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*Like other main characters, Leonardo's appearance does not change throughout the 23 years he is shown in the game, from his first encounter to the decoding of the the Codex in the villa in 1499.
*Like other main characters, Leonardo's appearance does not change throughout the 23 years he is shown in the game, from his first encounter to the decoding of the the Codex in the villa in 1499.
*Unless it is a Codex page or something important to the story, such as the design for two hidden blades, the cut-scene is the same when Ezio visits Leonardo each time (even after Leonardo moves to Venice).
*Unless it is a Codex page or something important to the story, such as the design for two hidden blades, the cut-scene is the same when Ezio visits Leonardo each time (even after Leonardo moves to Venice).
*Leonardo's last name isn't actually da Vinci, he was adopted by a prostitute ([[Courtesans|courtesan]]), and Vinci being the town he was born in, he took on the name Leonardo da Vinci (meaning Leonardo of Vinci).
* Leonardo's last name isn't actually da Vinci, he was adopted by a prostitute ([[Courtesans|courtesan]]), and Vinci being the town he was born in, he took on the name Leonardo da Vinci (meaning Leonardo of Vinci).
*According to the database, Leonardo was most likely homosexual, and his apprentice, a boy he nicknamed Salai ("little Satan"), was likely his lover.
* According to the database, Leonardo was most likely homosexual, and his apprentice, a boy he nicknamed Salai ("little Satan"), was likely his lover.
*Ironically, in Dan Brown's book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code The Da Vinci Code], it is speculated that Leonardo da Vinci was the Grand Master of a secret society known as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priory_of_sion The Priory of Sion], ''an organization that was alleged to have [[Knights Templar|Templar connections]].
* Ironically, in Dan Brown's book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code The Da Vinci Code], it is speculated that Leonardo da Vinci was the Grand Master of a secret society known as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priory_of_sion The Priory of Sion], ''an organization that was alleged to have [[Knights Templar|Templar connections]].
*Also ironically Leonardo would later become a close friend and military engineer for [[Cesare Borgia]], son of [[Rodrigo Borgia]].
* Also ironically Leonardo would later become a close friend and military engineer for [[Cesare Borgia]], son of [[Rodrigo Borgia]].
*In AC II's first DLC, the [[Battle of Forlì]], Leonardo was resistant to the Piece of Eden's powers, like the [[Assassins]]. When the Piece accidentally activates, Leonardo sees rudimentary designs for tanks, similar to his own.
*In AC II's first DLC, the [[Battle of Forlì]], Leonardo was resistant to the Piece of Eden's powers, like the [[Assassins]]. When the Piece accidentally activates, Leonardo sees rudimentary designs for tanks, similar to his own.
==Da Vinci In Real Life==
'''Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci''' ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:It-Leonardo_di_ser_Piero_da_Vinci.ogg ] [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/It-Leonardo_di_ser_Piero_da_Vinci.ogg pronunciation] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help help]·[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:It-Leonardo_di_ser_Piero_da_Vinci.ogg info])), (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519), was an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy Italian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath polymath]: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting painter], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculptor sculptor], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architect architect], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musician musician], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientist scientist], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematician mathematician], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer engineer], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventor inventor], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomist anatomist], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologist geologist], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanist botanist] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer writer]. Leonardo has often been described as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetype archetype] of the Renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his powers of invention.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HG_1-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-HG-1 [1]]</sup> He is widely considered to be one of the greatest [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting painters] of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-genius_2-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-genius-2 [2]]</sup> According to art historian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Gardner_(art_historian) Helen Gardner], the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HG_1-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-HG-1 [1]]</sup> Marco Rosci points out, however, that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-3 [3]]</sup>
Born the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinci,_Italy Vinci] in the region of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence Florence], Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verrocchio Verrocchio]. Much of his earlier working life was spent in the service of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_il_Moro Ludovico il Moro] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan]. He later worked in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome Rome], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna Bologna] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice Venice] and spent his last years in France, at the home awarded him by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France Francis I].
Leonardo was and is renowned<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-genius_2-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-genius-2 [2]]</sup> primarily as a painter. Two of his works, the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa Mona Lisa]'' and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo) The Last Supper]'', are the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious paintings of all time, respectively, their fame approached only by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo Michelangelo]'s ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_of_Adam Creation of Adam]''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HG_1-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-HG-1 [1]]</sup> Leonardo's drawing of the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man Vitruvian Man]'' is also regarded as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_icon cultural icon],<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-4 [4]]</sup> being reproduced on everything from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro Euro] to text books to t-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings survive, the small number due to his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-5 [nb 2]]</sup> Nevertheless, these few works, together with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise a contribution to later generations of artists only rivalled by that of his contemporary, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo Michelangelo].
Leonardo is revered<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-genius_2-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-genius-2 [2]]</sup> for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised a helicopter, a tank, concentrated [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy solar power], a calculator,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-6 [5]]</sup> the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_hull double hull] and outlined a rudimentary theory of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics plate tectonics]. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-7 [nb 3]]</sup> but some of his smaller inventions, such as an automated [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbin bobbin] winder and a machine for testing the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_strength tensile strength] of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-8 [nb 4]]</sup> As a scientist, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy anatomy], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_engineering civil engineering], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optics optics], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_dynamics hydrodynamics].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-9 [6]]</sup>
==Life==
===Childhood, 1452–1466===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vinci_casa_Leonardo.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vinci_casa_Leonardo.jpg ]Leonardo's childhood home in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchiano Anchiano].
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Study_of_a_Tuscan_Landscape.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Study_of_a_Tuscan_Landscape.jpg ]Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno Valley, (1473) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi Uffizi]Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, "at the third hour of the night"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-11 [nb 5]]</sup> in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuscany Tuscan] hill town of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinci,_Italy Vinci], in the lower valley of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno_River Arno River] in the territory of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence Florence].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-SerA_12-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-SerA-12 [8]]</sup> He was the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegitimacy illegitimate] son of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_law_notary notary], and Caterina, a peasant.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AV_10-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-AV-10 [7]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa83_13-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa83-13 [9]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-14 [nb 6]]</sup> Leonardo had no [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surname surname] in the modern sense, "''da Vinci''" simply meaning "of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinci,_Italy Vinci]": his full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, (son) of (Mes)ser Piero from Vinci".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-SerA_12-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-SerA-12 [8]]</sup>
Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five years in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(place) hamlet] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchiano Anchiano], then lived in the household of his father, grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in the small town of Vinci. His father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but died young.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup> When Leonardo was sixteen his father married again, twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini. It was not until his third and fourth marriages that Ser Piero produced legitimate heirs.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-16 [11]]</sup> In later life, Leonardo only recorded two childhood incidents. One, which he regarded as an omen, was when a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite_(bird) kite] dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-17 [12]]</sup> The second occurred while exploring in the mountains. He discovered a cave and was both terrified that some great monster might lurk there, and driven by curiosity to find out what was inside.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>
