Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
MASTER OF ALL TRADES
Artist, scientist, inventor—these distinctions merely scratch the surface of the prodigious artist and thinker Leonardo da Vinci, whom many still consider one of the smartest people in history.
Leonardo da Vinci’s legendary pen and ink drawing, Vitruvian Man, c. 1487.
Born illegitimately to a notary and a peasant girl near Florence, Italy, da Vinci showed artistic promise at an early age. Under the apprenticeship of famed artist Andrea del Verrocchio, 15-year-old da Vinci soon demonstrated that his talent was far greater than that of his mentor. Unlike his contemporaries, da Vinci endeavored to paint the human form in a manner faithful to its real-life counterpart—an approach reflected in his two most famous paintings, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He often looked to science and nature for artistic inspiration.
Although da Vinci is probably best known for his art, he held various positions over the years that expanded outside this realm, including occupations as a military engineer and an architect. As an inventor, he was well ahead of his time and drafted designs for various flying machines. Another of his passions was the study of human anatomy; he often worked late into the night to examine human cadavers before they succumbed to decomposition. Fortunately, da Vinci documented his ideas, inventions, and studies in several notebooks that historians hold in high esteem to this day. —RJR
Notable works: The Last Supper, 1495-97 (page 42); Mona Lisa, 1503-06 (page 12); St. John the Baptist, 1513-16.
FUN FACT
Da Vinci was a vegetarian and an ardent lover of animals and nature; he was a gentle man and would buy birds in cages just so he could set them free.