Leonardo Da Vinci, Artist History

 
Known to most of us as a famous painter Leonardo Da Vinci is by far the most interesting and probably the most talented and intelligent person that the world has seen. The name Leonardo brings back memories of masterpieces like The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper among many others. But the world also knows this great man as an inventor, an anatomist, an engineer and what not.

Delve a little into the copious amount that has been written about this legend of a man and you will find yourself wondering what you could characterize him as?A painter gifted far beyond anyone or an inventor whose designs and ideas were way ahead of his time or further still an anatomist whose study of the human body is unfathomable, proof being his depiction of the human body, The Vitruvian Man.

Wondering as to what that brilliant mind must have been like when he was just a child and what made him the man that he went on to become, I found myself reading about his birth place. Born in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, he was the illegitimate son of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary and Caterina who is suspected to have been a peasant. His years of growing up were filled with drawing random sketches that his mind fancied and making up curious inventions. During his teen years however he joined the workshop of Verocchio with whom his connection was appreciable even after his father set him up his own workshop.

Not many of Leonardo's paintings remain today, thanks to his notorious lifestyle and ridiculously dangerous experiments. But of those that remain The Mona Lisa and The last Supper have been the most famous and appreciated all over the world. His expertise in paintings was rivaled only by his contemporary Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci was not just famous for his intelligence or his brilliance in the world of art.

He was also notoriously famous for his personal life. It was thought he was a homosexual, he had very little correspondence with any woman all through his life, the only exception being Isabelle d'Este. Leonardo had an immensely strong, intense and passionate relationship with his students though. Secrets in this great man's life were many and although a great amount has been speculated about his life, the truth still remains at large. Appreciation for his work, his paintings is what is due here, something that he was best at.

There was little that Leonardo left unexplored. From masterpieces in the world of art to his rich journals, from his studies of the various sciences to his observations of the human anatomy, not to forget his path breaking inventions and experiments, this legend of a man has left the world a much richer place.