Leonardo's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-18 [13]]</sup> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasari Vasari], the 16th-century biographer of Renaissance painters tells of how a local peasant made himself a round shield and requested that Ser Piero have it painted for him. Leonardo responded with a painting of monster spitting fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan]. Meanwhile, having made a profit, Ser Piero bought a shield decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow, which he gave to the peasant.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-19 [14]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrea_del_Verrocchio_002.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrea_del_Verrocchio_002.jpg ]''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baptism_of_Christ_(Verrocchio) The Baptism of Christ]'' (1472–1475)—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi Uffizi], by Verrocchio and Leonardo===Verrocchio's workshop, 1466–1476===
In 1466, at the age of fourteen, Leonardo was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprentice apprenticed] to the artist Andrea di Cione, known as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verrocchio Verrocchio] whose workshop was "one of the finest in Florence".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-20 [15]]</sup> Other famous painters apprenticed or associated with the workshop include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Ghirlandaio Domenico Ghirlandaio], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perugino Perugino], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botticelli Botticelli], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_di_Credi Lorenzo di Credi].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup> Leonardo would have been exposed to both theoretical training and a vast range of technical skills<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-22 [17]]</sup> including drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics and carpentry as well as the artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting and modelling.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AM_23-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-AM-23 [18]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-24 [nb 7]]</sup>
Much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was done by his employees. According to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_Christ Baptism of Christ]'', painting the young angel holding [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus Jesus]'s robe in a manner that was so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio put down his brush and never painted again.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-25 [19]]</sup> This is probably an exaggeration. On close examination, the painting reveals much that has been painted or touched up over the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempera tempera] using the new technique of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_painting oil paint], the landscape, the rocks that can be seen through the brown mountain stream and much of the figure of Jesus bearing witness to the hand of Leonardo.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-26 [20]]</sup>
Leonardo himself may have been the model for two works by Verrocchio, including the bronze statue of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Verrocchio) David]'' in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargello Bargello], and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archangel_Michael Archangel Michael] in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_and_the_Angel_(Verrocchio) Tobias and the Angel]''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa83_13-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa83-13 [9]]</sup>
By 1472, at the age of twenty, Leonardo qualified as a master in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_of_St_Luke Guild of St Luke], the guild of artists and doctors of medicine,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-27 [nb 8]]</sup> but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate with him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup> Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a drawing in pen and ink of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno Arno] valley, drawn on August 5, 1473.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-28 [nb 9]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
===Professional life, 1476–1513===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_Adoration_of_the_Magi.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_Adoration_of_the_Magi.jpg ]''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Leonardo) The Adoration of the Magi]'', (1481)—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi Uffizi].Florentine court records of 1476 show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy sodomy], and acquitted.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa83_13-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa83-13 [9]]</sup> <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-29 [nb 10]]</sup> From that date until 1478 there is no record of his work or even of his whereabouts,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-everything_30-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-everything-30 [21]]</sup> In 1478 he left Verroccio's studio and was no longer resident at his father's house. One writer, the "Anonimo" Gaddiano claims that in 1480 he was living with the Medici and working in the garden of the Piazza San Marco in Florence.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa83_13-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa83-13 [9]]</sup> In January 1478 he received his first independent commission, to paint an altarpiece in 1478 for the Chapel of St Bernard in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Vecchio Palazzo Vecchioand] ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Leonardo) The Adoration of the Magi]'' in March 1481 for the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Wasser1_31-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Wasser1-31 [22]]</sup> Neither important commission was completed, the second being interrupted when Leonardo went to Milan.
In 1482 Leonardo, who according to Vasari was a most talented musician,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-32 [23]]</sup> created a silver [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyre lyre] in the shape of a horse's head. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_de%E2%80%99_Medici Lorenzo de’ Medici] sent Leonardo, bearing the lyre as a gift, to Milan, to secure peace with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_il_Moro Ludovico il Moro], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Milan Duke of Milan].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-33 [24]]</sup> At this time Leonardo wrote an often-quoted letter to Ludovico, describing the many marvellous and diverse things that he could achieve in the field of engineering and informing the Lord that he could also paint.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-34 [25]]</sup>
Leonardo continued work in Milan between 1482 and 1499. He was commissioned to paint the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks Virgin of the Rocks]'' for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper The Last Supper]'' for the monastery of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_delle_Grazie Santa Maria delle Grazie].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Kemp_35-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Kemp-35 [26]]</sup> While living in Milan between 1493 and 1495 Leonardo listed a woman called Caterina among his dependents in his taxation documents. When she died in 1495, the list of funeral expenditure suggests that she was his mother.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-36 [27]]</sup>
He worked on many different projects for Ludovico, including the preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions, designs for a dome for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Cathedral Milan Cathedral] and a model for a huge [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_statue equestrian monument] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Sforza Francesco Sforza], Ludovico's predecessor. Seventy tons of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze bronze] were set aside for casting it. The monument remained unfinished for several years, which was not unusual for Leonardo. In 1492 the clay model of the horse was completed. It surpassed in size the only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, Donatello's statue of Gattemelata in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padua Padua] and Verrocchio's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeo_Colleoni Bartolomeo Colleoni] in Venice, and became known as the "Gran Cavallo".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-37 [nb 11]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Study_of_horse.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Study_of_horse.jpg ]Study of horse from Leonardo's journals – Royal Library, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle Windsor Castle]Leonardo began making detailed plans for its casting,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup> however, Michelangelo rudely implied that Leonardo was unable to cast it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup> In November 1494 Ludovico gave the bronze to be used for cannons to defend the city from invasion by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VIII_of_France Charles VIII].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
At the start of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italian_War Second Italian War] in 1499, the invading French troops used the life-size clay model for the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. With Ludovico Sforza overthrown, Leonardo, with his assistant Salai and friend, the mathematician [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli Luca Pacioli], fled Milan for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice Venice],<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa85_38-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa85-38 [28]]</sup> where he was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>
On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santissima_Annunziata,_Florence Santissima Annunziata] and were provided with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the cartoon of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_and_Child_with_St._Anne_and_St._John_the_Baptist The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist]'', a work that won such admiration that "men and women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if they were attending a great festival".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-39 [29]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-41 [nb 12]]</sup> In 1502 Leonardo entered the service of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Borgia Cesare Borgia], the son of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_VI Pope Alexander VI], acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa85_38-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa85-38 [28]]</sup> He returned to Florence where he rejoined the Guild of St Luke on October 18, 1503, and spent two years designing and painting a great mural of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Anghiari_(painting) The Battle of Anghiari]'' for the Signoria,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa85_38-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa85-38 [28]]</sup> with Michelangelo designing its companion piece, ''The Battle of Cascina''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-44 [nb 13]]</sup> In Florence in 1504, he was part of a committee formed to relocate, against the artist's will, Michelangelo's statue of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo%27s_David David].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-45 [33]]</sup>
In 1506 he returned to Milan. Many of Leonardo's most prominent pupils or followers in painting either knew or worked with him in Milan,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup> including [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardino_Luini Bernardino Luini], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Antonio_Boltraffio Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_D%27Oggione Marco D'Oggione].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-46 [nb 14]]</sup> However, he did not stay in Milan for long because his father had died in 1504, and in 1507 he was back in Florence trying to sort out problems with his brothers over his father's estate. By 1508 he was back in Milan, living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa86_47-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa86-47 [34]]</sup>
