Leonardo da Vinci
Great PeopleA Notary's Son from a Hill Town
Leonardo was born in 1452 near the Tuscan town of Vinci, the son of a Florentine notary, Ser Piero, and a woman of humble background named Caterina. Because his parents were not married, he was barred from the universities and Latin-based professions of his father. Largely self-taught, he later described himself as a man 'without letters' — and turned that outsider status into a lifetime of learning by observation rather than books.
The Workshop of Verrocchio
As a teenager Leonardo entered the busy Florentine workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, one of the leading artist-engineers of the day. There he learned painting, sculpture, metalworking, and mechanics alongside other future masters. The story goes that his contribution to Verrocchio's 'Baptism of Christ' so outshone his teacher's that it hinted at a rare talent — an anecdote often repeated, though hard to prove.
Notebooks Written Backwards
Leonardo filled thousands of pages with sketches and notes on water, flight, light, and the human body, most written in mirror script that runs right to left. This was almost certainly a practical habit of a left-handed writer avoiding smudged ink, not a secret code. Roughly 7,000 pages survive today — perhaps only a quarter of what he actually produced — scattered across libraries from Windsor to Milan.
Painter of Few, but Unforgettable, Works
Leonardo completed remarkably little: fewer than twenty paintings are generally attributed to him, and several were left unfinished. His 'Last Supper' in Milan was painted with an experimental technique that began flaking within his own lifetime, and he carried the 'Mona Lisa' with him for years, still refining it. His perfectionism and restless curiosity meant many commissions were abandoned.
Engineer of Machines He Never Built
His notebooks brim with designs later celebrated as centuries ahead of their time: an 'aerial screw' resembling a helicopter, a pyramid-shaped parachute, and an armored fighting vehicle likened to a tank. But these were drawings and thought-experiments, not working machines — none was built or flown in his lifetime. Because his notebooks stayed largely unpublished for centuries, they had little direct influence on the engineers who came after him.
Last Years in France
In 1516 the young French king Francis I invited Leonardo to France, giving him a manor near the royal château at Amboise and, reportedly, treating him with great honor. Leonardo died there on 2 May 1519. He had brought the 'Mona Lisa' with him, which is one reason the painting entered the French royal collection and eventually the Louvre.
Key Dates to Remember
- 1452 — Born near Vinci, Tuscany
- c. 1466 — Apprenticed in Florence
- c. 1482 — Moves to Milan for the Sforzas
- 1495–1498 — Paints The Last Supper
- c. 1503 — Begins the Mona Lisa
- 1516 — Invited to France by the king
- 1519 — Dies at Amboise, France