Leonardo Da Vinci

\"Leonardo da Vinci...oh yeah, that is the guy who painted the Mona Lisa!\"

That was all I knew about Leonardo da Vinci before I started this report. I

knew that he lived during the Renaissance and that he was a very important

man, but that is about it. There is so much more about Leonardo that he is

known for, other than him being the painter of the famous Mona Lisa. Leonardo

was a universal genius, (as said in \"What Makes a Leonardo a Leonardo?\" By:

Richard MÑŒhlberger, Copyright: 1994) because he excelled in numerous areas of

knowledge and contributed so much to the Renaissance. He was one of the great

masters of the High Renaissance (as said in the following website:

http://metalab.unc.edu/cgfa/vinci/vinci_bio.htm) who was a painter, sculptor,

architect, engineer, mathematician, geologist, astronomer and scientist.

Birthplace and Childhood: Leonardo da Vinci was born at 10:30 PM on

Saturday, April 15th, 1452. He was born in the small Tuscan town of Vinci,

which is near Florence. Although, in another reference, it said that he was

probably born in a farm house in Anchiano, which is about three miles away

from Vinci. The family of Leonardo lived in this area since the 13th century.

When Leonardo was born, Ser Piero, his father, was a twenty-five year old

public notary. Also, when Leonardo was born, Ser Piero married his wife. He

didn\'t marry Catarina, his mother, because she probably the daughter of a

farmer.

Leonardo was christened from the parson Peiro da Bartolomeo, in the

Baptismal Chapel. He was baptized to the name Lionardo, not Leonardo. The

chapel is inside the church of Vinci.

According to a tax record, when Leonardo was five years old, he was

living with his grandparents. Francesco, his uncle, probably taught him about

nature though the wild countryside that surrounds Vinci. When Francesco died,

about fifty years later, he willed his estate to Leonardo, which showed a

sense of fondness to Leonardo.

Apprenticeship: Leonardo lived in Vinci until 1466. Vinci is a small

town, in the foot of Monte Albano, in the Tuscany in Italy. When he was

fourteen, he moved to Florence, where he bagan an apprenticeship in the

workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio was the leading Florentine

painter and sculptor of his day. The apprenticeship program provided all

artistic training. He was introduced to many things like painting

alterpieces, panel pictures and the creation of large sculptural projects in

marble and bronze. Leonardo served Verrocchio for about thirteen years. While

in the artists workshop he went to being a journeyman and then to being

master craftsman. When he became a master craftsman, he was expected to copy

Verrocchio\'s work to perfection because

everything made in the shop was sold

under Verrocchio\'s name. After seeing how Verrocchio\'s knowledge of several

subjects helped him, Leonardo saw that mastering many skills was one of the

goals of an artist. He saw that science and art were closely related to each

other and became a master for both. Verrocchio and Leonardo, then

collaborated on the painting \"The Baptism of Christ\" in about the year of

1472.

The first known and dated work of Leonardo da Vinci is a pen and ink

drawing of the Aronovalley. Leonardo drew it on August 5th, 1473. It shows

the ingenious mind of Leonardo because he drew the landscape in a way that it

look real, unlike anyone else\'s work produced before.

Years in Milan: Between 1482 and 1499, Leonardo was in the service of the

Duke of Milan. He was described in a list of the Dukes staff as a painter and

engineer of the duke. Leonardo completed six paintings during this time in

the dukes service. He also advised on architecture, fortifications and

military matters. Plus, he was considered as a hydraulic and mechanical

engineer.

During the year of 1495, Leonardo began working on one of his most famous

masterpieces, the Last Supper. This painting is an illustration of Leonardo\'s

unique style. He broke with tradition by arranging the figures of the

apostles into small groups with Jesus seated in the center of the scene.

Leonardo\'s portrayal of the Last Supper is alive with momentum and

interaction between the characters. The people of his time had never seen a

more vivid representation of this major even. This goes for people of our

generation too.

In 1499, Leonardo left Milan and went to Venice. In Venice, he consulted

on architecture