Essay/Term paper: Leonardo da vinci

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Biography

Leonardo da Vinci


Leonardo da Vinci was born on the fifteenth of April, 1452, near the
town of Vinci, not far from Florence. He was the son of a Florentine notary,
Piero da Vinci, and a young woman named Caterina. Leonardo spent most of his
life in Florence and Milan.
In 1469 he was apprenticed to Andrea Verrocchio, a leading Renaissance
master. Leonardo acquired a variety of skills while he remained at the workshop
until 1476. He left Florence for Milan in about 1482 to work for Duke Lodovico
Sforza. He stayed in Milan for nearly eighteen years. During his time there he
applied his knowledge of mechanics to his obligations as a civil and military
engineer. He also took up study in anatomy, biology, mathematics, and physics.
During that time he completed his single most important painting, The Last
Supper.
Leonardo returned to Florence in 1500. Three years later, Leonardo
began several important artistic projects, including the Battle of Anghiari
mural for the council chamber of the Town Hall, the portrait of Mona Lisa, and
the lost Leda and the Swan. At the same time his interests in anatomy led him
to perform dissections, and he organized a study of the flight of birds.
Leonardo left Italy forever, in 1516 to become architectural advisor to
King Francis I of France, who admired him greatly. Leonardo died at the age of
67 on May 2, 1519, at Cloux, near Amboise, France.
Leonardo da Vinci was a true Renaissance man. He was a scholar,
scientist, artist, and inventor. Some of his work includes, The Adoration of
the Magi, Madonna of the Rocks, The Last Supper, and the Mona Lisa. Some of
Leonardo's sketches resemble future inventions, such as a sketch of a windmill
design and a helicopter with two revolving propellers. He was a man ahead of
his time.