L E O N A R D O     D A     V I N C I 

(1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci was a Florentine artist, one of the great masters of the High Renaissance who was also celebrated as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. His profound love of knowledge and research was the keynote of both his artistic and scientific endeavors. His innovations in the field of painting influenced the course of Italian art for more than a century after his death, and his scientific studies—particularly in the fields of anatomy, optics, hydraulics and flight—anticipated many of the developments of modern science.

            Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, just outside Florence. As a boy he had access to scholarly texts and was exposed to Vinci's longstanding painting tradition. When he was 15 his father apprenticed him to the renowned workshop of Andrea del Verrochio in Florence. Even as an apprentice, Leonardo demonstrated a talent that was so great that Verrochio allegedly resolved never to paint again.

            From 1485 to 1490, Leonardo produced studies on many subjects, including nature, flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal construction, canals and architecture. Leonardo's interests were so broad that he usually failed to finish what he started. This resulted in completing only six works of art in 17 years, including The Last Supper and The Virgin on the Rocks.

            Between 1490 and 1495 Leonardo developed a habit of recording his studies in meticulously illustrated notebooks. His work covered four main themes: painting, architecture, the elements of mechanics, and human anatomy. These studies and sketches were collected into various codices and manuscripts most of which were written in mirror script. These documents are today high sought after by museums as well as individual collectors (Bill Gates recently paid $30 million for the Codex Leicester).

            In 1503, Leonardo began work on one of the most recognized paintings of all time Mona Lisa.  It is not known exactly who Mona Lisa was, but Leonardo’s painting has made her face famous. The painting hangs today in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. From 1514 to 1516, Leonardo worked in Rome, maintaining a workshop and undertaking a variety of projects for the Pope Leo X. Toward the end of his career Leonardo went to France to work for King Francis I. Leonardo died on May 2, 1519 in Cloux, France.