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00:01:26.580The illegitimate son of a notary named Piero da Vinci and a peasant woman named Caterina,
00:01:40.420Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci, Italy on April 15th, 1452.
00:01:45.320His remarkable curiosity and exceptional talent in both art and science were evident from a young age
00:01:52.000and would ultimately shape his legacy as one of history's most captivating figures.
00:01:57.700Born in Vinci, Leonardo was apprenticed to the famous Florentine artist, Andrea del Verrocchio, at the age of 14.
00:02:05.260Leonardo's skill quickly surpassed his teachers,
00:02:08.160and his ability to combine his art and science became evident during his apprenticeship.
00:02:13.500While training, he began experimenting with anatomy, perspective, light, and shadow,
00:02:18.800which laid the foundation for his future masterpieces.
00:02:22.860Da Vinci relocated to Milan in the late 1480s,
00:02:26.380securing patronage under the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza.
00:02:30.700During this period, he produced works of renown such as The Last Supper,
00:02:35.120a fresco celebrated for its perspective in the intricate emotions conveyed by its subjects,
00:02:41.000capturing the moment Christ reveals an impending betrayal.
00:02:44.560While in Florence, Leonardo created his most acclaimed painting,
00:02:48.800the Mona Lisa, which would become an iconic Renaissance portrait distinguished by the
00:02:54.320subject's enigmatic smile and the innovative sfumato technique, which seamlessly blends
00:02:59.860colors and tones. This approach revolutionized portraiture, emphasizing depth, emotion, and
00:03:06.860subtlety. The Mona Lisa is shrouded in mystery, making its story as captivating as the artwork
00:03:12.820itself. This acclaimed painting transcends mere artistry. Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa
00:03:19.100between 1503 and 1506, though he is believed to have continued working on it for several years
00:03:25.320after that, possibly until around 1517. The painting depicts a woman with a wry smile,
00:03:31.900sitting against a surreal background of distant mountains and winding rivers.
00:03:36.360The identity of the woman in the painting has been the subject of speculation for centuries,
00:03:41.220But the most widely accepted theory is that she was Lisa Ghirardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant named Francesco del Giacondo.
00:03:50.960The name Mona Lisa itself comes from the Italian Mona Lisa, which means Lady Lisa.
00:03:56.520The work remained in Leonardo's possession until his death in 1519.
00:04:01.160It was later acquired by King Francis I of France, who hung it in the Palace of Fontainebleau and later the Louvre Museum in Paris.
00:04:08.780But the painting became truly legendary after a remarkable event in 1911, theft.
00:04:15.980On August 21st, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by an Italian named Vincenzo Perugia,
00:04:23.800who believed the painting should be returned to Italy, thinking it had been taken from his homeland during the Napoleonic Wars.
00:04:31.220The painting was missing for over two years. Its theft caused an international scandal.
00:04:37.580The Mona Lisa was eventually recovered in 1913 when Perugia tried to sell it to an art dealer in Florence.
00:04:44.240Imagine trying to literally sell the Mona Lisa on the black market.
00:04:50.160The dealer grew suspicious and contacted the authorities.
00:04:53.340Hey, it seems like somebody's trying to sell the literal Mona Lisa.
00:04:56.360The painting was returned to the Louvre where it was met with a hero's welcome.
00:05:01.120The incident only fueled the painting's fame.
00:05:04.080Now, one has to wonder today why our age seems to produce so few great artists like da Vinci or musicians and authors.
00:05:13.940What is often missed is that great artists are produced by great civilizations and rich cultures, which was certainly the case for Leonardo.0.85
00:05:22.980In fact, da Vinci could not have emerged had it not been for the enlivening influence of Christianity upon the European world.
00:05:31.640While he lived much later, Leonardo's world was built by centuries of wine-rich Christendom,
00:05:37.940that and the period many slander today as the Dark Ages, which lasted from the 5th to the 10th centuries.
00:05:44.180In point of fact, this time after the collapse of the Roman Empire was robustly and distinctly shaped by Christianity.
00:05:52.800It was a time of light and energy, as new forms of art, literature, and architecture began to take shape.
00:05:59.560Later, breathtaking cathedrals would be constructed,
00:06:02.860the same buildings that inspire so much awe and wonder today.
00:06:06.940Without power tools or computer programming or CAD software,
00:06:11.460these cathedrals somehow dwarf our strip malls and megachurches today
00:06:15.080in style, craftsmanship, and their enduring ability to move the human soul.
00:06:20.560As we discuss in today's episode, which features an interview with Dr. George Grant,
00:06:25.160the 5th through the 9th centuries were marked by guilds of learning,
00:06:29.720which, as Dr. Grant says, were the melding of craftsmanship with covenant succession.
00:06:35.180A student spent an entire lifetime being shaped by a master
00:06:38.520who helped them become immersed in whatever trade they had taken up.
00:06:42.840As a result, artists saw themselves as workmen and spent a lifetime honing their craft.
00:06:49.160None of this could have been possible without the emergence of a Christian education
00:07:14.300as we discuss the importance of Christendom, guilds,
00:07:17.720and the heights of artistic and cultural development
00:07:20.420brought about by a distinctly Christian culture and people.
