Born in Vinci, near Florence, Leonardo is the natural son of the notary Piero da Vinci and a simple peasant. He will join his father in Florence at the age of 14 and enter the polytechnic workshop of a renowned artist. Having acquired a solid reputation as a painter, he lived in the great capitals of the Italian Renaissance before going to France with King François I st . His talent and genius in all branches of art, science and technology earned him recognition. As soon as it was created in 1503, his painting The Mona Lisa , portrait of the wife of one of his friends, the Italian merchant Francesco del Giocondo, is considered a masterpiece.
His works and his sketchbooks reflect an immense curiosity and fascination for the human body. He thus shares the concerns of the humanists while participating in the artistic Renaissance. He died at the age of 67 at Clos-Lucé in Amboise.
1452 - 1519
Status
Painter
Anatomist
Engineer