Leonardo da Vinci Biography

Full Name: Mr. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
Date of Birth: April 15, 1452
Place of Birth: Anchiano, Tuscany, Italy
Died: May 2, 1519
Place of Death:Clos luce, France

Known to have carried the Mona Lisa painting with him everywhere he went until it was finished, Leonardo da Vinci was to become one of the world’s most renowned painters, sculptors, inventors, philosophers, architects and brilliant thinkers of his time. While his sketches and notebooks reveal a great about his own life, a self-portrait entitled Portrait in Red Chalk and a biography written by Giorgio Vasari are all that remain of this man who was most definitely ahead of his time.
Born near Vinci, Leonardo grew up in Florence where he began sketching, drawing, and eventually painting. At age fourteen, Leonardo began an apprenticeship with Andrea del Verrocchio. However, his work was so admired that he was soon employed by the Duke of Milan from circa 1480 to 1500. Under the duke, Leonardo was to construct a huge bronze horse statue called Gran Cavallo. But, as the French soon attacked the city, the bronze had to be used for weaponry. However, his drawings and sketches of how the horse would look and be built still exist.