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Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci - a true genius of the Italian renaissance - is born in or near Vinci (hence the "name" da Vinci), 50 kilometres west of Florence.

At an early age, he is respected for his talents in drawing, and is educated as a youth in Florence. Some of his paintings are created as early as in the seventies, when he is in his twenties. Instead of using tempera in his paintings (as his master did), Leonardo insists on using oil compounds. He also experiments with new oil compounds, but unfortunately, they will not resist the tooth of time very well. Therefore, large amounts of the painting of many of his famous oeuvres will soon peel off.

In 1482 he moves to Milan. At the same time as he continues painting, he offers his services as an engineer of military material. He makes sketches of fire-resisting bridges, horse-driven "tanks", and even helicopters! One of his most famous paintings from this time is The Last Supper, which in fact is the most famous contemporary painting at the time. He also begins working on The Great Horse, an enormous monument. After a lot of hard work, its clay model is completed, and Leonardo invents a way to fill the clay form with bronze. Unfortunately, the bronze itself is badly needed for weapons, and so, the bronze horse is not completed until 1999, five hundred years later. In 1499 the French takes Milan and the archers use the clay model for target practice.

Working on commission, Leonardo moves around, first to Venice, and later, back to Florence, where he is working for many years. Here he paints Mona Lisa, and probably also his self portrait. In the 1500's, it is said, with reference to the self portrait, that "Leonardo's hair and beard were so long, and his eyebrows were so bushy, that he appeared to be the sheer idea of noble wisdom." In 1515, Leonardo goes to Rome, and when his patrons dies, he moves to France and lives there until his death in 1519.

Leonardo was highly skilled in drawing and sketching (his production of sketches is the biggest from the time), and also a famous scientist. His work in anatomy, physics, astronomy and biology were all important for the progress in these disciplines.

Strangely enough, there exist no truly good web site for covering the mavellous life and works of Leonardo da Vinci. We hope to create such a web site one day.

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