Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/378

 358 VINCENT DE PAUL VINE Journal preserved by Arrian," first published in 1797, and "The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea," in 1800 and 1805. VINCENT DE PAUL. See PAUL, VINCENT DE. VINCI, Leonardo da, an Italian painter, born at the Vinci palace, near Florence, in 1452, died at the chateau of Clou, near Amboise, France, May 2, 1519. He was an illegitimate son of Pietro da Vinci, and from his youth was re- markable for his handsome and noble presence, and for his wonderful aptitude in almost all branches of art and science. He speedily ex- celled his teacher, Andrea Verocchio. At first he delighted most in fantastic and monstrous pictures. Ludovico Sforza (il Moro) of Milan paid 300 ducats for his Medusa head, and about 1483 attached him to his court as musician and . improvisatore. He displayed great activity in sculpture, architecture, and other arts, but chiefly in painting. lie founded an academy of art, and opened a new era remarkable for su- perior dramatic composition and for improved local coloring and chiaroscuro. He executed an admirable colossal model for an equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza, and many portraits, perfected his knowledge of anatomy under Marc' Antonio della Torre, and about 1496 began his fresco of 'the "Last Supper" for the Milanese convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which has been called the highest effort of Christian art. The original has been much damaged ; tho best copy, by Leonardo's pupil Oggione, is in the royal academy, Lon- don; there are several other copies and en- gravings of it, the most celebrated of the latter by Morghen. In 1499, when his patron was ousted by the French, he removed from Milan to Florence, and subsequently was for some time employed in exploring Tuscany as an engineer and architect. The most celebrated works which he executed during his stay in Florence are the cartoon of Santa Anna, the "Adoration of the Kings," and several por- traits, now in the Louvre, the best known through copies and engravings being the Ma- donna Lisa del Giocondo, or La Joconde, for which Francis I. is said to have paid 4,000 gold crowns, and Oinevra di Amerigo Bcmi, called La belle Ferronniere. His father dying in 1504, he left Florence, and after spending some time in various cities, chiefly in Milan, where he designed the canal of Martesana, a marvel of skill, he accompanied Giuliano de' Medici to Rome to witness the coronation of the latter's brother as Pope Leo X. ("March 19, 1513). He soon joined Francis I. at Milan, and as court painter accompanied him to France, where he ended his life in the company of his friend Melzi. In 1874 his remains were de- posited in the chapel of the palace of Amboise, with an inscription, by the count de Paris, the present owner of it. Many pictures attributed to Da Vinci were painted by his pupils, espe- cially by Luini and Oggione. His almost uni- versal genius was the marvel of the age. Hal- lam concedes to him the foremost rank among the illustrious men of the 15th century, and regards his anticipations of tho great discov- eries in astronomy, geology, and other sciences as almost preternatural. He was almost en- titled to the claim of inventing the art of chi- aroscuro. He wrote Trattato della pittura (Paris, 1651 ; best later ed. by Manzi, 2 vols., Rome, 1817; best English translation by John Francis Rigaud, London, 1802 ; new ed., 1835), which Mrs. Jameson says is the basis of all subsequent works on the theory and practice of art. He bequeathed most of his manu- scripts on the arts and sciences to Melzi ; many of them and of his printed works are in tho Ambrosian library in Milan, and a large por- tion is now in Paris. His manuscripts were made known by Ventura in his Essai sur lea oi/n-dtjes physico-mathematiques de Leonard de Vinci (Paris, 1797), and by Libri in his Bis- toire des sciences mathematiques en Italic (1838- '41 ; 2d ed., 1865). Among his biographers are Araoretti (Milan, 1784), Dom Pino (1796), G. Bossi (Padua, 1814), and John William Brown, with an engraving of the " Last Supper," and chiefly compiled from manuscripts and print- ed works in the Ambrosian library (London, 1828; new ed., 1835, appended to the transla- tion of the " Treatise on Painting"). See also Leonard de Vinci et son ecole, by F. Rio (Paris, 1855), and "Leonardo da Vinci and his Works" (London, 1873), containing a critical catalogue of his most important paintings, by Mrs. Charles W. Heaton, and an essay by C. C. Black on " Leonardo da Vinci in Science and Litera- ture," largely based on Gilberto Govi's II genio di Leonardo. VINDEUCI1, a province of the Roman empire, bounded N. by the Danube, which separated it from Germany ; E. by tho (Enus (now Inn), which separated it from Noricum ; S. by Rhro- tia, of which it originally formed a part; and W. by the territory of the Helvetii. It com- prised parts of the modern countries of Baden, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, Tyrol, and Switzerland. The Vindelici, a Celtic people, formed the principal part of the inhabitants. Vindelicia was conquered by Tiberius in the reign of Augustus. VINDHYA MOUNTAINS, a range extending across the peninsula of India, and connecting through the Satpoora mountains with tho N. extremity of the Western Ghauts. They ex- tend from tho vicinity of the W. coast, about lat. 22 N., in an E. N. E. direction to the val- ley of the Ganges in about lat. 25 N., and form the N. boundary of the valley of the Nerbudda, which flows close to their base. The name Vindhya is commonly applied only to the western portion of tho chain, its con- tinuations down the Sone valley toward the Ganges being chiefly known as the Kaimur mountains. The maximum altitude is about 2,500 ft. The geological formation is granite and sandstone underlying trap rock. VINDOBONA. See VIENNA. VINE. See GRAPE.