Leonardo da Vinci

The famous Italian artist, mathematician, scientist, writer and inventor- Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci -was born on 15 April, 1452.  It is written that he was born 'at three o'clock in the night'.  This has been calculated to mean 10.30p.m.

His name 'da Vinci' actually means 'from Vinci' because Vinci is the name of the village, near to Florence, where he was born. The first part of his name - Leonardo di ser Piero - means Leonardo the son of Mr. Peter.  Piero (Peter) was his father's first name and he worked as a notary (a bit like a solicitor.) 

Leonardo's mother was called Caterina and she was a peasant-girl.  His parents were not married.  After his birth, Leonardo's father was persuaded to marry a sixteen-year-old girl from a wealthy family. 

Poor Caterina was made to marry a farmer and the baby Leonardo was looked after by his grandparents (on his father's side.)

When Leonardo was about five years old, it had become obvious that his father's young wife was unable to have children, so Leonardo was taken from his grandparents' home and he went to live with his father and stepmother.

It soon became apparent that the boy was very talented.  As a child, he played the lyre, sang beautifully, was excellent at maths and enjoyed drawing animals and nature. 

At the age of fourteen, he was sent to Florence to work with Verrocchio who was a very well-known and highly-considered artist, sculptor and goldsmith.  His apprenticeship with Verrocchio ended in 1472 but he continued to work with him.

Just like his fellow artist Michelangelo, he was chosen to join the Medici Family's select group of artists who practised in the gardens of their palace in Florence.  The garden of San Marco had many classical Greek and Roman statues.  Artists, including Michelangelo, would go there for art lessons and to be inspired by the artistic environment.

His most famous painting is The Last Supper (1498).  It is the most reproduced painting in the world.  It is painted on a wall inside the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.  This method of painting is called 'fresco'.  It requires applying paint to wet plaster on a wall.  However, Leonardo did not use the best quality ingredients when he created this painting and it deteriorated very quickly.  It became flaky and mouldy.  Below is a photo of The Last Supper.

Another most famous painting by Leonardo is the Mona Lisa, (below). Mona means 'my lady'. The painting is called La Gioconda in Italian.  The woman in the painting is Lisa del Giocondo and she was the wife of a wealthy businessman called Francesco del Giocondo, from Florence.  It is believed that the painting was requested by the Giocondo family to decorate their new home and to celebrate the birth of their second son. 

The portrait was nicknamed La Gioconda because of the double meaning.
1.  It is the feminine form of her surname.
2.  The family name 'Giocondo' also means 'joyful' in Italian.  In the painting, the lady is smiling - in other words, she is the 'happy one.'

Leonardo started to paint the Mona Lisa around 1502 and he spent many years working on it.  It belongs to the French Government.  It can be seen at Le Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Leonardo's most famous drawing is The Vitruvian Man (1498).  It is kept in the Gallerie dell' Accademia in Venice and is displayed only on special occasions.  The drawing (below) was a study of proportion and geometry in the human shape.  The drawing is named after the Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius who had studied geometry and had also applied geometry to study the human shape.

Leonardo wrote lots of notes (including notes to accompany his drawing The Vitruvian Man.)  These notes were written in 'mirror writing'.  In other words, they can only be read by holding them in front of a mirror and reading the reflection.  As Leonardo was left-handed, he had the ability to write from the right side of the page towards the left.  Leonardo was also known to write notes in code. 

In the early 1500s, Leonardo dreamed of being able to build 'a flying machine.'  He spent a couple of years sketching ideas for a parachute, helicopter and observations of how birds fly.  In an experiment, he is known to have attached home-made wings to a lizard in an attempt to make it fly!  Below is one of Leonardo's designs for a flying machine.

He had amazingly original ideas and drew up designs for lots of inventions - including automobiles, submarines, battle machines, two-tiered bridges and weapons.  It is quite fascinating to think that those ideas that seemed weird or impossible then, now exist as normal objects that are used everyday.

In 1516, Leonardo moved to France where he was asked to paint for the French King Francis I.  He took the unfinished Mona Lisa with him and worked on it until shortly before he died.  King Francis bought the painting from Leonardo for 4000 écus.  It has belonged to France ever since!  Below is a portrait of Francis I.

Leonardo never married and did not have any children.  He died in France on 2 May 1519 at the royal manor house called Clos Lucé (below) where he had resided as a guest of the King throughout his years in France. 

King Francis had become a close friend and was at Leonardo's bedside when he died.  Below is a painting by Ménageot, depicting the death of Leonardo in the presence of the French king.

At Leonardo's funeral, sixty beggars followed the procession - this had been one of Leonardo's requests.  His tomb is in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert inside the Château d'Amboise, (below), which was the residence of King Francis I.