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Leonardo da Vinci
Self-portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515.[1]
Birth name	Leonardo di Ser Piero
Born	April 15, 1452(1452-04-15) Anchiano, Florence, Italy Image File history File links Crystal_128_clock. ... Da Vinci may refer to: Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian Renaissance man. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 382 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (420 × 659 pixel, file size: 67 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Leonardo da Vinci was a genius from the Renaissance period. ... is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events October - English troops under John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, land in Guyenne, France, and retake most of the province without a fight. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Anchiano is 3 km (2 miles) from Vinci, Italy. ... The Province of Florence (Italian: ) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy, with an area of 3,514 sq. ...
Died	May 2, 1519 (aged 67) Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, France
Nationality	Italian
Field	Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences
Movement	High Renaissance
Famous works	Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (pronunciation (help· info)), April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian polymath: scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, musician and writer. Born near Vinci in the region of Florence, the illegitimate son of a notary, Messer Piero, and a peasant girl, Caterina, Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio. Much of his earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan where several of his major works were created. He also worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, spending his final years in France at the home given him by King François I. May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Amboise is a medieval town and a commune of France, in the Indre-et-Loire département, on the banks of the Loire River, 14 miles east of Tours. ... Indre-et-Loire is a département in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers. ... The Arts is a broad subdivision of culture, comprised of many expressive disciplines. ... For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... The Creation of Adam, Michelangelos fresco from the . ... Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde), is a 16th century oil painting on a poplar panel by Leonardo Da Vinci. ... The Last Supper (Italian: or LUltima Cena) is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess, Beatrice dEste. ... Leonardo da Vincis Vitruvian Man (1492). ... Image File history File links It-Leonardo_di_ser_Piero_da_Vinci. ... is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events October - English troops under John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, land in Guyenne, France, and retake most of the province without a fight. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ... “Renaissance man” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Leonhard Euler, considered one of the greatest mathematicians of all time A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of mathematics. ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Inventor (disambiguation). ... Greek anatome, from ana-temnein, to cut up), is the branch of biology that deals with the structure and organization of living things; thus there is animal anatomy (zootomy) and plant anatomy (phytonomy). ... Painting by Rembrandt self-portrait Detail from Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, in which the painter portrayed himself at work For the computer graphics program, see Corel Painter. ... Sculptor redirects here. ... For other uses, see Architect (disambiguation). ... “Instrumentalist” redirects here. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... Categories: Artist stubs | 1435 births | 1488 deaths | Italian painters | Italian sculptors ... Ludovico Sforza (Ludovico il Moro, The Moor) (July 27, 1452–May 27, 1508), a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, and was famed as patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists. ... For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... Bologna (IPA , from Latin Bononia, BulÃ¥ggna in Emiliano-Romagnolo dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly between the Reno River and the Sàvena River. ... For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... Francis I of France - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" or universal genius, a man whose seemingly infinite curiosity was equalled only by his powers of invention.^[2] He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.^[3] For other uses, see Archetype (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Renaissance Man (disambiguation). ... Universal Genius is a term used by the Hypatia Society [1] for a person with extraordinary mastery in several different areas of human endeavor as shown through works and accomplishments. Examples Gottfried Leibniz Leonardo da Vinci Galileo Galilei Alexander von Humboldt Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Isaac Newton See also Hypatia... Painting by Rembrandt self-portrait Detail from Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, in which the painter portrayed himself at work For the computer graphics program, see Corel Painter. ...

It is primarily as a painter that Leonardo was and is renowned. Two of his works, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper occupy unique positions as the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time, their fame approached only by Michelangelo's Creation of Adam.^[2] Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also iconic. Perhaps fifteen paintings survive, the small number due to his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination.^[4] Nevertheless these few works, together with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise a contribution to later generations of artists only rivalled by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo. Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde), is a 16th century oil painting on a poplar panel by Leonardo Da Vinci. ... The Last Supper (Italian: or LUltima Cena) is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess, Beatrice dEste. ... For other uses, see Michelangelo (disambiguation). ... Categories: Art stubs | Paintings ... Leonardo da Vincis Vitruvian Man (1492). ... For other uses, see Michelangelo (disambiguation). ...

