Reading Response #1

Name an individual (historical or contemporary) who you consider to be extremely creative. What about them or what they do led you to this decision?

One such individual I find creative is Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519). He was an Italian man of the renaissance era. Gifted with a mind and thirst for knowledge ahead of his time. His inventiveness spread through painting, sculpting, architecture, and engineering. Some of his most notable work would be that of the paintings “Mona Lisa” and “Last Supper” (Krull & Kulikov, 2005). Csikszentmihalyi (1996) states that creative personalities are multifarious. “They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes”. This response will delve into how just how noticeable some of these traits are within Leonardo Da Vinci.

The contradictory trait “creative people alternate between imagination and fantasy and a rooted sense of reality” stated by Csikszentmihalyi (1996) is perhaps the most obvious for Da Vinci. The evidence being his various notebooks and sketches. He dreamed up concepts that perhaps, for his time; appeared like the delusions of the deranged. Due to the fact these concepts appeared to predict the future. For example, the flying machines the Aerial Screw helicopter and the glider based on the form of the bat (See Figure 1) (Müntz, 2011). As Csikszentmihalyi (1996) put it, “great art and great science involve a leap of imagination into a world that is different from the present”.

Additionally Csikszentmihalyi (1996) expressed that “Most creative people are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it”. In this sense, Da Vinci left behind a myriad of unfinished sketches, paintings and sculptures. Krull & Kulikov (2005) state that Da Vinci was rough to work with and detested deadlines and being rushed by those commissioning him his to conclude his work. This resulted in some of his work taking many years to complete. For example, the “Mona Lisa” took four years to become a finished piece of art (Vasari & Foster, 1872). This shows that Da Vinci indeed had the passion for his work, as well as the ability to take his time with it if he believed it was not ready.

The contradictory trait expressed by Csikszentmihalyi (1996) “creative people combine playfulness and discipline or responsibility and irresponsibility” is the last I wish to discuss. History has always portrayed Da Vinci as this sophisticated renaissance man, with his countless sketches and inventions strewn through his notebooks Krull & Kulikov (2005). However, among all the genius imprinted into the notebooks, even Da Vinci had time to be mischievous. Hidden amongst the notebooks is a particular sketch of “two penises with legs and tails walking towards a crudely drawn anus”. The sketch even has Salaì, his assistants name labelled above it, whom was rumoured to be Da Vinci’s lover (See Figure 2) (Schneider, 2014).

It is hard to grasp what Da Vinci was like exactly. Though from what we can see through what he has left behind, he was a vastly gifted individual. In this way we can see that he does indeed fulfil Csikszentmihalyi’s contradictory traits of a creative personality.

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996, Jul). The creative personality. Psychology Today, 29, 36-40. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/docview/214474433?accountid=10675

Krull, K., & Kulikov, B. (2005). Leonardo da vinci (Giants of science). New York: Viking.

Müntz, E. (2011). Leonardo da Vinci. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ECU/detail.action?docID=791252

Schneider, M. (2014). An x-rated doodle from the notebooks of leonardo da vinci. Retrieved from https://dangerousminds.net/comments/an_x-rated_doodle_from_the_notebooks_of_leonardo_da_vinci

Vasari, G., & Foster, J. (1872). Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects: George Bell.