Short biography of Leonardo da Vinci

Short biography of Leonardo da Vinci, dates: born April 15, 1452, Anchiano, near Vinci, Italy; died May 2, 1519, Cloux, France.

Short biography of Leonardo da Vinci, in a paragraph: As a child, Leonardo wasn't outstanding. But as an adult he became one of the leading figures of Renaissance humanism. The Last Supper and Mona Lisa are his most popular and influential paintings. Leonardo was the original Renaissance man, and made a significant impact in many disciplines. Besides his abilities as a painter, he was a superb draftsman, sculptor, architect, engineer, and writer. His notebooks are filled with scientific musings and mechanical inventions centuries ahead of their time.

Short biography of Leonardo da Vinci, in detail

Young Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci's father, Ser Piero, was a respected Florentine business man. He was not married to Leonardo’s mother, Caterina. She was a peasant women, and Ser Piero's parents did not consider her a worthy wife. She later married someone of her own station. But Leonardo was not persecuted for being illegitimate. Instead, his kindly father brought him up as a legitimate son, and made sure he had a good education.

At 15, Leonardo was apprenticed to the artist Andrea del Verrocchio and received training in painting, sculpture, and technical drawing. At 20, Leonardo was accepted into the painters' guild, and worked in Florence until he was 29. Many pen and pencil drawings remain from this period, including technical sketches of pumps, weapons, and other mechanical objects. He started to get good commissions for paintings, including the Adoration of the Magi for the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto. But this, and the other commissions were left unfinished when he decided to move to Milan.

Leonardo’s Young Manhood in Milan

When he was 30, Leonardo moved to Milan to work for Duke Ludovico. He spent 17 years there, mainly as a painter and sculptor, until Ludovico's fall from power in 1499. He also gave frequent technical advice on architecture, weaponry, hydraulics and engineering. His goals at this time tended to be grandiose and boundless, and much work remained unfinished.

But Leonardo did complete six paintings, including The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and the The Virgin of the Rocks for the Milanese Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. But the 12 years he devoted to creating a monumental bronze statue of a horse were less successful. He created the clay model for the horse, but just before the bronze was to be poured it was diverted to making war cannons. Then Ludovico fell, and the clay model was destroyed in the ensuing war. With the French marching into Milan, Leonardo celebrated the new century by returning home. In January 1500 he left Milan, spent a few months in Mantua and Venice, and then proceeded to Florence.

Florence, Again

In Florence Leonardo concentrated on mathematical studies before, after two years, taking a ten month break to work for Cesare Borgia. There he invented new cartographic techniques while mapping Borgia’s territories. He also met Nicholas Machiavelli, no doubt picking up some good tips for dealing with high officials!

On returning to Florence, Leonardo worked on many grand projects. These included plans for a canal to the sea, and a monumental mural in the central square. But the canal remained only a plan and the mural was not completed. He did, however, complete the Mona Lisa during this time.

Leonardo da Vinci and Science

During this second period in Florence, Leonardo da Vinci became especially interested in science. His main impetus, being a supreme painter, was to see what was there. His genius enabled him to realise that he could use these powers to look more deeply into nature--his artistic vision became a superb tool for detailed scientific investigation.

Art and science combined in his investigations of human form, which (like everything else he did) was pursued to its limits. For instance, he performed dissections in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, and provided a comprehensive study of the structure and function of the human body. He studied many different natural phenomena, from the flight of birds to the movements of currents, and created vast collections of data pertaining to them.

King Louis invites Leonardo to return to Milan

King Louis XII of France greatly admired Leonardo. After requests from Charles d'Amboise, the French governor in Milan, Leonardo moved to Milan in 1508. He was mainly looked on for advice in architectural matters, but his own interest centred on scientific activity. His experiments in anatomy proceeded in leaps and bounds during a collaboration with Marcantonio della Torre, an anatomist from Pavia. He also continued with botanical, mathematical, optical, mechanical, and geological studies.

Leonardo became convinced that basic mechanical forces produced all organic and inorganic forms, and that they operated in accordance with orderly, harmonious laws. So Leonardo was one of the first to outline a fully scientific vision of nature and the physical universe.

Leonardo is forced to move to Rome

In 1513 the French were forced to leave Milan, and Leonardo moved to Rome. He hoped to find employment through his patron Giuliano de' Medici, brother of pope Leo X. Giuliano gave Leonardo rooms in his residence, the Belvedere in the Vatican, and a considerable monthly wage. But the competition was fierce. Donato Bramante was building St. Peter's; Raphael and Michelangelo were at their peak; Rome was full of young talent. Leonardo could get no commissions and stuck to mathematical studies, experiments, and investigating Rome’s monuments. Feeling underemployed, in 1516, Leonardo accepted the invitation of King Francis I to serve in France and left Italy forever.

The last three years of Leonardo’s life were spent in Cloux (now Clos-Lucé), near the king's summer palace at Amboise on the Loire. Leonardo spent most of his time editing his manuscripts on science, painting, and anatomy. In a final work, Visions of the End of the World, or Deluge, he depicts the primal forces that rule nature with a growing pessimism. Leonardo died at Cloux and was buried in the church of Saint-Florentin