===Old age, 1513-1519===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_Da_Vinci%27s_house.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_Da_Vinci%27s_house.jpg ]Clos Lucé in France, where Leonardo died in 1519From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffaello_Santi Raphael] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo Michelangelo] were both active at the time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa86_47-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa86-47 [34]]</sup> In October 1515, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France Francis I of France] recaptured Milan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Wasser1_31-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Wasser1-31 [22]]</sup> On December 19, Leonardo was present at the meeting of Francis I and Pope Leo X, which took place in Bologna.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-48 [35]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-49 [36]]</sup> It was for Francis that Leonardo was commissioned to make a mechanical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion lion] which could walk forward, then open its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vasari.2C_p.265_50-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Vasari.2C_p.265-50 [37]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-52">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-52 [nb 15]]</sup> In 1516, he entered François' service, being given the use of the manor house [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clos_Luc%C3%A9 Clos Lucé]<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-53">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-53 [nb 16]]</sup> near the king's residence at the royal [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chateau_Amboise Chateau Amboise]. It was here that he spent the last three years of his life, accompanied by his friend and apprentice, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Francesco_Melzi Count Francesco Melzi], supported by a pension totalling 10,000 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_scudo scudi].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa86_47-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa86-47 [34]]</sup>
Leonardo died at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clos_Luc%C3%A9 Clos Lucé], on May 2, 1519. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France Francis I] had become a close friend. Vasari records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story, beloved by the French and portrayed in romantic paintings by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Auguste_Dominique_Ingres Ingres], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DeathOfLeonardo.jpg Ménageot] and other French artists, as well as by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica_Kauffmann Angelica Kauffmann], may be legend rather than fact.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-54">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-54 [nb 17]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-55 [39]]</sup> Vasari also tells us that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Sacrament Holy Sacrament].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-56 [40]]</sup> In accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_d%27Amboise castle of Amboise]. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo also remembered his other long-time pupil and companion, Salai and his servant Battista di Vilussis, who each received half of Leonardo's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vineyard vineyards], his brothers who received land, and his serving woman who received a black cloak "of good stuff" with a fur edge.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-57 [41]]</sup>
Some twenty years after Leonardo's death, Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevenuto_Cellini Benevenuto Cellini] as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-58 [42]]</sup>
==Relationships and influences==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gylleneportarna.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gylleneportarna.jpg ]Ghiberti's ''Gates of Paradise'', (1425-1452) were a source of communal pride. Many artists assisted in their creation.===Florence — Leonardo's artistic and social background===
Florence, at the time of Leonardo's youth was the centre of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Humanism Humanist] thought and culture.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-59 [43]]</sup> Leonardo commenced his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship apprenticeship] with Verrocchio in 1466, the year that Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatello Donatello], died. The painter [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uccello Uccello] whose early experiments with perspective were to influence the development of landscape painting, was a very old man. The painters [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francesca Piero della Francesca] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fra_Filippo_Lippi Fra Filippo Lippi], sculptor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_della_Robbia Luca della Robbia], and architect and writer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Battista_Alberti Leon Battista Alberti] were in their sixties. The successful artists of the next generation were Leonardo's teacher Verrocchio, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Pollaiuolo Antonio Pollaiuolo] and the portrait sculptor, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mino_da_Fiesole Mino da Fiesole] whose lifelike busts give the most reliable likenesses of Lorenzo Medici's father Piero and uncle Giovanni.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hartt_60-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Hartt-60 [44]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bruck_62-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Bruck-62 [46]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rach_63-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rach-63 [47]]</sup>
Leonardo's youth was spent in a Florence that was ornamented by the works of these artists and by Donatello's contemporaries, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaccio Masaccio] whose figurative [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresco frescoes] were imbued with realism and emotion and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghiberti Ghiberti] whose ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Baptistry#Baptistry_doors Gates of Paradise]'', gleaming with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_leaf gold leaf], displayed the art of combining complex figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. Piero della Francesca had made a detailed study of perspective,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-64 [48]]</sup> and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leone_Battista_Alberti Alberti's] Treatise<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-65 [49]]</sup> were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hartt_60-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Hartt-60 [44]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bruck_62-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Bruck-62 [46]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rach_63-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rach-63 [47]]</sup>
Massaccio's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expulsion_from_the_Garden_of_Eden depiction] of the naked and distraught [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_and_Eve Adam and Eve] leaving the Garden of Eden created a powerfully expressive image of the human form, cast into three dimensions by the use of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaroscuro light and shade] which was to be developed in the works of Leonardo in a way that was to be influential in the course of painting. The Humanist influence of Donatello's David can be seen in Leonardo's late paintings, particularly ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_the_Baptist_(Leonardo) John the Baptist]''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hartt_60-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Hartt-60 [44]]</sup>,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrea_del_Verrocchio_001.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrea_del_Verrocchio_001.jpg ]Small devotional picture by Verrocchio, c. 1470A prevalent tradition in Florence was the small altarpiece of the Virgin and Child. Many of these were created in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempera tempera] or glazed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta terracotta] by the workshops of Filippo Lippi, Verrocchio and the prolific [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_della_Robbia della Robbia] family.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hartt_60-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Hartt-60 [44]]</sup> Leonardo's early Madonnas such as the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_of_the_Carnation The Madonna with a carnation]'' and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Benois_Madonna The Benois Madonna]'' followed this tradition while showing idiosyncratic departures, particularly in the case of the Benois Madonna in which the Virgin is set at an oblique angle to the picture space with the Christ Child at the opposite angle. This compositional theme was to emerge in Leonardo's later paintings such as ''The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_and_Child_with_St._Anne_(Leonardo_da_Vinci) Virgin and Child with St. Anne]''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-8">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>
Leonardo was a contemporary of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botticelli Botticelli], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Ghirlandaio Domenico Ghirlandaio] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perugino Perugino], who were all slightly older than he was.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup> He would have met them at the workshop of Verrocchio, with whom they had associations, and at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy#Modern_use_of_the_term_academy Academy] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici Medici].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-9">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup> Botticelli was a particular favourite of the Medici family and thus his success as a painter was assured. Ghirlandaio and Perugino were both prolific and ran large workshops. They competently delivered commissions to well-satisfied patrons who appreciated Ghirlandaio's ability to portray the wealthy citizens of Florence within large religious frescoes, and Perugino's ability to deliver a multitude of saints and angels of unfailing sweetness and innocence.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hartt_60-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Hartt-60 [44]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hugo_van_der_Goes_006.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hugo_van_der_Goes_006.jpg ]''The Portinari Altarpiece'', by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_van_der_Goes Hugo van der Goes] for a Florentine familyThese three were among those commissioned to paint the walls of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel Sistine Chapel], the work commencing with Perugino's employment in 1479. Leonardo was not part of this prestigious commission. His first significant commission, The ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Leonardo) Adoration of the Magi]'' for the Monks of Scopeto, was never completed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-10">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>
In 1476, during the time of Leonardo's association with Verrocchio's workshop, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portinari_Altarpiece Portinari Altarpiece] by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_van_der_Goes Hugo van der Goes] arrived in Florence, bringing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Netherlandish_painting new painterly techniques] from Northern Europe which were to profoundly effect Leonardo, Ghirlandaio, Perugino and others.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup> In 1479, the Sicilian painter [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonello_da_Messina Antonello da Messina], who worked exclusively in oils, traveled north on his way to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice Venice], where the leading painter, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Bellini Giovanni Bellini] adopted the technique of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_painting oil painting], quickly making it the preferred method in Venice. Leonardo was also later to visit Venice.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rach_63-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rach-63 [47]]</sup>
