Born on April 15th, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, more commonly known as Leonardo da Vinci was a polymath. He was primarily known as an artist, scientist, mathematician, engineer and anatomist, and is lesser known for his astronomical, geological and botanical studies.
Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock, child of a respected notary and young peasant woman; he was raised by his father, Ser Piero, and his stepmothers. At 14 years of age, da Vinci began apprenticing with the artist Verrocchio in which for six years he learned a wide breadth of technical skills, including: metalworking, leather arts, carpentry, drawing and sculpting. By the age of 20, he had qualified as a master artist in the Guild of Saint Luke and established his own workshop. Leonardo da Vinci’s concern with the laws of science and nature greatly informed his work as a painter, sculptor, inventor and draftsman. |
Due to his abundance of diverse interests, Leonardo da Vinci failed to complete a significant number of his paintings and projects. He spent much of his time immersing himself in nature, testing scientific laws, dissecting bodies (human and animal) and thinking and writing about his observations.
During the early 1490s, da Vinci began documenting his research in the themes of painting, architecture, mechanics and human anatomy, Creating approximately 13 000 pages of detailed illustrations and densely penned commentary, which he had written in mirror image script. In 1517, at the invitation of the French king Francis I, Leonardo moved to the Château of Cloux, near Amboise in France, where he died on the 2nd of May, 1519. |