Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci was a man of many worlds. He was a

great influence inhis time. Leonardo was known as many

things. He was known as a sculptor, architect, writer,

musician,philosopher, engineer, and scientist. But most of

all he was known for his impressive paintings that

influenced the world.

Leonardo was born in Anchiano, Italy on April 15, 1452,

to Piero Da Vinci, a prominent public official in Florence,

and a peasant woman named Caterina. He was born out of

wedlock and shortly after his birth they were married, but

not to each other. As an infant, Leonardo was cared for by

other family members; his uncles, grandmother, and Aunts.

Later, his father took him into his own house where he was

forced to join and get along with half-brothers and

half-sisters. While living with his father, he was

receiving the best education he could get and his talents

and intelligence started to show at a very early age. In

1469, by the age of 17, his father sent him to study in the

workshop of a well-known Italian Renaissance master named

Andrea lV Errocchio. He remained there until 1476 and

Leonardo had picked up a variety of skills. He spent

several years there practicing a variety of things such as

drafting engineering, architecture, and building, but most

of all he studied painting and drawing.

Leonardo was assigned to build a golden sphere and cross to

sit on top of the domed cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiori.

It was a huge project that required complicated mathematical

calculations and casting techniques. Although most people

think of Leonardo da Vinci as an artist,he was also known

for other things. Throughout his life, he had some

incredible ideas in the area of science. He has sketched

out many amazing designs for working machines and

technology. The amazing thing about this was that none of

DA Vinci's inventions or creations were even recognized or

expanded upon until 300 to 400 years later. Like the

airplane or glider, Leonardo invented or developed these

incredible machines, but they were not expanded upon until

years later. He was also known as a man of science because

of his drawings of the human body. In his free time,

Leonardo decided to figure out how the human body works.

Around 1503 he dissected over 25 human bodies and made

sketches and notes in order to figure the human body out.

Not only was he very smart, but we all know that he

had wonderful hands that painted like none of us could ever

dream of doing. Some of his paintings like "The Last

Supper" and the "Mona Lisa" are the popular paintings of

the Renaissance period. He also painted "Portrait of

Ginevra de Benci", "Annunciation", "Lady with an Ermine",

"Portrait of a Musician", "La BelleFerroniere", "Madonna of

the Rocks", and "Virgin and Child with St. Anne". In 1493,

Leonardo began to paint one of his most famous work, "The

Last Supper" in a convent located just outside of Milian.

This painting took Leonardo about three years to complete

and has been named as the ultimate mark of the Renaissance.

It was finally finished in 1496. After that,he spent most

of his time running back and forth between Milian and

Florence, working on a variety of scientific, engineering

and artistic projects. The "Mona Lisa", also known as the

"La