User:FreakX713/History project

Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian artist, inventor, and leader of the Renaissance. He was the artist behind some of the most well renowned pieces of art, such as the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and the Vitruvian Man. He is perhaps the most well known Renaissance artist, next to Michelangelo. He made leaps into the world of anatomy and inventing. He came up with plans for a tank, a flying machine, and a basic calculator to name a few of his futuristic inventions.

Early Life
He was born out of wedlock to a lawyer and a peasant girl, on April 15,1452, in Vinci, Italy, just outside Florence. He then was enrolled into artist master Andrea del Verrocchio workshop after Da Vinci's father brought him some of the young boys artwork. Leonardo worked his way up through the ranks at the workshop until he painted alongside his master. It is said that when Leonardo finally got paint, that Verrocchio never painted again because he was ashamed that a boy knew how to paint better than he could. Around 1478 to 1482, Da Vinci owned his own studio in Florence. He then left it to work in Milan.

Work In Milan
There he became court artist to the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforza. He had many jobs in the Duke's court. He was a military engineer and designed artillery and fortresses. Also he was the civil engineer so he designed things from revolting stages for pageants to the canals that the city water flowed from. As his role as court artist, he sculpted a giant horse as a monument to the Duke's father. Da Vinci also panted Madonna of the Rocks and The Last Supper during his stay with the Duke of Milan.

Last Years
At the start of the Second Italian War in 1499, the invading French overthrew the Duke of Milan and sent him prisoner to France. With his patron imprisoned, he went from place to place under new patrons. From September 1513 to 1516, under Pope Leo X, Leonardo worked in the Belvedere in the Vatican, where Raphael and Michelangelo were both working at during this time. He spent the last years of his life in France, where the king, Francis I of France admired him and visited frequently. He died in his house in Amboise on May 15, 1519.