Leonardo was born on 15. April 1452 in a farmhouse in Anchiano, a mile or two from Vinci.
His family had lived in that area for two centuries.
Leonardo's father, Ser Piero, a public notary, was 25 years old when Leonardo was born.
Ser Piero did get married in 1452, but after Leonardo's birth - and not to Leonardo's mother. She was called Catarina.She married an artisan, and some accounts say Leonardo's father kept the child. Others say he stayed until his mother for a while and then his father saw his potential and encouraged him. As a boy Leonardo was fascinated by birds, water, shadows, animals, rocks, and the way people moved.
Ser Piero did have children, but much later, and not with his first wife. He was married three times.
All that we know of Leonardo's mother was that:
It is said she was the daughter of a farmer.
He was christened Lionardo.
He was taken to Vinci, to his grandfather when he was five. He probably lived until that time in Anchiano. Vinci is a small town in a valley, at the foot of Monte Albano.
He was not an easy pupil at school; he asked, shall we say, a lot of questions.
As a teenager (probably aroun14, although the odd account puts it at 17) Leonardo moved to Florence, and began an apprenticeship as a 'garzone' (studio boy) in the workshop of
Andrea del Verrocchio, who was fascinated by Leonardo's drawings.
Verrocchio - sculptor, painter, goldsmith, bronze-caster and much else besides - was at this time the most gifted and versatile artist in Florence. And the young genius, Leonardo, started his artistic life working around brilliant men. It has been said that he encountered brilliant men like Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi, Pollaiuolo, and Botticelli.
Leonardo began by learning how to mix mix of colors; soon he was allowed to paint simple altar pieces, panel pictures, and some sculptures in marble and bronze. While he was with Verrochio Leonardo had taught himself to paint in oils, a practice which had been developed by Dutch artists.
He is listed in the red book of Florentine painters in 1472. Again he uses the name he was born with, Lionardo.
Being listed meant that he was now a member of the painters guild of Florence; but he stayed on in Verrocchio's workshop.
The first known and dated work of Leonardo da Vinci is a pen-and-ink drawing of the Arno valley. The date usually given for this is 5th August 1473. He depicted the landscape with utter realism; nobody had drawn in that way before.
Leonardo and Verrocchio worked together to create the painting Baptism of Christ - a commission from a cloister - S. Salvi. Leonardo painted the front angel and the landscape; the difference between the two artists is noticeable in the way the angels have been done. Leonardo's kneeling angel and other sections have soft shadings and he is most sensitive in the way he uses shadow. Verrochio's figures and objects are sharply defined. And this difference is said to mark the transition, via Leonardo, from the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance.
It was the custom in those days to put anonymous denunciations in a wooden box (called the tamburo), which was put up in front of the Palazzo Vecchio - the Old Palace. And while still working with Verrochio, Leonardo and four others were denounced for having had a homosexual affair with Jacopo Saltarelli, who was a model. Leonardo and all participants were acquitted.
Leonardo's leading skills emerged through his paintings and his techniques. Leonardo's talents soon drew him away from the Guild and in 1472 Leonardo finished his first complete painting, Annunciation.
In 1478 Leonardo reached the title of Independent Master. His first large painting, The Adoration of the Magi (begun in 1481), which was left unfinished, was ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Florence.
Other works ascribed to his youth are the Benois Madonna (1478), the portrait Ginevra de' Benci (1474), and the unfinished Saint Jerome (1481).
At this stage Leonardo expanded his skill seriously to other branches of interest and in 1481 Leonardo wrote an astonishing letter to the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, in which he stated that he knew how to build portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines; and that he could sculpt in marble, bronze, and clay. Thus, he entered the service of the Duke in 1482, working on Ludovico's castle, organizing festivals, and he became recognized as an expert in military engineering and weaponry.
Under the Duke, Leonardo served many positions. He served as principal engineer in the Duke's numerous military enterprises and was active as an architect. Leonardo at that time designed artillery and planned the diversion of rivers. He also improved many inventions that were already in use such as the rope ladder. Leonardo also drew those pictures of an armoured tank. His concept failed because the tank was too heavy to be mobile and the hand cranks he designed were not strong enough to support such a vehicle. As a civil engineer, he designed revolving stages for pageants. As a sculptor he planned a huge monument of the Duke's father mounted up on a leaping horse. The Horse, as it was known, was the culmination of 16 years of work. Leonardo was fascinated by horses and drew them constantly. In The Horse, Leonardo experimented with the horses' forelegs and measurements.
The severe plagues in 1484 and 1485 drew his attention to town planning, and his drawings and plans for domed churches reflect his concern with architectural problems. In addition he also assisted the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in the work Divina Proportione (1509).
While in Milan Leonardo kept up his own work and studies with the possible help of apprentices and pupils, for whom he probably wrote the various texts later compiled as Treatise on Painting (1651).
The most important painting of those created in the early Milan age was The Virgin of the Rocks.
Leonardo worked on this piece for an extended period of time, seemingly unwilling to finish what he had begun.
It is his earliest major painting that survives in complete form. From 1495 to 1497 Leonardo labored on The Last Supper, a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. While painting The Last Supper, Leonardo rejected the fresco technique normally used for wall paintings. An artist
that uses this fresco method must work quickly. Leonardo wanted to work slowly, revising his work, and use shadows-which would have been impossible in using fresco
painting. He invented a new technique that involved coating the wall with a compound that he had created. This compound, which was supposed to protect the paint and hold
it in place did not work, and soon after its completion the paint began to flake away. For this reason The Last Supper still exists, but in poor condition.
Leonardo had at many times merged his inventive and creative capabilities to enhance life and improve his works. Although his experiments with plastering and painting failed, they showed his dissatisfaction with an accepted means and his creativity and courage to experiment with a new and untried idea. Experimentation with traditional techniques is evident in his drawings as well. During Leonardo's 18 year stay in Milan he also produced other paintings and drawings, but most have been lost. He created stage designs, architectural drawings, and models for the dome of Milan Cathedral. Leonardo also began to produce scientific drawings, especially of the human body. He studied anatomy by dissecting human corpses and the bodies of animals. Leonardo's drawings clarified the appearance of bones, tendons, and other body parts and their functions. These drawings are considered to be the first accurate representations of human anatomy. Leonardo is also credited with the first use of the cross section, for drawing diagrams of the human body.
Leonardo wrote, "The painter who has acquired a knowledge of the nature of the sinews, muscles, and tendons will know exactly in the movement of any limb how many and which of the sinews are the cause of it, and which muscle by its swelling is the cause of this sinew's contracting"