00:07:24.580The King's Hall Podcast exists to make self-ruled men who rule well to win the world.
00:07:40.700Well, gentlemen, welcome to this episode of the King's Hall Podcast.
00:07:44.020We've got a host of characters that we'll be talking with today,
00:07:48.060actually just three plus george grant makes four dan public school math burkholder you're here
00:07:55.460wow i'm not gonna lie i did not follow that at all that was wild that was a roller coaster
00:08:04.160intro uh brian swalvey um thank you for noticing you know what i appreciate i've been lifting eric
00:08:11.220i needed that you you did and i'm here for you brian yeah that last set on the bench last night
00:08:15.580it was pretty hard not gonna lie didn't get the last rep so did you do a 45 pound bar or what was
00:08:21.080no i've got the ladies bar so it's 35 35 and then what i do is i just i try to lift that completely
00:08:27.080by itself and you know one set of five that's pretty tough that's actually quite the strain
00:08:32.380brian speaking of strain uh building a guild is a hard thing it really is and we're going to be
00:08:39.000talking about that but something you mentioned in the end of the cold open we're talking about
00:08:44.500the heights of artistic and cultural development i can't help but think of the ninja turtles and
00:08:50.260one of them leonardo da vinci really leonardo wow uh was a ninja turtle michelangelo was a ninja
00:08:57.460turtle donatello uh this brings me back to 1990 rafael uh dan so um as you think about this
00:09:06.120subject matter um i have to ask we're talking about the heights of artistic culture do we say
00:09:12.820primer or do we say primer because brian got a little snooty on us but no no whoa whoa whoa whoa
00:09:19.040snooty would be like correcting you on this what i did was say i learned this year that apparently
00:09:25.880when you're saying a primer on something you're supposed to call it a primer which sounds let's
00:09:30.740be honest a little gay a primer on social justice a primer on this a primer on that so i think we0.89
00:09:37.800agreed that the real ones do two things they leave their truck primer gray so you don't have0.86
00:09:45.940to worry about it and you say primer you don't say primer you don't say primer but as you said
00:09:51.100in the cold open we do say what was it like left want blue i can't remember i just read whatever's
00:09:56.400put in front of me he'll literally read anything on the teleprompter pronunciations uh i said paris
00:10:01.680so thank you i mean come on i did you can't the problem is when you when you got a a cold open
00:10:10.660with like three languages of names and stuff you just have to decide at the beginning if you're
00:10:16.480going to be like the pedantic guy at taco bell that all of a sudden says i would like a quesadilla
00:10:20.660or that would be just by the way american ben garrett i would like an extra a tortilla no you
00:10:29.000just he still tries to order food at el rancho at rancho market he tries to order in at the mexican
00:10:37.360grocer yes he tries to order in spanish so he'll go in there and try and order in spanish and the
00:10:42.560guy will look at him and then at the end he'll say i speak english yeah he'll be like yo quiero
00:10:47.440tres libres to my vida and he'll be like um do you mean you'd like three pounds of ground beef sir
00:10:52.840he's like yes yes that is what i mean yes um well you just asked if if you knew where the
00:11:00.740ladies underwear was so you should revisit chat gpt okay uh ben garrett uh our very own uh dan
00:11:08.680one of the things we will talk about in this show uh that i think is interesting one of the
00:11:13.440comments that george makes in the interview dr george grant you know big brain brilliant wonderful
00:11:19.080pastor and scholar. We've referenced a lot of his work. But one of the things he mentions is this
00:11:25.260idea with the guild and pairing craftsman-level workmanship with covenant succession. So the
00:11:33.120idea is sort of that somebody like da Vinci, he would have worked for his whole lifetime to learn
00:11:41.860a trade, but he's studying under somebody who worked his whole lifetime learning similar trades.
00:11:47.420And so you can understand how you would actually get masters over many centuries.
00:11:55.060So my question is, as you think about this kind of view of work, first of all, in your vast experience in the business world inside corporate America, this probably reminds you a lot of the level of work that's out there today.
00:12:11.860I mean, I do have experience in corporate America, Eric.
00:12:16.460And believe it or not, that has not been my experience.
00:15:33.820Meanwhile, that guy goes out and increasingly as the college inflation makes the degree less and less valuable, but the cultural ideas and norms take a while to catch up.
00:15:45.680People don't value college degrees the way they did 20 years ago.
00:15:50.860Instead, it's funny, like the business that he that a lot of these boomers are like, are some we need them to go get college degrees and do this.
00:15:57.140They're businesses that make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year that could support many households and families and grow and like so it's there's something that's gone wrong in the foundations of our cultural thinking to deracinate us, to uproot us from our place and from that legacy of continuity to where now all of the systems of our culture actually militate against people doing that.
00:16:26.140They're trying to persuade you not to have continuity.
00:16:29.340And it's one of the questions we posed in the cold open, but the idea that our age doesn't seem to produce great works of art, literature, architecture.
00:16:38.440Architecture's a really interesting one because you can see it.
00:16:41.680You know, this has been a longstanding joke on the show, how much we love Dallas strip malls and how beautiful that is to look at.