Like the two contemporary architects, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramante Bramante] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_da_Sangallo_the_Elder Antonio da Sangallo the Elder], Leonardo experimented with designs for centrally planned churches, a number of which appear in his journals, as both plans and views, although none was ever realised.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-66 [50]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ghirlandaio_a-pucci-lorenzo-de-medici-f-sassetti_1.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ghirlandaio_a-pucci-lorenzo-de-medici-f-sassetti_1.jpg ]Lorenzo de' Medici between Antonio Pucci and Francesco Sassetti, with Giulio de' Medici, fresco by GhirlandaioLeonardo's political contemporaries were [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Medici Lorenzo Medici] (il Magnifico), who was three years older, and his popular younger brother Giuliano who was slain in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazzi_Conspiracy Pazzi Conspiracy] in 1478. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_il_Moro Ludovico il Moro] who ruled [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan] between 1479–1499 and to whom Leonardo was sent as ambassador from the Medici court, was also of Leonardo's age.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup>
With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to know the older Humanist philosophers of whom [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsiglio_Ficino Marsiglio Ficino], proponent of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Platonism Neo Platonism], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristoforo_Landino Cristoforo Landino], writer of commentaries on Classical writings, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Argyropoulos John Argyropoulos], teacher of Greek and translator of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle] were foremost. Also associated with the Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_della_Mirandola Pico della Mirandola].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rach_63-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rach-63 [47]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-67 [51]]</sup> Leonardo later wrote in the margin of a journal "The Medici made me and the Medici destroyed me." While it was through the action of Lorenzo that Leonardo was to receive his important Milanese commissions, it is not known exactly what Leonardo meant by this cryptic comment.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-11">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>
Although usually named together as the three giants of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Renaissance High Renaissance], Leonardo, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo Michelangelo] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael Raphael] were not of the same generation. Leonardo was twenty-three when Michelangelo was born and thirty-one when Raphael was born.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rosci1_61-8">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rosci1-61 [45]]</sup> Raphael only lived until the age of 37 and died in 1520, the year after Leonardo, but Michelangelo went on creating for another 45 years.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bruck_62-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Bruck-62 [46]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rach_63-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Rach-63 [47]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Isabella_d%27este.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Isabella_d%27este.jpg ]Study for a portrait of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_d%27Este Isabella d'Este] (1500) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre Louvre].===Personal life===
Main article: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci%27s_personal_life Leonardo da Vinci's personal life]Within Leonardo's lifetime, his extraordinary powers of invention, his "outstanding physical beauty", "infinite grace", "great strength and generosity", "regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind" as described by Vasari,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-68">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-68 [52]]</sup> as well as all other aspects of his life, attracted the curiosity of others. One such aspect is his respect for life evidenced by his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism vegetarianism] and his habit, described by Vasari, of purchasing caged birds and releasing them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-69">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-69 [53]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-70">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-70 [54]]</sup>
Leonardo had many friends who are now renowned either in their fields or for their historical significance. They included the mathematician [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli Luca Pacioli],<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-71">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-71 [55]]</sup> with whom he collaborated on a book in the 1490s, as well as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchinus_Gaffurius Franchinus Gaffurius] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_d%27Este Isabella d'Este].<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from October 2009">[''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed citation needed]'']</sup> Leonardo appears to have had no close relationships with women except for his friendship with Isabella d'Este. He drew a portrait of her while on a journey which took him through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantua Mantua], and which appears to have been used to create a painted portrait now lost.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-12">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>
Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. His sexuality has been the subject of satire, analysis, and speculation. This trend began in the mid-16th century and was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud Sigmund Freud].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-72">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-72 [56]]</sup>
Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salai and Melzi, Melzi describing Leonardo's feelings for him as both loving and intensely passionate. It has been claimed since the 16th century that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Court records of 1476, when he was aged twenty-four, show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy sodomy], and acquitted.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa83_13-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa83-13 [9]]</sup> Since that date much has been written about his presumed homosexuality and its role in his art, particularly in the androgyny and eroticism manifested in ''John the Baptist'' and ''Bacchus'' and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-73">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-73 [57]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_025.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_025.jpg ]Salai as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_the_Baptist_(Leonardo) John the Baptist]'' (c. 1514)—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre Louvre]===Assistants and pupils===
Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed ''Salai'' or ''Il Salaino'' ("The Little Unclean One" i.e., the devil), entered Leonardo's household in 1490. After only a year, Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton", after he had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions, and spent a fortune on clothes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-74">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-74 [58]]</sup> Nevertheless, Leonardo treated him with great indulgence and he remained in Leonardo's household for the next thirty years.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-75">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-75 [59]]</sup> Salai executed a number of paintings under the name of Andrea Salai, but although Vasari claims that Leonardo "taught him a great deal about painting",<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Vasari.2C_p.265_50-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Vasari.2C_p.265-50 [37]]</sup> his work is generally considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils, such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_d%27Oggione Marco d'Oggione] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltraffio Boltraffio]. In 1515, he painted a nude version of the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa Mona Lisa]'', known as ''Monna Vanna''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-76">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-76 [60]]</sup> Salai owned the ''Mona Lisa'' at the time of his death in 1525, and in his will it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NR_77-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-NR-77 [61]]</sup>
In 1506, Leonardo took on another pupil, Count [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Melzi Francesco Melzi], the son of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombardy Lombard] aristocrat, who is considered to have been his favourite student. He travelled to France with Leonardo, and remained with him until the latter's death.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-13">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup> Upon Leonardo's death, Melzi inherited the artistic and scientific works, manuscripts, and collections of Leonardo, and faithfully administered the estate.
==Painting==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_Annunciation.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_Annunciation.jpg ]''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation_(Leonardo) Annunciation]'' (1475–1480)—Uffizi, is thought to be Leonardo's earliest complete workSee also: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paintings_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci]Despite the recent awareness and admiration of Leonardo as a scientist and inventor, for the better part of four hundred years his enormous fame rested on his achievements as a painter and on a handful of works, either authenticated or attributed to him that have been regarded as among the supreme masterpieces ever created.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-78">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-78 [62]]</sup>
These paintings are famous for a variety of qualities which have been much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics. Among the qualities that make Leonardo's work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology, his interest in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiognomy physiognomy] and the way in which humans register emotion in expression and gesture, his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition and his use of the subtle gradation of tone. All these qualities come together in his most famous painted works, the ''Mona Lisa'', the ''Last Supper'' and the ''Virgin of the Rocks''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-79">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-79 [63]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:L%C3%A9onard_de_Vinci_-_Saint_J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:L%C3%A9onard_de_Vinci_-_Saint_J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me.jpg ]Unfinished painting of ''St. Jerome in the Wilderness'', (c. 1480), [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Palace Vatican]===Early works===
