People & Characters
Leonardo da Vinci
A Renaissance artist and investigator known for painting, engineering studies, anatomical drawings, and wide-ranging notebooks.
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance artist whose work also extended into scientific observation, engineering, anatomy, and invention. Born in Vinci on April 15, 1452, he trained in Florence in Andrea del Verrocchio's workshop and later worked mainly in Florence and Milan. He spent his final years in Rome and France.
His surviving legacy includes a small number of completed paintings and a much larger body of drawings and notebooks. These records show him investigating nature, machines, flight, and the human body, often using drawing as a practical tool for observation and problem-solving.
Quick facts
- Leonardo was born in Vinci on April 15, 1452.
- He trained as a painter and sculptor in Andrea del Verrocchio's workshop in Florence.
- He worked principally in Florence and Milan before spending his final years in Rome and France.
- Although relatively few completed works survive, nearly 2,500 drawings record his artistic and scientific investigations.
- The Last Supper began to deteriorate during Leonardo's lifetime because he used an experimental layered wall-painting method rather than true fresco.
A surprising fact
Leonardo sketched a pyramid-shaped parachute with a base and height of about seven meters.
