Leonardo da Vinci

A famous painter, sculptor, architect, musician, inventor, anatomist, geologist, and engineer, Leonardo da Vinci is considered one of the greatest geniuses in the history of mankind and is recognized worldwide for his works of art. Read the story of the famous Italian genius, the creator of the famous work Mona Lisa.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, by his real name, was born on April 15, 1452 (in the old-style calendar, because in the new style another 9 days are added, and the artist was born on April 23) in the small town Vinci of Tuscany, on the lower valley of the river Arno.

The life and childhood of the famous painter Leonardo da Vinci

He was the illegitimate son of Messer Piero Frusino di Antonio da Vinci and Caterina, but the Italian researcher Francesco Cianchi, after studying the parish registers of Vinci and its surroundings for several years, stated that no woman lived there at that time with this name and, in reality, Leonardo da Vinci's mother would have been an Arab slave who belonged to the rich Vanni di Niccolo di Ser Vann, one of Piero's clients, a slave who was Christianized and baptized Caterina.

His mother, immediately after being released, married a local man, and his father, a year after his birth, married 16-year-old Albiera, who died at 28 without having children. His father remarried 3 times and had 6 children from each of the last two marriages.

After the death of his father, numerous quarrels arose between the artist and his 7 brothers, legitimate heirs of Messer Piero, over the division of the inheritance. At that time, Leonardo did not have a surname "da Vinci", but simply "from Vinci".

Not much is known about his childhood, but it is known that he spent the first five years with his mother in the hamlet of Anchiano, and then lived in his father's house with him and his paternal grandparents and uncle Francesco.

In his works, Leonardo mentions two childhood events: the first when he was in the cradle and a paper kite came down to him and touched his lips with its tail, and the second, when he was exploring the surroundings of his mother's house alone and discovered a cave in who was afraid to enter because of a monster, but at last, driven by curiosity, stepped inside.

AT THE AGE OF 14, HE BECAME AN APPRENTICE OF THE ARTIST ANDREA DI CIONE

In 1466, at just 14 years old, Leonardo became the apprentice of the artist Andrea di Cione, also known as Verrocchio, the artist who had a renowned workshop throughout Florence. Also here, in Verrocchio's workshop there were other students who later became famous such as: Perugino, Botticelli; Lorenzo di Credi, Domenico Ghirandaio.

In the workshop, da Vinci worked intensively for many years in a row, studied, mastered the techniques of drawing, artistic modeling, oil and tempera painting and acquired the basic knowledge necessary for an artist.

According to Giorgio Vasari, da Vinci collaborated with Verrocchio on the painting The Baptism of Christ, where he painted an angel lifting Jesus' wheelbarrow. The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Also in the same period, the artist is said to have been the model for two works by Verrocchio, the bronze statue of David from the Bargello and the Archangel Raphael in the Tobias painting.

After six years of work and study, in 1472 Leonardo da Vinci qualified as a master and was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke, the guild of artists and doctors. Despite the fact that his father gave him the opportunity to create his own workshop, he continued to collaborate with his former teacher because he had become attached to him.