Leonardo's early works begin with the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baptism_of_Christ_(Verrocchio) Baptism of Christ]'' painted in conjunction with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at the workshop, both of which are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation Annunciations]. One is small, 59 centimetres (23 in) long and 14 centimetres (5.5 in) high. It is a "predella" to go at the base of a larger composition, in this case a painting by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_di_Credi Lorenzo di Credi] from which it has become separated. The other is a much larger work, 217 centimetres (85 in) long.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-80">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-80 [64]]</sup> In both these Annunciations, Leonardo has used a formal arrangement, such as in Fra Angelico's two well known pictures of the same subject, of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Mary Virgin Mary] sitting or kneeling to the right of the picture, approached from the left by an angel in profile, with rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a lily. Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now almost universally attributed to Leonardo.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Berti_81-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Berti-81 [65]]</sup>
In the smaller picture Mary averts her eyes and folds her hands in a gesture that symbolised submission to God's will. In the larger picture, however, Mary is not in the least submissive. The beautiful girl, interrupted in her reading by this unexpected messenger, puts a finger in her bible to mark the place and raises her hand in a formal gesture of greeting or surprise.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hartt_60-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Hartt-60 [44]]</sup> This calm young woman appears to accept her role as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_of_God Mother of God] not with resignation but with confidence. In this painting the young Leonardo presents the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism Humanist] face of the Virgin Mary, recognising humanity's role in God's incarnation.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-83">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-83 [nb 18]]</sup>
===Paintings of the 1480s===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_of_the_Rocks.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_of_the_Rocks.jpg ]''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks Virgin of the Rocks]'', [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre Louvre], possibly 1505–1508, demonstrates Leonardo's interest in nature.In the 1480s Leonardo received two very important commissions, and commenced another work which was also of ground-breaking importance in terms of composition. Unfortunately two of the three were never finished and the third took so long that it was subject to lengthy negotiations over completion and payment. One of these paintings is that of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Jerome_in_the_Wilderness St. Jerome in the Wilderness]''. Bortolon associates this picture with a difficult period of Leonardo's life, and the signs of melancholy in his diary: "I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-14">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>
Although the painting is barely begun the composition can be seen and it is very unusual.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-85">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-85 [nb 19]]</sup> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Jerome Jerome], as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitent penitent], occupies the middle of the picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His kneeling form takes on a trapezoid shape, with one arm stretched to the outer edge of the painting and his gaze looking in the opposite direction. J. Wasserman points out the link between this painting and Leonardo's anatomical studies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Wasser2_84-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Wasser2-84 [67]]</sup> Across the foreground sprawls his symbol, a great lion whose body and tail make a double spiral across the base of the picture space. The other remarkable feature is the sketchy landscape of craggy rocks against which the figure is silhouetted.
The daring display of figure composition, the landscape elements and personal drama also appear in the great unfinished masterpiece, the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Leonardo) Adoration of the Magi]'', a commission from the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. It is a very complex composition about 250 square centimetres. Leonardo did numerous drawings and preparatory studies, including a detailed one in linear perspective of the ruined [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_architecture classical architecture] which makes part of the backdrop to the scene. But in 1482 Leonardo went off to Milan at the behest of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Medici Lorenzo de’ Medici] in order to win favour with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_il_Moro Ludovico il Moro] and the painting was abandoned.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa83_13-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa83-13 [9]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Berti_81-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Berti-81 [65]]</sup>
The third important work of this period is the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks Virgin of the Rocks]'' which was commissioned in Milan for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. The painting, to be done with the assistance of the de Predis brothers, was to fill a large complex altarpiece, already constructed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-86 [68]]</sup> Leonardo chose to paint an apocryphal moment of the infancy of Christ when the Infant [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Baptist John the Baptist], in protection of an angel, met the Holy Family on the road to Egypt. In this scene, as painted by Leonardo, John recognizes and worships Jesus as the Christ. The painting demonstrates an eerie beauty as the graceful figures kneel in adoration around the infant Christ in a wild landscape of tumbling rock and whirling water.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-87 [69]]</sup> While the painting is quite large, about 200 × 120 centimetres, it is not nearly as complex as the painting ordered by the monks of St Donato, having only four figures rather than about fifty and a rocky landscape rather than architectural details. The painting was eventually finished; in fact, two versions of the painting were finished, one which remained at the chapel of the Confraternity and the other which Leonardo carried away to France. But the Brothers did not get their painting, or the de Predis their payment, until the next century.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiesa85_38-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Chiesa85-38 [28]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg ]''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo) The Last Supper]'' (1498)—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_delle_Grazie_(Milan) Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan], Italy===Paintings of the 1490s===
Leonardo's most famous painting of the 1490s is ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo) The Last Supper]'', also painted in Milan. The painting represents the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death. It shows specifically the moment when Jesus has said "one of you will betray me". Leonardo tells the story of the consternation that this statement caused to the twelve followers of Jesus.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
The novelist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Bandello Matteo Bandello] observed Leonardo at work and wrote that some days he would paint from dawn till dusk without stopping to eat, and then not paint for three or four days at a time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-88">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-88 [70]]</sup> This, according to Vasari, was beyond the comprehension of the prior, who hounded him until Leonardo asked Ludovico to intervene. Vasari describes how Leonardo, troubled over his ability to adequately depict the faces of Christ and the traitor Judas, told the Duke that he might be obliged to use the prior as his model.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-89">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-89 [71]]</sup>
When finished, the painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterisation,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-90">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-90 [72]]</sup> but it deteriorated rapidly, so that within a hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-91">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-91 [73]]</sup> Leonardo, instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso, resulting in a surface which was subject to mold and to flaking.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-92">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-92 [74]]</sup> Despite this, the painting has remained one of the most reproduced works of art, countless copies being made in every medium from carpets to cameos.
===Paintings of the 1500s===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa.jpeg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa.jpeg ]''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa Mona Lisa]'' or ''La Gioconda'' (1503–1505/1507)—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre Louvre], Paris, FranceAmong the works created by Leonardo in the 1500s is the small portrait known as the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa Mona Lisa]'' or "la Gioconda", the laughing one. In the present era it is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive smile on the woman's face, its mysterious quality brought about perhaps by the fact that the artist has subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes so that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined. The shadowy quality for which the work is renowned came to be called "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sfumato sfumato]" or Leonardo's smoke. Vasari, who is generally thought to have known the painting only by repute, said that "the smile was so pleasing that it seemed divine rather than human; and those who saw it were amazed to find that it was as alive as the original".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-93">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-93 [75]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-95">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-95 [nb 20]]</sup>
Other characteristics found in this work are the unadorned dress, in which the eyes and hands have no competition from other details, the dramatic landscape background in which the world seems to be in a state of flux, the subdued colouring and the extremely smooth nature of the painterly technique, employing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_paint oils], but laid on much like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempera tempera] and blended on the surface so that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-97">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-97 [nb 21]]</sup> Vasari expressed the opinion that the manner of painting would make even "the most confident master ... despair and lose heart."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-98">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-98 [78]]</sup> The perfect state of preservation and the fact that there is no sign of repair or overpainting is extremely rare in a panel painting of this date.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-99">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-99 [79]]</sup>
In the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_and_Child_with_St._Anne Virgin and Child with St. Anne]'' (see below <sup class="reference" id="ref_StAnneVirgin_and_Child_with_St_Anne.2C_return">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#endnote_StAnneVirgin_and_Child_with_St_Anne.2C_return [StAnne]]</sup>) the composition again picks up the theme of figures in a landscape which Wasserman describes as "breathtakingly beautiful"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-100">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-100 [80]]</sup> and harks back to the St Jerome picture with the figure set at an oblique angle. What makes this painting unusual is that there are two obliquely set figures superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, St Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as he plays roughly with a lamb, the sign of his own impending sacrifice.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-9">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup> This painting, which was copied many times, was to influence [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo Michelangelo], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael Raphael], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_del_Sarto Andrea del Sarto],<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-101">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-101 [81]]</sup> and through them [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontormo Pontormo] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correggio Correggio]. The trends in composition were adopted in particular by the Venetian painters [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintoretto Tintoretto] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Veronese Veronese].