As an engineer, Leonardo conceived ideas vastly ahead of his own time, conceptualising a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a calculator, and the double hull, and outlining a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or even feasible during his lifetime,^[5] but some of his smaller inventions such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire entered the world of manufacturing unheralded.^[6] As a scientist, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics. For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ... Solar power describes a number of methods of harnessing energy from the light of the sun. ... For other uses, see Calculator (disambiguation). ... A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is somewhat further into the ship, perhaps... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... Human heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ... The Falkirk Wheel in Scotland. ... For the book by Sir Isaac Newton, see Opticks. ... Hydrodynamics is fluid dynamics applied to liquids, such as water, alcohol, oil, and blood. ...

Biography

Early life, 1452–1466

Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, at Anchiano, a hamlet near the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno River in the territory of Florence. He was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense, "da Vinci" simply meaning "of Vinci": his full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of (Mes)ser Piero from Vinci." Little is known about his early life, which has been the subject of historical conjecture by Vasari and others.^[7][8] At the age of five, he went to live in the household of his father, grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in the small town of Vinci, where his father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but unfortunately died young.^[9] Anchiano is 3 km (2 miles) from Vinci, Italy. ... For other uses, see Tuscany (disambiguation). ... Vinci is a town and comune of Firenze province in the Italian region of Tuscany, at 26 m (85 ft) above sea level. ... Arno River in Florence, Italy The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ... Vinci is a town and comune of Firenze province in the Italian region of Tuscany, at 26 m (85 ft) above sea level. ... Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, Tuscany July 3, 1511 - Florence, June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, mainly known for his famous biographies of Italian artists. ...

Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno Valley, 1473 - Uffizi

Leonardo was later to record only two incidents of his childhood. One, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face.^[9] The second incident occurred while he was exploring in the mountains. He discovered a cave and recorded his emotions at being, on one hand, terrified that some great monster might lurk there and on the other, driven by curiosity to find out what was inside.^[9] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (806x532, 180 KB) Study of a Tuscan Landscape (c. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (806x532, 180 KB) Study of a Tuscan Landscape (c. ... The narrow courtyard between the Uffizis two wings creates the effect of a short, idealized street. ... Genera Milvinae Harpagus Ictinia Rostrhamus Haliastur Milvus Lophoictinia Hamirostra Elaninae Elanus Chelictinia Machaerhamphus Gampsonyx Elanoides Kites are raptors with long wings and weak legs which spend a great deal of time soaring. ...

Vasari, the 16th century biographer of Renaissance painters, tells the story of how a local peasant requested that Ser Piero ask his talented son to paint a picture on a round plaque. Leonardo responded with a painting of snakes spitting fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile, having made a profit, Ser Piero bought a plaque decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow which he gave to the peasant.^[10] Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, Tuscany July 3, 1511 - Florence, June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, mainly known for his famous biographies of Italian artists. ... For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). ...

Verrocchio's workshop, 1466–1476

The Baptism of Christ (1472–1475) — Uffizi, by Verrocchio and Leonardo

In 1466 Leonardo was apprenticed to one of the most successful artists of his day, Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio. The workshop of this renowned master was at the centre of the intellectual currents of Florence, assuring the young Leonardo of an education in the humanities. Among the painters apprenticed or associated with the workshop and also to become famous, were Perugino, Botticelli, and Lorenzo di Credi.^[9] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2413, 503 KB) Description: Title: de: Taufe Christi Technique: de: Holz Dimensions: de: 177 × 151 cm Country of origin: de: Italien Current location (city): de: Florenz Current location (gallery): de: Galleria degli Uffizi Other notes: de: In Zusammenrabeit mit Raffael entstanden... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2413, 503 KB) Description: Title: de: Taufe Christi Technique: de: Holz Dimensions: de: 177 × 151 cm Country of origin: de: Italien Current location (city): de: Florenz Current location (gallery): de: Galleria degli Uffizi Other notes: de: In Zusammenrabeit mit Raffael entstanden... The Baptism of Christ is a painting finished around 1475 by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea del Verrocchio and his workshop. ... The narrow courtyard between the Uffizis two wings creates the effect of a short, idealized street. ... Categories: Artist stubs | 1435 births | 1488 deaths | Italian painters | Italian sculptors ... Christ presenting the Keys to St Peter Fresco, 335 x 550 cm Sistine Chapel, Rome Pietro Perugino (1446-1524), whose family name was properly Vannucci, Italian painter, was born at Città della Pieve in Umbria, and belongs to the Umbrian school of painting. ... Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (Florence March 1, 1445 - May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance (Quattrocento). ... Lorenzo di Credi (1459-1537) was a Florentine painter and sculptor. ...

