said, you cannot look long at the Last Supper
before you stop thinking about it as a painting, you
start speaking about it like theater.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Leonardo saw no real difference between science and art. He
made medical discoveries while he studied. For his paintings, he
painted ideas that appeared to be plans for inventions. His
interests were deep. He followed these interests wherever they took him.
These scientific interests were important for his inner process of
(07:05):
creating art.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
But Leonardo was sometimes difficult to work with. He was
interested in almost everything, but he had a hard time
finishing his work. He left many of his great paintings
half done. Many he did not consider finished, even when
most people would. Leonardo worked on the Mona Lisa itself
(07:32):
for sixteen years. Even then he did not consider it done.
Ludovico Svorza was the ruler of Milan, a kingdom in
modern day Italy. He paid Leonardo to paint the Last supper.
Once Savartza protested his timeliness, Leonardo told him.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Men of great talent sometimes do the most when they
work the least. Their minds are occupied with it ideas
and making them perfect. Afterward, they give these ideas form.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Leonardo's talents often seemed aimless. He did not always produce
what others wanted from him, but his interest in observing
everything around him led him to projects outside the world
of art. When he was in Milan, he designed new
water pipes for the city. He designed a machine to
take water out of a wetland. On another occasion, he
(08:34):
created machines for theater. His notebooks are full of inventions
like flying machines, futuristic weapons, and even a car. Many
of these inventions were never built. Some were too modern
for their time. They were not realistic, but Leonardo was
(08:55):
the first person to think of them. Walter Isaacson hes
a history writer, in his book on Leonardo da Vinci,
he said.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
The things Leonardo saw for the future often happened. It
took a few centuries. Machines to breathe under the water,
flying machines and helicopters now exist, Pumps now empty, wetlands
sometimes dreams lead to reality.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Leonardo da Vinci died in fifteen nineteen. He was sixty
seven years old. Today, art historians consider him one of
the most important painters in history. He invented hundreds of
machines and explored ideas others would consider impossible. In his lifetime,
(09:49):
he was known for the beauty of his work. Today
we also recognize him for the beauty of his mind.
It was a mind that imagined w wildly, that explored
everything it touched. It was a mind that has led
some historians to call him the most interested man in
(10:10):
the world.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Leonardo was a master of many areas. Is this mastery
of so many different subjects still possible for someone today?
You can leave a comment on our website at www
dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us
on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and x You can also get
(10:37):
our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device
through our free official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
The writer and producer of this program was Dan Chrisman.
The voices you heard were from the United States and
the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program
and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called Leonardo da Vinci,
the most interested man in the world.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
We hope you can join us again for the next
Spotlight program. Good Bye,
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