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_-_St._Anne_cartoon-alternative-downsampled.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_-_St._Anne_cartoon-alternative-downsampled.jpg ]''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_and_Child_with_St._Anne_and_St._John_the_Baptist The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist]'' (c. 1499–1500)—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery,_London National Gallery, London]===Drawings===
Leonardo was not a prolific painter, but he was a most prolific draftsman, keeping journals full of small sketches and detailed drawings recording all manner of things that took his attention. As well as the journals there exist many studies for paintings, some of which can be identified as preparatory to particular works such as ''The Adoration of the Magi'', ''The Virgin of the Rocks'' and ''The Last Supper''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup> His earliest dated drawing is a ''Landscape of the Arno Valley'', 1473, which shows the river, the mountains, Montelupo Castle and the farmlands beyond it in great detail.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-15">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup>
Among his famous drawings are the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man Vitruvian Man]'', a study of the proportions of the human body, the ''Head of an Angel'', for ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_of_the_Rocks The Virgin of the Rocks]'' in the Louvre, a botanical study of ''Star of Bethlehem'' and a large drawing (160×100 cm) in black chalk on coloured paper of the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_and_Child_with_St._Anne_and_St._John_the_Baptist The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist]'' in the National Gallery, London.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup> This drawing employs the subtle ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sfumato sfumato]'' technique of shading, in the manner of the ''Mona Lisa''. It is thought that Leonardo never made a painting from it, the closest similarity being to ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_and_Child_with_St._Anne The Virgin and Child with St. Anne]'' in the Louvre.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-103">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-103 [83]]</sup>
Other drawings of interest include numerous studies generally referred to as "caricatures" because, although exaggerated, they appear to be based upon observation of live models. Vasari relates that if Leonardo saw a person with an interesting face he would follow them around all day observing them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-104">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-104 [84]]</sup> There are numerous studies of beautiful young men, often associated with Salai, with the rare and much admired facial feature, the so-called "Grecian profile".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-105">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-105 [nb 22]]</sup> These faces are often contrasted with that of a warrior.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup> Salai is often depicted in fancy-dress costume. Leonardo is known to have designed sets for pageants with which these may be associated. Other, often meticulous, drawings show studies of drapery. A marked development in Leonardo's ability to draw drapery occurred in his early works. Another often-reproduced drawing is a macabre sketch that was done by Leonardo in Florence in 1479 showing the body of Bernardo Baroncelli, hanged in connection with the murder of Giuliano, brother of Lorenzo de'Medici, in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazzi_Conspiracy Pazzi Conspiracy].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup> With dispassionate integrity Leonardo has registered in neat [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_writing mirror writing] the colours of the robes that Baroncelli was wearing when he died.
==Leonardo as observer, scientist and inventor==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg ]The ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man Vitruvian Man]'' (c. 1485) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accademia,_Venice Accademia, Venice]Main article: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_inventions_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci]===Journals===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_humanism Renaissance humanism] saw no mutually exclusive polarities between the sciences and the arts, and Leonardo's studies in science and engineering are as impressive and innovative as his artistic work, recorded in notebooks comprising some 13,000 pages of notes and drawings, which fuse art and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy natural philosophy] (the forerunner of modern science). These notes were made and maintained daily throughout Leonardo's life and travels, as he made continual observations of the world around him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-10">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
The journals are mostly written in mirror-image cursive. The reason may have been more a practical expediency than for reasons of secrecy as is often suggested. Since Leonardo wrote with his left hand, it is probable that it was easier for him to write from right to left.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-106">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-106 [nb 23]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Studies_of_Embryos_Luc_Viatour.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Studies_of_Embryos_Luc_Viatour.jpg ]A page from Leonardo's journal showing his study of a foetus in the womb (c. 1510) Royal Library, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle Windsor Castle]His notes and drawings display an enormous range of interests and preoccupations, some as mundane as lists of groceries and people who owed him money and some as intriguing as designs for wings and shoes for walking on water. There are compositions for paintings, studies of details and drapery, studies of faces and emotions, of animals, babies, dissections, plant studies, rock formations, whirl pools, war machines, helicopters and architecture.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-11">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
These notebooks—originally loose papers of different types and sizes, distributed by friends after his death—have found their way into major collections such as the Royal Library at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle Windsor Castle], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Louvre the Louvre], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Nacional_de_Espa%C3%B1a Biblioteca Nacional de España], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum Victoria and Albert Museum], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Ambrosiana Biblioteca Ambrosiana] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan] which holds the twelve-volume [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Atlanticus Codex Atlanticus], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Library British Library] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London London] which has put a selection from its notebook ''BL Arundel MS 263'' online.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-107">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-107 [85]]</sup> The ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Leicester_(Leonardo_da_Vinci) Codex Leicester]'' is the only major scientific work of Leonardo's in private hands. It is owned by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates Bill Gates], and is displayed once a year in different cities around the world.
Leonardo's journals appear to have been intended for publication because many of the sheets have a form and order that would facilitate this. In many cases a single topic, for example, the heart or the human foetus, is covered in detail in both words and pictures, on a single sheet.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-108">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-108 [86]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-109">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-109 [nb 24]]</sup> Why they were not published within Leonardo's lifetime is unknown.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-12">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
===Scientific studies===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_polyhedra.png ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_polyhedra.png ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhombicuboctahedron Rhombicuboctahedron] as published in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli Pacioli's] ''De Divina Proportione''Leonardo's approach to science was an observational one: he tried to understand a phenomenon by describing and depicting it in utmost detail, and did not emphasize experiments or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory theoretical] explanation. Since he lacked formal education in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_language Latin] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics mathematics], contemporary scholars mostly ignored Leonardo the scientist, although he did teach himself Latin. In the 1490s he studied mathematics under [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli Luca Pacioli] and prepared a series of drawings of regular solids in a skeletal form to be engraved as plates for Pacioli's book ''De Divina Proportione'', published in 1509.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-13">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
It appears that from the content of his journals he was planning a series of treatises to be published on a variety of subjects. A coherent treatise on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy anatomy] was said to have been observed during a visit by Cardinal [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Louis_D%27Aragon&action=edit&redlink=1 Louis D'Aragon]'s secretary in 1517.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-110">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-110 [87]]</sup> Aspects of his work on the studies of anatomy, light and the landscape were assembled for publication by his pupil Francesco Melzi and eventually published as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Treatise_on_Painting Treatise on Painting by Leonardo da Vinci]'' in France and Italy in 1651, and Germany in 1724,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-111">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-111 [88]]</sup> with engravings based upon drawings by the Classical painter [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Poussin Nicholas Poussin].<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from January 2010">[''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed citation needed]'']</sup> According to Arasse, the treatise, which in France went into sixty two editions in fifty years, caused Leonardo to be seen as "the precursor of French academic thought on art".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-14">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
A recent and exhaustive analysis of Leonardo as Scientist by Frtijof Capra <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-112">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-112 [89]]</sup> argues that Leonardo was a fundamentally different kind of scientist from Galileo, Newton and other scientists who followed him. Leonardo's experimentation followed clear scientific method approaches, and his theorising and hypothesising integrated the arts and particularly painting; these, and Leonardo's unique integrated, holistic views of science make him a forerunner of modern systems theory and complexity schools of thought.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Studies_of_the_Arm_showing_the_Movements_made_by_the_Biceps.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Studies_of_the_Arm_showing_the_Movements_made_by_the_Biceps.jpg ]Anatomical study of the arm, (c. 1510)===Anatomy===
