Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian scientist, painter, and engineer, who lived during the Italian Renaissance period.His famous paintings, such as the ‘Last Supper’ and the ‘Mona Lisa’, are some of the most famous paintings in art history and are recognizable almost all over the world. Although Leonardo da Vinci is mostly known for his High Renaissance style paintings, he was a very accomplished engineer as well and helped in creating many a defense system for the military and navy.Leonardo da Vinci spent most of his early life in and around Florence and spent a considerable amount of time in Milan as well. His final years were spent in France in the service of the French King Francis I. During his lifetime, he took on many independent commissions and paintings, though a lot of these remained unfinished or were destroyed over the years. His works the Last Supper and Mona Lisa have been restored over the years as well to preserve them. Many of his notes and sketches on nature, science, and various theories have also been preserved and are on display in various museums.Fun Facts About Leonardo Da VinciLeonardo da Vinci is said to be the ideal example of a Renaissance man, meaning someone who is good at everything! He most certainly proved his worth as a Renaissance man with his skills in painting, sculpting, music, and engineering. He is also known to have been very charismatic and charming, and very proficient at anything that he tried to do.His works are unique because he did not set divisions between art and science. All of his sketches, paintings, and inventions show seamless harmony between the two, which when used together helped to elevate the quality of his work. He left behind over 13,000 pages of notes transcribed by him during his lifetime, all of which show his great curiosity and interest in subject matters across many fields.Though two of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, the ‘Mona Lisa’ and the ‘Last Supper’ are some of the most recognizable paintings in the art world, he actually painted fewer than two dozen paintings throughout his whole life, out of which only a few have survived! He was more popularly known for his work developing military defense systems and prototypes of unique scientific inventions. Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest works were conceived while he was in Milan working for Ludovico Sforza. After completing his apprenticeship in Florence, he spent only a few years working as an independent artist and sculptor before he was approached by the ruling Sforza to work as their primary painter and engineer. He worked for the court from 1482 until 1499, when the French invaded Milan. During this time, he created many pieces of art, as well as was in the process of building the world’s largest equestrian statue in honor of Duke Francesco Sforza, the father of the current Duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro at that time. Unfortunately, the project never reached completion and was destroyed by the French forces during the invasion.After the Duke was overthrown, Leonardo da Vinci left Milan for Venice, where he took up the role of a military engineer. He helped to design naval defense systems, and proposed the idea of the double hull for ships, which is still used today! He returned to Florence in 1500 and in 1502 in Cesena he continued working as a military engineer in the Court of Cesare Borgia, a very influential cardinal. He helped create many maps used in military defense, as well as worked on the plans for a dam, which would help ease the supply of water to the local canals from the River Amo. He returned permanently to Florence in 1503 after accompanying Borgias on his many travels, and it was during this time that he went about painting the ‘Mona Lisa’, the most recognizable piece of art in the world today. By this time, he was very widely known and acclaimed for his many various projects.After living a full life, he was invited by the French King Francis I to relocate to France from Milan and offered him the position of ‘premier painter and engineer’ of his court. Leonardo da Vinci agreed and moved to Clos Luce, which was very close to the King’s chateau. The French King and Leonardo became great friends during this time, and the Kind visited Leonardo’s residence quite often. He spent his final years in nature and doing frequent work for the French court, before he died on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67 in France. His grave is thought to be in a nearby church of the palace.Though Leonardo da Vinci was an artist, he was not a very prolific painter. Instead, he spent much of his time in nature, sketching things related to his many observations on anatomy, scientific inventions, and theories. However, he was a brilliant musician and was known to play the flute and lyre quite well. He also composed many pieces of music on his own and invented a musical instrument called the organ-viola-harpsichord, which was made with reference to his records in 2013.Interesting Facts About Leonardo Da Vinci’s ChildhoodLeonardo da Vinci, the renowned painter, was born on April 15, 1452, as Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. This means Leonardo, the son of ser Piero of Vinci.He was born in a small settlement or hamlet called Anchiano, which is near Vinci in Tuscany. He was born around 20 mi (32 km) away from the city of Florence. Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock, meaning his parents were not married to each other when he was born. Leonardo da Vinci was the son of Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a renowned Florentine notary and a peasant woman named Caterina. He had 12 siblings, however, none of them were fully related to him by blood, all of them being his half-siblings. His mother, Caterina, married a local artisan named Antonio di Piero Buti del Vacca a year after Leonardo’s was born, while his father married a 16-year-old girl, who unfortunately died quite young. As Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock, it meant that the expectations of him following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a notary were not enforced on him. This was quite fortunate, as it meant Leonardo was able to pursue his love for art and the sciences.Even though he was born out of wedlock, his family did not show any discrimination against him or his parents, and he was brought up on his paternal grandfather’s family estate in Anchiano. His parents married other people after he was born and he had many half-siblings. In fact, Leonardo’s last sibling was born when he was 40 years old! He was particularly brought up by his grandfather and uncle, the latter of whom shared Leonardo’s great love of nature and the arts. These two father figures played a big part in his upbringing during his formative years.Leonardo’s artistic talents were recognized by his family at a very young age and they were extremely supportive. When Leonardo da Vinci was 14 years old, his family moved to Florence where he became a studio boy for Andrea del Verrocchio, a very famous sculptor and Renaissance artist of that time.Apart from painting and sculpting, Andrea taught Leonardo da Vinci many other skills like carpentry, metalwork, sketching, and clay molding. It is believed by art historians that Leonardo painted the ‘Baptism of Christ’ in 1475 alongside his Andrea.Facts About Leonardo Da Vinci’s PaintingsLeonardo da Vinci is known for many works of art, particularly for two of the most recognizable paintings in the world, the ‘Mona Lisa’ and the ‘Last Supper’.The ‘Mona Lisa’ is considered to be Leonardo’s greatest piece of work and hangs in the prestigious Louvre Museum in Paris. This painting is protected by bulletproof glass and is under constant surveillance. These are just some of the security measures that have been put in force to protect this priceless painting because it has been stolen once before.There has been a lot of speculation about who the actual subject of the painting is. Some people suggest that it is Leonardo’s lover, a man dressed as a woman, while some say she is a figment of his imagination. The most likely story is that it was commissioned by a wealthy silk merchant called Francesco del Giocondo for his wife, Lisa del Giocondo. The painting was meant to be a gift for her after the birth of their second child, however it is believed that Leonardo da Vinci never delivered the painting to them. The painting was completed between 1505-1507 and it is believed that Leonardo da Vinci kept it because he wanted to make it perfect. Today, the painting is best known for Lisa’s mysterious smile, which many people take as the result of a private joke or secret between the painter and the subject.It also is the holder of the Guinness World record for the highest calculated painting insurance valuation in the world, amounting to around $870 million! It is the most recognized and famous painting in the world today, as well as the most valuable.The ‘Last Supper’, which documents the last meal Jesus shared with his 12 disciples was painted by Leonardo da Vinci on the Santa Maria Delle Grazie monastery in Milan on the dining room wall. This painting started the superstition that the first person to leave a table with 13 people would die first. He worked on it from 1492-1498. Unfortunately, little of the original painting remains today as Leonardo da Vinci decided to paint directly on the monastery wall in layers, rather than using the ‘fresco’, method, which would have involved applying a layer of plaster onto the wall and painting over that to make the painting last longer.Due to the way in which it was painted, the painting started slowly chipping off the wall shortly after it was completed, and after around 50-60 years it was almost unrecognizable. However, due to the importance of the painting in Western art, there have been many major restoration projects over the years in order to repair the damage caused by dirt, pollution, and various human activities like war or intentional damage. After the last repairs were done in the late 1900s, measures have been put in place to prevent the buildup of dust, moisture, and other unwanted elements which could damage the painting again. More efforts are being taken to take care of the painting than in the past.Education Of Leonardo Da VinciAs Leonardo’s artistic abilities were apparent from an early age, his family did not give much importance to formal education and instead, focused on developing his creative skills. However, it is believed that he had an IQ between 180-220.In his childhood, he was only taught basic reading and writing, and a little mathematics. Despite this, he was very interested in the sciences and showed great knowledge of human anatomy, physics, architecture, and mechanics in some of his sketches. He conceptualized the parachute, a number of unique weapons, a helicopter, a calculator, and how to harness the power of the sun.This knowledge seems to stem from practical work rather than theory, as he took up a long-lasting apprenticeship with the famous painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio of Florence. Andrea taught him sketching, drawing, painting, woodwork, sculpting as well as working with metal and clay, and Leonardo slowly developed his skills over the course of six years.He joined the Guild of Saint Luke when he was 20 years old as a master artist. His whereabouts from the age of 22 for a few years in between are unknown as he was accused of a crime and went into hiding, but he returned to complete his apprenticeship with Andrea until the age of 26 in 1478. He then left to become an independent artist. Around the same time, he received his first commission by the Chapel of St. Bernard in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio to paint an altarpiece.In 1481, he received another commission, a recreation of the Adoration of the Magi (a nativity scene featuring the three kings and baby Jesus), from the monks of a Scopeto monastery. However, the oil painting, as well as the altar, remained unfinished as Leonardo da Vinci soon moved to Milan to work for the Sforza dynasty.
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian scientist, painter, and engineer, who lived during the Italian Renaissance period.
