Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci [ b ] 15 April — 2 May was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. Leonardo is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal, [ 4 ] and his collective works comprise a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary Michelangelo.
Born out of wedlock to a successful notary and a lower-class woman in, or near, Vinci , he was educated in Florence by the Italian painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio. He began his career in the city, but then spent much time in the service of Ludovico Sforza in Milan. Later, he worked in Florence and Milan again, as well as briefly in Rome , all while attracting a large following of imitators and students.
Upon the invitation of Francis I , he spent his last three years in France, where he died in Since his death, there has not been a time where his achievements, diverse interests, personal life , and empirical thinking have failed to incite interest and admiration, [ 3 ] [ 4 ] making him a frequent namesake and subject in culture.
Leonardo is identified as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art and is often credited as the founder of the High Renaissance.
The Last Supper is the most reproduced religious painting of all time and his Vitruvian Man drawing is also regarded as a cultural icon. Revered for his technological ingenuity , he conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle , concentrated solar power, a ratio machine that could be used in an adding machine , [ 6 ] [ 7 ] and the double hull.
