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Self-portrait, drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490/1515–16; in the Royal Library, Turin, Italy.
Alinari/Art Resource, New YorkLeonardo da Vinci is born in Anchiano, near Vinci, Republic of Florence [Italy]. He is destined to become one of the leading figures in the fields of arts and science during the period of history known as the Renaissance.
1467–81
At 15 Leonardo apprentices to the famous artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. With Verrocchio, Leonardo learns painting and sculpture primarily. In 1472 Leonardo is accepted into the painters’ guild of Florence, but he remains in his teacher’s workshop for five more years, after which time he works independently in Florence until 1481. Many of his artworks from this period are pencil sketches not only of human figures, but of mechanical designs, too.
The Virgin of the Rocks, oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, 1483–86; in the Louvre, Paris.
Giraudon/Art Resource, New YorkLeonardo moves to Milan in 1492 to serve in the court of the duke Ludovico Sforza. Leonardo enjoys the prospect of multiple projects suited to his interests and abilities. Altogether, he spends 17 years in Milan. During this period he completes such well-known paintings as Last Supper and The Virgin of the Rocks. His dignified manner and serious approach to his art and life gain him high regard within the duke’s court. Leonardo also frequently consults on the subjects of architecture, engineering, and military matters.
Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503–19; in the Louvre, Paris.
Scala/Art Resource, New YorkLeonardo returns to Florence in 1500 to pursue projects in painting, anatomy, and engineering. In 1503 he is commissioned to paint a mural in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio; it is to be a grand historical scene intended to glorify the military conquest of the Florentines. The work is never completed, however. Leonardo also begins painting the Mona Lisa about 1503.
Leonardo leaves Italy to serve King Francis I of France. On arriving in France, Leonardo does little in the way of painting. He does, however, continue to pursue the study of anatomy and to sketch drawings depicting powerful natural events.
May 2, 1519
Leonardo dies in Cloux (now Clos-Lucé), France, and is buried at the church of Saint-Florentin. During the later period of the French Revolution the church is torn down. The whereabouts of Leonardo’s remains is no longer known.
Perspective, method of graphically depicting three-dimensional objects and spatial relationships on a two-dimensional plane or on a plane that is shallower than the original (for example, in flat relief). Perceptual methods of representing space and volume, which render them as seen at a particular
Anatomy, a field in the biological sciences concerned with the identification and description of the body structures of living things. Gross anatomy involves the study of major body structures by dissection and observation and in its narrowest sense is concerned only with the human body. “Gross
