In the late 1400s, Leonardo Da Vinci used his various natural talents to shape the world as we know it today. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the greatest Renaissance men of all time. The great artist was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy, to unmarried parents. His father was a notary, or a person authorized to carry out legal formalities. His mother was a young peasant. Leonardo was his parents' only child, but he had 17 other half-siblings from his parents' new partners. Although Leonardo was raised in an upper class with his father, he would not inherit the family fortune because he was an illegitimate child, which meant he had to build his future on his own. Leonardo's future and status would depend on his talents. Leonardo didn't even know his father's last name, which is why they called him Leonardo Da Vinci which meant Vinci. Leonardo grew up in Vinci, 22 miles from Florence. This period was called the Renaissance as Europeans began to take an interest in art. They wanted their cities, homes and churches, to be filled with beautiful statues and paintings. Leonardo never received an education adequate to that which boys of his status would have received. Leonardo was the self-taught genius. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay At the age of fourteen Leonardo studied with the famous artist Andrea del Verrocchio for a nine-year apprenticeship. In 1466, Leonardo traveled to Florence to become an apprentice in the art studio of Andrea del Verrocchio, who was one of Florence's finest artists and sculptors. Leonardo learned technical skills, engineering techniques, chemistry, but, above all, skills in drawing, painting and sculpture. After 6 years of learning with Andrea del Verrocchio, he worked as a third eye and Leonardo decided it was time to continue excelling in his career. In 1472, at the age of 20, Leonardo was offered membership in the artists' guild of Florence, but he remained with Verrocchio. At that time he was becoming a great artist in San Luca. Where he not only inserted a branch of art but everything in which art takes part. In 1482, Leonardo moved to Milan accepting commissions from wealthy patrons. He was now 30 years old and wrote a letter to the sovereign of Milan listing the reasons why he should have entrusted him with the task and talking about his engineering skills. He ends up working for the Duke of Milan. The Duke was eager to utilize Leo's many talents, especially ideas for designing war machines or methods of war strategy. In that period, Leone painted a painting depicting Mary and Christ for the Virgin of the Rocks, which was later remade. Leonardo was going through a mid-life crisis and decided he needed a break from art and to do something else. In 1495 Leone began working on a painting for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where he also painted The Last Supper. He left Milan for Venice in 1499 when the French army invaded. In 1502, Leo moved to Cessna Italy where the local military leader, Cesare Borgia, hired Leo as his architect and military engineer, to draw up plans to build a canal that would travel from Cessna to the Adriatic Sea. Leonardo returned to Florence in 1503 where he began painting a large mural, in addition to the Mona Lisa. We are in 1513 and Leonardo went to work for the Roman Pope Leo In his final years, in 1516, Leo traveled to Amboise, France, where he became a highly respected artist, so respected that the King of France offered Leo a house inthis city in northern France that was the center of the French court. Working on his notebooks, scientific studies and inventions, the time of Leo's death comes and he dies peacefully in 1519 in the arms of the French king. Leonardo was not called a Renaissance man just for his art, but for his many contributions that truly changed the world. Some say Leo was 100 years ahead of his time. Leonardo's path all started from his love for nature as he paid attention to extreme details. Leo studied the properties of plants, observed the movement of the sky, the path of the moon and the course of the sun. Leonardo was one of the most famous painters of all time because he was so unique and precise. Leonardo made his paintings, he painted his figures without outlining them like most people did, and he made sure that the dark part of the people in the portraits merged almost completely with the mysterious background making it seem three-dimensional. Leonardo really focused on the background of the painting and brought it to life. Leonardo's most famous painting, The Mona Lisa, is still one of the most famous of all time. Leonardo worked on the Mona Lisa in 1503-1506 in Florence, Italy. How did the Mona Lisa become so famous? Leonardo experimented in drawing the painting and decided to do it differently than most paintings. In the Mona Lisa she poses differently than in most portraits, establishing a famous new portrait style that is still standard today. Another interesting fact about the Mona Lisa is that when you focus on her lips, it's like she's frowning, but as you keep looking at her, it seems like she's smiling. Plus, wherever you look, Mona Lisa looks you in the eye. Another famous painting by Leonardo is The Last Supper. Leo painted The Last Supper in 1498 in the dining room of Santa Maria Delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. The Last Supper was Jesus' last meal with all the people dear to him and shows extreme detail, pain, surprise, happiness. When Judas spilled the salt the superstition of spilling salt which brings bad luck began. Another of Leonardo's many famous paintings is the Vitruvian Man. Leonardo drew the Vitruvian man in 1490, the drawing combines art, mathematics and science into one. The man in the Vitruvian Man drawing was thought to be a young version of Leo himself, the image was perfectly proportioned, it was a reflection on human proportions and the architecture also symbolized the connection between the human form and the universe. In the drawing there is a perfectly proportioned man in a circle and a square. Leonardo's study of proportions and his desire to relate man to nature Leonardo gave the people in his paintings a feeling of movement and life, he used dark shadows and light colors to make it seem as if what he was painting was being towards you and away from you. the painting. Leonardo studied optics, how light rays hit the cornea and produced magical illusions in changing visual perspectives. Leo also contributed to science by laying the foundation of what we believe today. He studied the properties of air, how light reflects off objects and much more. He was also an engineer, one of his main contributions, flight. He wanted to find a way to make humans fly by observing birds and their flight and how they used air currents and wind. He invented the first parachute: it was about seven meters long and if someone used it and fell from a great height they would not be injured at all. Another flying invention designed by Leo was the ornithopter which had manually operated wings, when the wings flapped it flew just like a bird. Leo also invented items to aid the military such as chariots.