Can an artist be a philosopher? Leonardo da Vinci’s oeuvre within the context of Renaissance thought and philosophy

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to prove that an artist can be a philosopher. The author of the text used the example of Leonardo da Vinci in the context of the era in which he lived and created. The first part of the work concerns the most important features of Renaissance philosophy and their brief discussion. Main traits were set apart: humanism, the natural system of culture, interest in the philosophy of nature and rejection of scholasticism. In addition, the belief in the greatness and innovation of its time and anthropocentrism, are also distinctive. Another part focuses on the relationship between philosophy, art (in particular painting) and science. In the Renaissance, these areas were closely related. The broadest concept is a philosophy that includes both art and science. Art and science interact and drive their development. The last part of the article is a summary of the previous paragraphs and their comparison with the work of Leonardo da Vinci A Treatise on Painting. In the text, we can find a lot of traces and references to contemporary philosophy. Leonardo himself in one of the first paragraphs of his treatise equates painting with philosophy and this with science, which allows us to believe that he saw himself not only as an artist, but also as a scientist and philosopher.