Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

The Renaissance began in the 1400s and lasted until the 1600s. Leonardo lived during the renaissance period when artists were inspired by the skill and realism of ancient art and started to change the way they worked.

Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 15, in the small town of Vinci, Italy. His name literally means man of Vinci. Leonardo’s father was Ser Piero Da Vinci, a legal specialist, and his mother was Caterina, who was a peasant. Leonardo was born out of wedlock.

Leonardo left his home in Vinci and moved to Florence to pursue his artistic abilities.

Around this time, he became an apprentice to Andrea Del Verrocchio. He stayed Verrocchio’s apprentice until about 1476. He only needed to stay an apprentice for six years but he had a bond with Verrocchio. When he finished his apprenticeship he went and mentored other students in his own studio.

Leonardo painted his first painting of a landscape on April 5. We assumed that it was his first completed painting because most of his apprentice work was lost. He had a very high view of nature.

Leonardo received his own studio in Florence, Italy around 1478 and worked in it until about 1482, when he decided to travel around Europe to seek new artistic inspirations.

Leonardo painted The Last Supper for Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and finished the painting in 1498. He used a new water and oil paint mixture that never really dried. This destroyed the painting. The painting was depicted of the moment when Jesus told the twelve disciples that one of them would betray him.

Leonardo offered his services as a civil engineer to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Although he was declined, the ruler of the empire created a system of locks for the Milan Canal that Leonardo had designed. When Leonardo was a military engineer he designed artillery and a fortress.

Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa around this time. He finished the painting in 1506. The Mona Lisa has some interesting secrets. If you really look at the landscape you will see that the landscape line does not match up on both sides. Also Mona Lisa’s eyes were not identical.

According to Stephanie Pappas, Leonardo sketched diagrams of humans in his note books between 1510 and 1513. This later led to Leonardo’s advancements in human anatomy later in his life.