Adoration Of The Magi By Leonardo Da Vinci

Preparatory and schematic art work is like the paper drafting of the art world, they are used to perfect and determine the final look of the art. The schematic work I chose was “A study of the adoration of the magi” it was created by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1481 as an outline for the perspective and placement of the figures and background in the work. This schematic, although it is slightly different from the finished product is important for perfecting object placement and the perspective for the art. The artwork is made in one point perspective as you can clearly see in the schematic by the grid lines and the way the buildings shrink to show going farther. The finished product, “The adoration of the Magi,” is oil paint although it was originally

The study drawing of this work is useful, especially for a painting that has so many fine details. Leonardo used this specific study to show the background rather than the main subjects of the art. It gives detail in the point of view and gives the columns, stairs and arches depth and realistic proportions. The main study, of this schematic is the placement of the columns and the ruins of a building. A large part of the study is how the artist can make the building appear realistic and three dimensional. The technique of using a grid to determine where to expand and decrease the size of the buildings is fairly simple you plot the vanishing point and draw the grid lines out wards using a straight edge. However, the way Da Vinci utilizes this tool gives the art work a realistic three dimensional look that you could not get without the references and sketches. Although, the main focus in the preparatory drawing is the building Da Vinci also lightly sketches some of the people and animals. In the background on top of the ruins are a jumble of people on top of the steps. Still they are not drawn in enough detail to be much of a reference when he paints the people it helps to give reference to where they will

The many uses of these works was extremely useful because people began striving for realistic and humanistic art. Drawings and paintings of humans like the people in the finished product of “Adoration of the Magi” became more popular and demanded especially religious works like this one. Leonardo Da Vinci is very famous for his schematic and preparatory drawings. Because he was more than just an artist his schematics were used in medical endeavors, inventions and other uses as well as planning drafts for art. Another unique part of Da Vinci’s sketches and note books is that they were drawn with more detail than most. Where artist would usually draw quick messy preparatory drawings Leonardo put time and effort into his with amazing detail and technique. Preparatory cartoons were also used in the creation of frescos, art work painted on wet plaster. Due to the plaster drying quickly artist needed these references so they could work quickly on individual parts of the