In a Quattrocento workshop such as Verrocchio's, artists were regarded primarily as craftsmen and only the master such as Verrocchio had social standing. The products of a workshop included decorated tournament shields, painted dowry chests, christening platters, votive plaques, small portraits, and devotional pictures. Major commissions included altarpieces for churches and commemorative statues. The largest commissions were fresco cycles for chapels. As a fourteen-year-old apprentice, Leonardo would have been trained in all the countless skills that were employed in a traditional workshop.^[11] Although many craftsmen specialised in tasks such as frame-making, gilding and bronze casting, Leonardo would have been exposed to a vast range of technical skills and had the opportunity to learn drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics and carpentry as well as the obvious artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting and modelling.^[11] This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Annunciation Triptych is an altarpiece, ca. ... For other uses, see Fresco (disambiguation). ...

According to tradition, Leonardo posed for Verrocchio's David. Bargello Museum, Florence.

Although Verrocchio appears to have run an efficient and prolific workshop, most work was done by his employees, and few paintings can be ascertained as coming from his hand. On one of those, according to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated. The painting is the Baptism of Christ. According to Vasari, Leonardo painted the young angel holding Jesus’ robe in a manner that was so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio put down his brush and never painted again.^[10] This is probably an exaggeration. On close examination, the painting reveals much that has been painted or touched up over the tempera using the new technique of oil paint. The landscape, the rocks that can be seen through the brown mountain stream and much of the figure of Jesus bears witness to the hand of Leonardo.^[12] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (436x994, 99 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Leonardo da Vinci ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (436x994, 99 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Leonardo da Vinci ... the Bargello For the type of embroidery, please visit Bargello (needlework) The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People) is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy. ... The baptism of Jesus is an event recounted in the New Testament in which Jesus is baptised by John the Baptist. ... A 1367 tempera on wood by Niccolò Semitecolo. ... Mona Lisa, Oil on wood panel painting by Leonardo da Vinci. ...

The other creation of Verrocchio’s which is pertinent to the young Leonardo is the bronze statue of David, now in the Bargello Museum, which according to tradition is a portrait of the apprentice, Leonardo.^[12] If this is the case, then in the figure of David we see Leonardo as a thin muscular boy, quite different to the rounded androgynous figure made by Verrocchio’s teacher, Donatello and with which it is often compared.^[13] It is also suggested that the Archangel Michael in Verrocchio's Tobias and the Angel is a portrait of Leonardo.^[12] Andrea del Verrochios bronze statue of David was most likely made between 1473 and 1475. ... the Bargello For the type of embroidery, please visit Bargello (needlework) The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People) is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy. ... Statue of Habacuc (popularly known as Zuccone) for the Giottos Bell Tower. ...

There are few records from this period of Leonardo's life. One is his earliest known dated work, a drawing done in pen and ink of the Arno valley, drawn on 5 August 1473.^[14][15] In 1472, at the age of twenty, Leonardo qualified as a master in the Guild of St Luke, the guild of artists and doctors of medicine,^[16] but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate with him.^[9] Arno can refer to: the Arno River in Italy Arno Bay, South Australia the singer Arno Hintjens the American cartoonist Peter Arno the German sculptor Arno Breker Madame Arno, Parisian artist and fighter. ... is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ... Jan Gossaert, , c. ...

Professional life, 1476–1513

The Adoration of the Magi, (1481) — Uffizi, Florence, Italy. This important commission was interrupted when Leonardo went to Milan.

It is assumed that Leonardo had his own workshop in Florence between 1476 and 1481. Court records of 1476 show that, with three other young men, he was charged with sodomy,^[17] of which charges all were acquitted.^[18] From this date there is no record of his work or even his whereabouts until 1478.^[19] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (950x917, 198 KB) Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci Date: circa 1481-1482 Technique: Underpainting on panel Dimensions: 97 × 96 (246. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (950x917, 198 KB) Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci Date: circa 1481-1482 Technique: Underpainting on panel Dimensions: 97 × 96 (246. ... The Adoration of the Magi (2007) is an early painting by Leonardo da Vinci. ... The narrow courtyard between the Uffizis two wings creates the effect of a short, idealized street. ... Events March 2 - Battle of Grandson. ... François Elluin, Sodomites provoking the wrath of God, from Le pot pourri de Loth (1781). ...

