renaissance - old master - da vinci

The Renaissance (UK /rɨˈneɪsəns/, US /ˈrɛnɨsɑːns/, French pronunciation: ​[ʁənɛsɑ̃ːs], from French: Renaissance "re-birth", Italian: Rinascimento, fromrinascere "to be reborn") was a cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe.

and whenever we talk about the renaissance.. we must always start with the first, the grand master...leonardo da vinci.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (Italian pronunciation: [leoˈnardo da ˈvintʃi]  pronunciation (help·info)) (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519, Old Style) was anItalian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination". He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.  

leonardo was a master painter. when he painted, he painted in oils, in layers. one painting could take years, as he slowly painted layer on layer of transparent and varnishes and oil layers.  if you see on of leonardo's paintings up close you can see all the layers as they are beginning to crack with age.  they are also cracking because the paint that was used was actually pigment (ground minerals and rocks) mixed with oil and egg...

leonardo also invented a technique called 'sfumato' a technique to make shadows rather smoky and blurry.  this is one of the reasons the mona lisa is so famous, as no one can tell for sure the exact nature of her smile as it is blurred.