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The Life of the Man
of the Renaissance,
Leonardo da Vinci.

1452 Leonardo was born the son of Ser Piero.
1467 Apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio. There he learned painting and sculpture, but also mechanical arts.
1472 He was accepted to the painter's guild of Florence.
1477 He left Verrocchio to work on his own.
1482 da Vinci entered the service of the Duke of Milan. He is only 30 years old. During this time he worked on the unfinished "Adoration of the Magi."
1482- 1490 Leonardo holds the position of "pictor et ingeniarius ducalis" (painter and engineer of the duke) This era is the flowering period for da Vinci. During this time he only completes six works total:
  • "Lady with an Ermine" a portrait of Cecilia Gallerani with a musician. (two versions)
  • "The Virgin of the Rocks" (two versions)
  • The "Last Supper"
  • Ceiling of the Sala delle Asse in the Milan Castello Sforzesco
He also spend a total of twelve years on a statue of Francesco Sforza on a horse. The model was made, but the bronze to cast the statue instead went to make cannons for an impeding war.
1490- 1495 Leonardo began an interest in scientific matters. Now, and for the rest of his life, he worked on developing four main themes.
  • A treatise on painting
  • A treatise on architechture
  • A book on the elements of mechanics
  • A work on human anatomy
He wote on these and other matters in his famous notebooks, thousands and thousands of pages of drawings and writings.
1499 Leonardo left Milan with Lucan Pacioli. He traveled first to Mantua.
1500 He drew a portrait of Marchioness Isabella d'Este. After the drawing he left Mantua for Venice.
1501 He returns to Florence and paints "Madonna with the Yarn-Winder." The original painting is lost, but records and sketches of the painting in the notebooks endures.
1502 Leonardo leaves Florence and enters in the service of Cesare Borgia. He spends his time travelling the lands of the Cesare and mapping and drawing the landscape.
1503
Leonardo returns again to Florence for a project diverting a river.
  • Also this year he recieved a commission to paint a mural for the Hall of Five Hundred in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio.
  • He also paints the "Mona Lisa" and "Leda."
  • He spent time preforming dissections in the hospital of Sta. Maria Nuova, writing all of his findings down in the notebooks.
  • He spend a significant time studying birds for a treatise on flight, and studying water which flowered into a work on fluid dynamics.
1506-1512 Leonardo is asked by Charles d'Amboise to return to Milan for a time. During this time he concentrates on architechture, designing a palace for Charles d'Amboise, and an oratory for the church of Sta. Maria alla Fontana. He painted little during this time, working on:
  • Two Madonnas promised to the King of France
  • "Virgin and Child with St. Anne"
  • "Leda"
  • "The Virgin of the Rocks" (second version)
He also worked on a tomb for Ludovico Sforza, but it was never completed.
1510-1511 The anatomical manuscript is the focus of da Vinci's time. It is completed by the Winter of 1511.
1513 Political curcumstances force Leonardo (now 60 years old) to move from Milan to Rome. He did some sketches, but no real work for the next few years.
1516 The King Frances I asks da Vinci to leave Rome and enter in his service. He was never really asked to perform any tasks or work on any projects for the King. Leonardo spent his last few years completing his personal projects.
May 2, 1519
Leonardo da Vinci died at a palace in Croux, France. He was buried in the church of St. Florence, but the church was ruined by war, and his grave has been lost.