In 1478 he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel of St Bernard and in 1481 by the Monks at Scopeto for The Adoration of the Magi. In 1482 Leonardo, whom Vasari tells us was a most talented musician, created a silver lyre in the shape of a horse's head. Lorenzo de’ Medici was so impressed with this that he decided to send both the lyre and its maker to Milan, in order to secure peace with Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan.^[20] At this time Leonardo wrote an often-quoted letter to Ludovico, describing the many marvellous and diverse things that he could achieve in the field of engineering and informing the Lord that he could also paint.^[21][15] The Adoration of the Magi (2007) is an early painting by Leonardo da Vinci. ... “Lyres” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Lorenzo de Medici (disambiguation). ... Ludovico Sforza (Ludovico il Moro, The Moor) (July 27, 1452–May 27, 1508), a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, and was famed as patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists. ... This page lists rulers of Milan from the 13th century to the present. ...

Between 1482 and 1499, when Louis XII of France occupied Milan, much of Leonardo’s work was in that city. It was here that he was commissioned to paint two of his most famous works, the Virgin of the Rocks for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie.^[9] While living in Milan between 1493 and 1495 Leonardo listed a woman called Caterina as among his dependants in his taxation documents. When she died in 1495, the detailed list of expenditure on her funeral suggests that she was his mother rather than a servant girl.^[22][9] Louis XII (b. ... The Virgin of the Rocks and Madonna of the Rocks are terms used to describe two different paintings with almost identical compositions. ... The Last Supper was the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his death. ... S. Maria delle Grazie (), also Madonna delle Grazie (Our Lady of Graces) is the name of very many churches throughout Italy, as for example in Anghiari, Arezzo, Bevagna, Capua, Monteleone dOrvieto, Rome (at least three), S.Anatolia di Narco, Senigallia. ...

Study of horse from Leonardo's journals- Royal Library, Windsor Castle.

For Ludovico, he worked on many different projects which included the preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions, designs for a dome for Milan Cathedral and a model for a huge equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza, Ludovico’s predecessor. Leonardo modelled a huge horse in clay, which became known as the "Gran Cavallo". It surpassed in size the only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, Donatello’s statue of Gattemelata in Padua and Verrocchio’s Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice. Seventy tons of bronze were set aside for casting it. The monument remained unfinished for several years, which was not in the least unusual for Leonardo. Michelangelo rudely implied that he was unable to cast it.^[9] In 1495 the bronze was used for cannons to defend the city from invasion under Charles VIII.^[9] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (801x1074, 128 KB) Description: Study of horse Source: http://gallery. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (801x1074, 128 KB) Description: Study of horse Source: http://gallery. ... This article is about the castle in Windsor. ... , The Duomo di Milano from the Square. ... Portrait of Francesco Sforza, ca 1460, by Bonifazio Bembo: Sforza insisted on being shown in his worn dirty old campaigning hat. ... Padua, Italy, (Italian: IPA: , Latin: Patavium, Venetian: ) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, the economic and communications hub of the region. ... Bartolomeo Colleoni (1400-1475), Italian condottiere (soldier of fortune), was born at Bergamo. ... Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... Charles VIII the Affable (French: Charles VIII lAffable) (June 30, 1470 – April 7, 1498) was King of France from 1483 to his death. ...

The French returned to invade Milan in 1499 under Louis XII and the invading French used the life-size clay model for the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. With Ludovico Sforza overthrown, Leonardo, with his assistant Salaino and friend, the mathematician Luca Pacioli, fled Milan for Venice. In Venice he was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack.^[9][12] Louis XII (b. ... Painting of Luca Pacioli, attributed to Jacopo de Barbari, 1495 (attribution controversial[1]). Table is filled with geometrical tools: slate, chalk, compass, a dodecahedron model. ... For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ...

