Leonardo da Vinci's Creation Philosophy of Learning from Nature

Abstract

Artists are intermediaries between nature and humans, as well as the reproduction of nature's creation. Leonardo da Vinci observed nature and life with a keen eye. He faithfully reflected the image of nature like a mirror and collected materials extensively. He formed a huge library of images in his mind and then made art. The basis of all this was his mastery of perspective, shadows, anatomy, zoology and botany. In addition to recreating nature, Leonardo seeks to reflect real social life and the human spirit. Artists should use reason as a guide to reflect nature, so that the work is both derived from and above nature, rather than "copying nature". Leonardo's paintings fully emphasize the creativity and divinity of art, which should be centered on the expression of man and his inner spiritual world. Obviously, Leonardo's creative principles and Aristotle's "theory of imitation" are in the same line, and he inherited the traditional view of ancient Greek art imitating nature, but did not limit himself to this. Based on his own creative practice experience, he summarized the creative law that art should not only "learn from nature" but also "transcend nature", and dialectically explained the aesthetic relationship between art and nature. This paper aims to analyze Leonardo da Vinci's creative methods and explore his creative philosophy from his works. Leonardo's creative ideas occupy an important place in the history of aesthetics and are worth learning from.