Leonardo's formal training in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy anatomy] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body human body] began with his apprenticeship to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_del_Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio], his teacher insisting that all his pupils learn anatomy. As an artist, he quickly became master of ''topographic anatomy'', drawing many studies of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle muscles], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendon tendons] and other visible anatomical features.
As a successful artist, he was given permission to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissection dissect] human corpses at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_of_Santa_Maria_Nuova Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence Florence] and later at hospitals in Milan and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome Rome]. From 1510 to 1511 he collaborated in his studies with the doctor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcantonio_della_Torre Marcantonio della Torre] and together they prepared a theoretical work on anatomy for which Leonardo made more than 200 drawings. It was published only in 1680 (161 years after his death) under the heading ''Treatise on painting''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-15">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup>
Leonardo drew many studies of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skeleton human skeleton] and its parts, as well as muscles and sinews, the heart and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circulatory_system vascular system], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_organs sex organs], and other internal organs. He made one of the first scientific drawings of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus fetus] ''in utero''.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup> As an artist, Leonardo closely observed and recorded the effects of age and of human emotion on the physiology, studying in particular the effects of rage. He also drew many figures who had significant facial deformities or signs of illness.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-16">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Popham_102-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-Popham-102 [82]]</sup>
He also studied and drew the anatomy of many other animals as well, dissecting cows, birds, monkeys, bears, and frogs, and comparing in his drawings their anatomical structure with that of humans. He also made a number of studies of horses.
===Engineering and inventions===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Design_for_a_Flying_Machine.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Design_for_a_Flying_Machine.jpg ]A design for a flying machine, (c. 1488) Institut de France, ParisDuring his lifetime Leonardo was valued as an engineer. In a letter to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_il_Moro Ludovico il Moro] he claimed to be able to create all sorts of machines both for the protection of a city and for siege. When he fled to Venice in 1499 he found employment as an engineer and devised a system of moveable barricades to protect the city from attack. He also had a scheme for diverting the flow of the Arno River, a project on which [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli Niccolò Machiavelli] also worked.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-113">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-113 [90]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-114">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-114 [91]]</sup> Leonardo's journals include a vast number of inventions, both practical and impractical. They include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_organista musical instruments], hydraulic pumps, reversible crank mechanisms, finned mortar shells, and a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_cannon steam cannon].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-16">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-17">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
In 1502, Leonardo produced a drawing of a single span 720-foot (240 m) bridge as part of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_engineering civil engineering] project for Ottoman [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan Sultan] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyazid_II Beyazid II] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul Istanbul]. The bridge was intended to span an inlet at the mouth of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosporus Bosporus] known as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horn Golden Horn]. Beyazid did not pursue the project, because he believed that such a construction was impossible. Leonardo's vision was resurrected in 2001 when a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vebj%C3%B8rn_Sand_Da_Vinci_Project smaller bridge] based on his design was constructed in Norway.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-115">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-115 [92]]</sup> On May 17, 2006, the Turkish government decided to construct Leonardo's bridge to span the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horn Golden Horn].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-116">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-116 [93]]</sup>
For much of his life, Leonardo was fascinated by the phenomenon of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight flight], producing many studies of the flight of birds, including his c. 1505 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_on_the_Flight_of_Birds Codex on the Flight of Birds], as well as plans for several flying machines, including a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter helicopter] and a light [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_glider hang glider].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-18">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup> Most were impractical, like his aerial screw helicopter design that could not provide lift. However, the hang glider has been successfully constructed and demonstrated.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-117">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-117 [94]]</sup>
==Leonardo the legend==
Main article: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Francois_I_recoit_les_derniers_soupirs_de_Leonard_de_Vinci_by_Ingres.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Francois_I_recoit_les_derniers_soupirs_de_Leonard_de_Vinci_by_Ingres.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France Francis I of France] receiving the last breath of Leonardo da Vinci, by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingres Ingres], 1818.Within Leonardo's own lifetime his fame was such that the King of France carried him away like a trophy, and was claimed to have supported him in his old age and held him in his arms as he died.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-118">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-118 [95]]</sup> The interest in Leonardo has never slackened. The crowds still queue to see his most famous artworks, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shirt T-shirts] bear his most famous drawing and writers, like Vasari, continue to marvel at his genius and speculate about his private life and, particularly, about what one so intelligent actually believed in.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DA_21-19">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-DA-21 [16]]</sup>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Vasari Giorgio Vasari], in the enlarged edition of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_of_the_Most_Excellent_Painters,_Sculptors,_and_Architects Lives of the Artists]'', 1568,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-119">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-119 [96]]</sup> introduced his chapter on Leonardo da Vinci with the following words:
In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill. Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty, who displayed infinite grace in everything that he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied he solved with ease.—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Vasari Giorgio Vasari]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci01.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci01.jpg ]Statue of Leonardo da Vinci at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi Uffizi], FlorenceThe continued admiration that Leonardo commanded from painters, critics and historians is reflected in many other written tributes. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldassare_Castiglione Baldassare Castiglione], author of ''Il Cortegiano'' ("The Courtier"), wrote in 1528: "... Another of the greatest painters in this world looks down on this art in which he is unequalled ..."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-120">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-120 [97]]</sup> while the biographer known as "Anonimo Gaddiano" wrote, c. 1540: "His genius was so rare and universal that it can be said that nature worked a miracle on his behalf ...".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-121">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-121 [98]]</sup>
The 19th century brought a particular admiration for Leonardo's genius, causing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fuseli Henry Fuseli] to write in 1801: "Such was the dawn of modern art, when Leonardo da Vinci broke forth with a splendour that distanced former excellence: made up of all the elements that constitute the essence of genius ..."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-122">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-122 [99]]</sup> This is echoed by A. E. Rio who wrote in 1861: "He towered above all other artists through the strength and the nobility of his talents."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-123">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-123 [100]]</sup>
By the 19th century, the scope of Leonardo's notebooks was known, as well as his paintings. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippolyte_Taine Hippolyte Taine] wrote in 1866: "There may not be in the world an example of another genius so universal, so incapable of fulfilment, so full of yearning for the infinite, so naturally refined, so far ahead of his own century and the following centuries."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-124">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-124 [101]]</sup>
The famous art historian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Berenson Bernard Berenson] wrote in 1896: "Leonardo is the one artist of whom it may be said with perfect literalness: Nothing that he touched but turned into a thing of eternal beauty. Whether it be the cross section of a skull, the structure of a weed, or a study of muscles, he, with his feeling for line and for light and shade, forever transmuted it into life-communicating values."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-125">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-125 [102]]</sup>
The interest in Leonardo's genius has continued unabated; experts study and translate his writings, analyse his paintings using scientific techniques, argue over attributions and search for works which have been recorded but never found.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-126">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-126 [103]]</sup> Liana Bortolon, writing in 1967, said: "Because of the multiplicity of interests that spurred him to pursue every field of knowledge ... Leonardo can be considered, quite rightly, to have been the universal genius par excellence, and with all the disquieting overtones inherent in that term. Man is as uncomfortable today, faced with a genius, as he was in the 16th century. Five centuries have passed, yet we still view Leonardo with awe."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-LB_15-17">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci#cite_note-LB-15 [10]]</sup>