Returning to Florence in 1500, he was the guest of the Servite Monastery, then in 1502 entered the services of Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron.^[12] In Forlì he met Caterina Sforza, of whom it is speculated by some that the Mona Lisa may be a portrait. At Cesenatico he designed the port.In Florence, he was part of a committee formed to relocate, against the artist’s will, Michelangelo’s statue of David.^[23] Cesare Borgia. ... Pope Alexander VI (1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503), born Roderic Borja (Italian: Borgia), (reigned from 1492 to 1503), is the most controversial of the secular popes of the Renaissance and one whose surname became a byword for the debased standards of the papacy of that era. ... Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, famed as the birthplace of the great painter Melozzo da Forlì and of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, at the nearby comune of Predappio. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde), is a 16th century oil painting on a poplar panel by Leonardo Da Vinci. ... Cesenatico is a port town of about 20,000 people on the Adriatic coast of Italy. ... Michelangelos David, finished by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1504 (started in 1501) is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture and one of Michelangelos two greatest works of sculpture, along with the Pietà. David portrays the Biblical David at the moment that he decides to engage Goliath. ...

In 1506 he returned to Milan, which was in the hands of Maximilian Sforza after Swiss mercenaries had driven out the French. Many of Leonardo’s most prominent pupils or followers in painting either knew or worked with him in Milan,^[9] including Bernardino Luini, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio and Marco D'Oggione.^[24] However, he did not stay in Milan for long, as his father died in 1504, and in 1507 he was back in Florence trying to sort out problems with his brothers over his fathers estate. By 1508 he was living in his own house in Milan, in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila. ^[12] Maximilian Sforza was Duke of Milan between the occupations of Louis XII of France in 1500?, and Francis I of France in 1515. ... Swiss mercenaries crossing the Alps (Luzerner Schilling) Swiss mercenaries were soldiers notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment. ... Bernardino Luini (1482-1532) was an Italian painter. ... Madonna and Child (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest) Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio or Beltraffio (Milan 1466/67[1] — Milan, 1516) was a Lombard painter of the High Renaissance who worked in the studio of Leonardo. ... Marco DOggione was a Milanese painter and a chief pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, whose works he repeatedly copied. ...

Old age

Clos Lucé, in France where Leonardo died in 1519.

From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo lived in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where Raphael and Michelangelo were both active at the time. ^[12] In 1515, François I of France retook Milan. Leonardo was commissioned to make a centrepiece (a mechanical lion)^[10] for the peace talks between the French king and Pope Leo X in Bologna. In 1516, he entered François' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé^[25] next to the king's residence at the royal Chateau Amboise. It was here that he spent the last three years of his life. The King granted Leonardo and his entourage generous pensions: the surviving document lists 1,000 écus for the artist, 400 for Count Francesco Melzi, (his pupil, named as "apprentice"), and 100 for Salaino ("servant").^{[citation needed]} In 1518 Salaino left Leonardo and returned to Milan, where he eventually perished in a duel. ^{[citation needed]} Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This page is about the artist. ... For other uses, see Michelangelo (disambiguation). ... Francis I of France - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... Pope Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici (11 December 1475 – 1 December 1521) was Pope from 1513 to his death. ... Bologna (IPA , from Latin Bononia, BulÃ¥ggna in Emiliano-Romagnolo dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly between the Reno River and the Sàvena River. ... The mansion Clos Lucé and garden Clos Lucé is a mansion in Amboise, France, located 500 meters from the Royal Château dAmboise, to which it is connected by an underground passageway. ... The Royal Ch teau at Amboise is a ch teau located in Amboise, in the Indre-et-Loire d partement of the Loire Valley in France. ... The term écu may refer to one of several French coins. ... Count Francesco Melzi was a man suspected of having an affair with Leonardo Da Vinci. ...

Leonardo died at Clos Lucé, France, on May 2, 1519. François I had become a close friend. Vasari records that the King held Leonardo’s head in his arms as he died, although this story, beloved by the French and portrayed by Ingres in a romantic painting, has been shown to be legend rather than fact.^[26] Vasari also tells us that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament.^[10] In accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the castle of Amboise. Although Melzi was his principal heir and executor, Salaino was not forgotten, receiving half of Leonardo's vineyards.^[27] The mansion Clos Lucé and garden Clos Lucé is a mansion in Amboise, France, located 500 meters from the Royal Château dAmboise, to which it is connected by an underground passageway. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ... Francis I of France - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (pronounced (Ang, rhymes with bang, with a hint of the r, but the final es is not pronounced) (August 29, 1780 - January 14, 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. ... The practice of the Roman Catholic Church includes seven sacraments. ... it doesnt exist ...

