Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born in 15 April 1452 at Italy . Da Vinci was a sculptor, an architect, a poet, a composer, a scientist, a mathematician and an inventor. He drew the famous painting of the Mona lisa.
Very little is known about Leonardo’s childhood and much is shrouded in myth, partially because of his biography in the frequently apocryphal Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550) by the 16th-century art historian Giorgio Vasari.[23][24] Tax records indicate that by at least 1457 he lived in the household of his paternal grandfather, Antonio da Vinci,[11] but it is possible that he spent the years before then in the care of his mother in Vinci, either Anchiano or Campo Zeppi in the parish of San Pantaleone. He is thought to have been close to his uncle, Francesco da Vinci. but his father was probably in Florence most of the time.Ser Piero, who was the descendant of a long line of notaries, established an official residence in Florence by at least 1469 and had a successful career. Despite his family history, Leonardo only received a basic and informal education in (vernacular) writing, reading and mathematics, possibly because his artistic talents were recognised early, so his family decided to focus their attention there.
Later in life, Leonardo recorded his earliest memory, now in the Codex Atlanticus.While writing on the flight of birds, he recalled as an infant when a kite came to his cradle and opened his mouth with its tail; commentators still debate whether the anecdote was an actual memory or a fantasy.
Leonardo’s approach to science was observational: he tried to understand a phenomenon by describing and depicting it in utmost detail and did not emphasise experiments or theoretical explanation. Since he lacked formal education in Latin and mathematics, contemporary scholars mostly ignored Leonardo the scientist, although he did teach himself Latin. His keen observations in many areas were noted, such as when he wrote “Il sole non si move.” (“The Sun does not move.”)
He inveted a flying maching. During his lifetime, Leonardo was also valued as an engineer. With the same rational and analytical approach that moved him to represent the human body and to investigate anatomy, Leonardo studied and designed many machines and devices. He drew their “anatomy” with unparalleled mastery, producing the first form of the modern technical drawing, including a perfected “exploded view” technique, to represent internal components. Those studies and projects collected in his codices fill more than 5,000 pages.
Da Vinci died in 2 May 1519.
a biography