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[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Characters|Vinci, Leonardo da]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Characters|Vinci, Leonardo da]]
[[Category:Historical Characters]]
[[Category:Historical Characters]]

Revision as of 03:23, 6 March 2010

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service?

This article is in desperate need of a revamp. Please improve it in any way necessary in order for it to achieve a higher standard of quality in accordance with our Manual of Style.


" Ezio! So good to see you! How can I help you?."
―Leonardo's greeting to Ezio[src]

Leonardo di ser Piero, better known as Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, botanist and writer in the Italian Renaissance. He is generally considered the most talented person who ever lived.

Biography

Early Life

Born the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, at Vinci in the region of Florence, Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter Verrocchio. Much of his earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He started painting at the age of 14, and in 1472 enrolled at the Guild of St. Luke, where he received a master degree in Medicine and Botany. After university, his father set up his workshop, where Leonardo would work for most of his life. Many political figures and armies would often call for his help to design various items and buildings. In 1476, he met a young nobleman named Ezio Auditore at Florence, and began a friendship that lasted their whole lives.

Assassin's Creed II

Leonardo's concept art

He and Ezio met for the first time in the beginning of the game during one of Ezio's errands for his mother. Ezio carries a box of his paintings for him back to Ezio's house and the two became friends quite quickly after this. They don't see each other again until after Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio's execution and Ezio becomes notorious throughout Florence. Ezio showed him one of the codex pages to show how to fix the Hidden Blade, which he does, while joking that Ezio must give up his ring finger so that it may function correctly (which was previously required). Leonardo is then questioned by a city guard and beat up by him until Ezio came and saved him using his new hidden blade. After this, Leonardo and Ezio don't see each other much unless you bring him codex pages to decrypt for you and to upgrade your Hidden Blade by making another one and the Poison Blade for you. A few years later, he meets up with Ezio who helps Leonardo get through the mountains safely from the attacking Templars. Leonardo is then taken to Venice and is escorted to his new home and given a tour of the city with Ezio by Alvise Da Vilandino. Leonardo stays at Venice for the remainder of the game and still does very little except for decrypting codex pages for you. He does not have another role for a while until Ezio asks to use his prototype Flying Machine to break into the Doge's palace in an attempt to save him. At first, it only flies for a short time until Leonardo gets an idea of lighting fires across Venice to lift the machine higher into the air. This works until it is shot down just as Ezio got into palace. A few years later, he saw Ezio once more during the carnival season and built him the Hidden Gun and gave him a mask to wear while out in the city. He appears again in his workshop in Forli with Ezio, Mario and Niccolò Machiavelli as they inspected the Apple of Eden that Ezio took from Rodrigo Borgia. The Apple activated when Leonardo touched it, and it flashed symbols and images on the wall much to Leonardo's astonishment. Shortly afterwards, Mario asked if Leonardo would like to come and stay at the Auditore Family Villa in Monteriggioni. This is the last of his important roles throughout the game except for decrypting codex pages for you. Until The Opening Scene of The Battle Of Forli DLC in which he tells you to keep the apple of eden safe before Mario tells you to take it to Forli!

Legacy

He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice and spent his last years in France, at the home awarded him by Francis I. His most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, was taken with him when he retired to France in 1513. He died May 2, 1519. It is unknown how he actually died, as it is presumed he could have died of a blood infection when he was diagnosed with Gout.

Leonardo is renowned primarily as a painter. Two of his works, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time, their fame approached only by Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings survive, the small number due to his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination. Nevertheless, these few works, together with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise a contribution to later generations of artists only rivalled by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo. Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a calculator, the double hull and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime, but some of his smaller inventions, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded. As a scientist, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics.

Hidden Blade upgrades

Gallery

Trivia

thumb|250px|Leonardo Da Vinci - Genius Inventor

  • All of Leonardo's modifications on previously existing assassin gear are designs created by Altaïr. Leonardo just follows the designs detailed in Altaïr's codex, which only he and Giovanni Auditore can decipher and translate. It is probably from these that da Vinci designed some of his other inventions. Perhaps Ezio allowed Leonardo to experiment with the Apple himself, giving birth to some of his other inventions.
  • Like other main characters, Leonardo's appearance does not change throughout the 23 years he is shown in the game, from his first encounter to the decoding of the the Codex in the villa in 1499.
  • Unless it is a Codex page or something important to the story, such as the design for two hidden blades, the cut-scene is the same when Ezio visits Leonardo each time (even after Leonardo moves to Venice).
  • Leonardo's last name isn't actually da Vinci, he was adopted by a prostitute (courtesan), and Vinci being the town he was born in, he took on the name Leonardo da Vinci (meaning Leonardo of Vinci).
  • According to the database, Leonardo was most likely homosexual, and his apprentice, a boy he nicknamed Salai ("little Satan"), was likely his lover.
  • Ironically, in Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, it is speculated that Leonardo da Vinci was the Grand Master of a secret society known as The Priory of Sion, an organization that was alleged to have Templar connections.
  • Also ironically Leonardo would later become a close friend and military engineer for Cesare Borgia, son of Rodrigo Borgia.
  • In AC II's first DLC, the Battle of Forlì, Leonardo was resistant to the Piece of Eden's powers, like the Assassins. When the Piece accidentally activates, Leonardo sees rudimentary designs for tanks, similar to his own.

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