Some twenty years after Leonardo's death, François was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benevenuto Cellini as saying: Benvenuto Cellini (November 1, 1500 _ February 13, 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and musician of the Renaissance. ...

^{[citation needed]}

Relationships and influences

Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, (1425-1452) were a source of communal pride. Many artists assisted in their creation.

Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 405 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (464 × 687 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (Uploaded using CommonsHelper or PushForCommons) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 405 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (464 × 687 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (Uploaded using CommonsHelper or PushForCommons) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...

Florence — Leonardo's artistic and social background

Leonardo commenced his apprenticeship with Verrocchio in 1466, the year that Verrocchio’s master, the great sculptor Donatello, died. The painter Uccello whose early experiments with perspective were to influence the development of landscape painting, was a very old man. The painters Piero della Francesca and Fra Filippo Lippi, sculptor Luca della Robbia, and architect and writer Alberti were in their sixties. The successful artists of the next generation were Leonardo's teacher Verrocchio, Antonio Pollaiuolo and the portrait sculptor, Mino da Fiesole whose lifelike busts give the most reliable likenesses of Lorenzo Medici's father Piero and uncle Giovanni.^[28][29][30] Statue of Habacuc (popularly known as Zuccone) for the Giottos Bell Tower. ... Paolo Uccello. ... The Baptism of Christ, 1450 (National Gallery, London). ... Madonna and Child 1440-45, tempera on panel National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Fra Filippo Lippi (1406 - October 8?, 1469), commonly called Lippo Lippi, one of the most renowned painters of the Italian quattrocento, was born in Florence; his father, Tommaso, was a butcher. ... Luca della Robbia (1400-1482) was a Florentine sculptor noted for his terracotta roundels. ... Alberti was an illustrious Florentine family, rivals of the Medicis and the Albizzi. ... Apollo and Daphne by Antonio Pollaiuolo Antonio di Jacopo Pollaiuolo (c. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mino di Giovanni. ...

Leonardo's youth was spent in a Florence that was ornamented by the works of these artists and by Donatello's contemporaries, Masaccio whose figurative frescoes were imbued with realism and emotion and Ghiberti whose Gates of Paradise, gleaming with gold leaf, displayed the art of combining complex figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. Piero della Francesca had made a detailed study of perspective, and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and Alberti's Treatise were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks.^[28][29][30] Masaccio (born Tommaso Cassai or in some accounts Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Mone; December 21, 1401 – autumn 1428), was the first great painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. ... Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378 - December 1, 1455) was an important Renaissance artist, specializing in sculpture and metalworking. ... The Battistero of San Giovanni. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Metal leaf. ... Late statue of Leon Battista Alberti. ...

Massaccio's depiction of the naked and distraught Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden created a powerfully expressive image of the human form, cast into three dimensions by the use of light and shade which was to be developed in the works of Leonardo in a way that was to be influential in the course of painting. The Humanist influence of Donatello's David can be seen in Leonardo's late paintings, particularly John the Baptist.^[28] The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, before and after restoration. ... Michelangelos Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tenebrism. ... Renaissance humanism (often designated simply as humanism) was a European intellectual movement beginning in Florence in the last decades of the 14th century. ... Leonardo da Vinci. ...

Lorenzo de' Medici between Antonio Pucci and Francesco Sassetti, with Giulio de' Medici, fresco by Ghirlandaio.

Leonardo’s political contemporaries were Lorenzo Medici (il Magnifico), who was three years older, and his popular younger brother Giuliano who was slain in the Pazzi Conspiracy in 1478. Ludovico il Moro who ruled Milan between 1479–1499 and to whom Leonardo was sent as ambassador from the Medici court, was also of Leonardo’s age.^[28][29] Image File history File links Ghirlandaio_a-pucci-lorenzo-de-medici-f-sassetti_1. ... Image File history File links Ghirlandaio_a-pucci-lorenzo-de-medici-f-sassetti_1. ... Lorenzo de Medici Lorenzo de Medici (Florence, January 1, 1449 – 9 April 1492) was an Italian statesman and ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. ... The Pazzi family were Tuscan nobles who had become bankers in Florence in the 14th century. ... Ludovico Sforza (Ludovico il Moro, The Moor) (July 27, 1452–May 27, 1508), a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, and was famed as patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists. ... For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). ...

