LUTE
Da Vinci's painting process depended on music
Leonardo da Vinci Painting The Mona Lisa by Cesare Maccari
By Serg Childed
Leonardo Da Vinci was a master of many skills: architecture, astronomy, painting, sculpture, mathematics, anatomy, geology, botany, and literature.
He was also renowned as a musician who reportedly could play the flute and the lyre. Da Vinci most probably had written music though it was never found.
Leonardo wrote,
“Music may be called the sister of painting, for she is dependent upon hearing, the sense which comes second…painting excels and ranks higher than music, because it does not fade away as soon as it is born…”
When Da Vinci painted, he used musical accompaniment to stimulate his senses. He believed that when all senses were awake, the mind could be more productive.
It is possible that Leonardo's paintings were created with the music of Vincenzo Capirola who was his contemporary. Capirola is considered one of the most important composers and performers of lute music of early Renaissance period. His famed Lutebook contains lute transcriptions of popular songs of the day, as well as various other works, including original compositions.
Famed lutier Massimo Lonardi performs Padoana by Vincenzo Capirola:
