Caricatures – History, Origins…and Leonardo DaVinci

Caricatures – Two Cents from History:

This is the typical “Did you Know?” about caricatures.

1. Who drew the first caricatures?
2. What are the origins of the term Caricature?

Here are you answers:-)

1. Historically, the first caricatures are thought to have been drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci. He even sought out models with deformities to create his caricatures. (Source: A Brief History of Caricatures By Natalie Aranda .)
2. The term caricature could have two possible origins. The Italian term “Caricare”, which means “to load” or another Italian term “caricatura” that translates to “human forms drawn to resemble animals.” (Source: eZine Article “Caricatures By Jennifer Bailey.)

Interesting facts about Leonardo DaVinci:

Here are a couple of interesting facts about DaVinci 🙂

1. He was an engineer and among other things he also invented a military tank. When a military tank was made as per the specifications given in his drawings, it worked:-)
2. DaVinci wrote his notes in mirror writing. This helped him keep his inventions to himself because the king who he worked for wasn’t too keen on his wasting his time in inventing stuff, rather than working on the huge mural, which we know as “The Last Supper.” To expedite his work, DaVinci used egg-tempera as the base for his paints – this quickened his pace, but the mural suffered and began to decay within a few years of its completion.

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