With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to know the older Humanist philosophers of whom Marsiglio Ficino, proponent of Neo Platonism and Cristoforo Landino, writer of commentaries on Classical writings, were foremost. Also associated with the Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher Pico della Mirandola.^[30][31] Leonardo later wrote in the margin of a journal "The Medici made me and the Medici destroyed me." While it was through the action of Lorenzo that Leonardo was to receive his important Milanese commissions, it is not known exactly what Leonardo meant by this cryptic comment.^[9] Marsilio Ficino (also known by his Latin name, Marsilius Ficinus) (Figline Valdarno, October 19, 1433 - Careggi, October 1, 1499) was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance, an astrologer, a reviver of Neoplatonism who was in touch with every major academic thinker and writer of... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is an ancient school of philosophy beginning in the 3rd century A.D. It was based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists; but it interpreted Plato in many new ways, such that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato taught, though not many Neoplatonists would... Cristoforo Landino (1424-24 September 1498) was a humanist and an important figure of the Florentine Renaissance. ... Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (February 24, 1463 – November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance humanist philosopher and scholar. ...

Although usually named together as the three giants of the High Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael were not of the same generation. Leonardo was 23 when Michelangelo was born and 31 when Raphael was born. The short-lived Raphael died in 1520, the year after Leonardo, but Michelangelo went on creating for another 45 years.^[29][30] The Creation of Adam, Michelangelos fresco from the . ... For other uses, see Michelangelo (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Renaissance artist. ...

Assistants and pupils

Salai as John the Baptist (c. 1514) — Louvre

Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno,^[32] nicknamed Salai or il Salaino ("The little devil), was described by Giorgio Vasari as "a graceful and beautiful youth with fine curly hair, in which Leonardo greatly delighted."^[10] Il Salaino entered Leonardo's household in 1490 at the age of ten. The relationship was not an easy one. A year later Leonardo made a list of the boy’s misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton." The "Little Devil" had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions, and spent a fortune on apparel, among which were twenty-four pairs of shoes. Nevertheless, Leonardo’s notebooks during their early years contain many pictures of the handsome, curly-haired adolescent. Il Salaino remained his companion, servant, and assistant for the next thirty years.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2748, 204 KB) Description: Title: de: Hl. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2748, 204 KB) Description: Title: de: Hl. ... Leonardo da Vinci. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Giorgio Vasaris selfportrait Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, Tuscany July 3, 1511 - Florence, June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, mainly known for his famous biographies of Italian artists. ...

As a painter, Salaino’s work is generally considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils such as Marco d'Oggione and Boltraffio. In 1515 he painted, under the name of Andrea Salai, a nude portrait of "Lisa del Giocondo", based upon the Mona Lisa and known as Monna Vanna.^[33] The Mona Lisa was bequeathed to Salaino by Leonardo, and in Salaino's own will it was assessed at the high value of £200,000.^{[citation needed]} Marco DOggione was a Milanese painter and a chief pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, whose works he repeatedly copied. ... Madonna and Child (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest) Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio or Beltraffio (Milan 1466/67[1] — Milan, 1516) was a Lombard painter of the High Renaissance who worked in the studio of Leonardo. ... Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde), is a 16th century oil painting on a poplar panel by Leonardo Da Vinci. ...

In 1506, Leonardo took as a pupil Count Francesco Melzi, the fifteen-year-old son of a Lombard aristocrat. Salaino, at first jealous of Melzi, eventually accepted his continued presence and the three undertook journeys throughout Italy. Melzi became Leonardo's life companion, and is considered to have been his favourite student. He travelled to France with Leonardo and was with him until his death.^[9] Vertumnus and Pomona (1518/22) by Francesco Melzi Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Francesco Melzi Francesco Melzi (ca. ... For the village of the same name in Ontario, Canada, see Lombardy, Ontario. ...

Study for a portrait of Isabella d'Este (1500) Louvre. Isabella appears to have been his only female friend.

From [1], in the public domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... From [1], in the public domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Isabella dEste painted by Titian. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Personal life

Main article: Leonardo da Vinci's personal life

Leonardo had many friends who are now renowned in their fields, or for their influence on history. These included the mathematician Luca Pacioli with whom he collaborated on a book in the 1490s and Cesare Borgia, in whose service he spent the years 1502 and 1503. During that time he also met Niccolò Machiavelli, with whom later he was to develop a close friendship. Also among his friends were also Franchinus Gaffurius and Isabella d'Este. Leonardo appears to have had no close relationships with women except for Isabella d'Este. He drew a portrait of her while on a journey which took him through Mantua which appears to have been used to create a painted portrait, now lost.^[9] Leonardo da Vinci, (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519), is regarded as the archetypal Renaissance Man. ... Painting of Luca Pacioli, attributed to Jacopo de Barbari, 1495 (attribution controversial[1]). Table is filled with geometrical tools: slate, chalk, compass, a dodecahedron model. ... Cesare Borgia. ... Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) was an Italian political philosopher, musician, poet, and romantic comedic playwright. ... Franchinus Gaffurius (January 14, 1451 – June 25, 1522) was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. ... Isabella dEste painted by Titian. ... Mantua (in Italian Mantova, in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language Mantua) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ...

Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. He commented "the act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions".^[34] Reproduction is the creation of one thing as a copy of, product of, or replacement for a similar thing, e. ...

Leonardo's most intimate relationships were with his pupils Salai and Melzi, Melzi writing that Leonardo's feelings for him were both loving and passionate. It has been claimed since the 16th century that these relationships were of an erotic nature. Since that date much has been written about his presumed homosexuality and its role in his art, particularly in the androgyny and eroticism manifested in John the Baptist and Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of drawings.^[35]

Painting

Despite the recent awareness and admiration of Leonardo as a scientist and inventor, for the better part of four hundred years his enormous fame rested on his achievements as a painter and on a handful of works, either authenticated or attributed to him that have been regarded as among the supreme masterpieces ever created.

These paintings are famous for a variety of qualities which have been much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics. Among the qualities that make Leonardo’s work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology, his interest in physiognomy and the way in which humans register emotion in expression and gesture, his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition and his use of the subtle gradation of tone. All these qualities come together in his most famous works, the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper and the Virgin of the Rocks. Physiognomy (Gk. ...

Early works

Annunciation (1475–1480) — Uffizi, is thought to be Leonardo's earliest complete work.

Leonardo’s early works begin with the Baptism of Christ painted in conjunction with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at the workshop, both of which are Annunciations. One is small, 59 cms long and only 14 cms high. It is a “predella” to go at the base of a larger composition, in this case a painting by Lorenzo di Credi from which it has become separated. The other is a much larger work, 217 cm long. In both these Annunciations, Leonardo has used the very formal arrangement of Fra Angelico’s two well known pictures of the same subject, the Virgin Mary sitting or kneeling to the right of the picture, approached from the left by an angel in profile, with rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a lily.^[36] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1212x521, 149 KB) Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci Date: circa 1473-1475 Technique: Oil on panel Dimensions: 38. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1212x521, 149 KB) Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci Date: circa 1473-1475 Technique: Oil on panel Dimensions: 38. ... Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci, ca 1472-75. ... The Baptism of Christ is a painting finished around 1475 by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea del Verrocchio and his workshop. ... For other uses, see Annunciation (disambiguation). ... Lorenzo di Credi (1459-1537) was a Florentine painter and sculptor. ... The term Virgin Mary has several different meanings: Mary, the mother of Jesus, the historical and multi-denominational concept of Mary Blessed Virgin Mary, the Roman Catholic theological and doctrinal concept of Mary Marian apparitions shrines to the Virgin Mary Virgin Mary in Islam, the Islamic theological and doctrinal concept...

In the smaller picture Mary averts her eyes and folds her hands in a gesture that symbolised submission to God’s will. In the larger picture, however, Mary is not in the least submissive. The beautiful girl, interrupted in her reading by this unexpected messenger, puts a finger in her bible to mark the place and raises her hand in greeting. This calm young woman accepts her role as the Mother of God not with resignation but with confidence. In this painting the young Leonardo presents the Humanist face of the Virgin Mary, a woman who recognises humanity’s role in God’s incarnation.^[37] Russian Orthodox Icon of the Theotokos Theotokos is a Greek word that means God-bearer or Mother of God. It is a title assigned by the early Christian Church to Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the Third Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus in 431. ... See also the specific life stance known as Humanism For the Renaissance liberal arts movement, see Renaissance humanism Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities...

Paintings of the 1480s

Virgin of the Rocks, National Gallery, London, possibly