Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance, renowned as a painter, inventor, scientist, engineer, and architect born on April 15, 1452, near Vinci, Italy, and died in 1519 in France. He is widely regarded as a genius who epitomized the Renaissance ideal due to his remarkable talents across diverse fields such as anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, and palaeontology, in addition to his masterful art, including famous works like the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
Born out of wedlock to a notary and a peasant woman, Leonardo was educated in Florence under the painter Andrea del Verrocchio. He worked extensively for various patrons, notably Ludovico Sforza in Milan, and later spent time in Florence, Rome, and finally France under King Francis I. His notebooks reveal his deep curiosity and insights in scientific and engineering fields, with inventions and studies far ahead of his time. Leonardo’s art, scientific inquiry, and inventions mark him as one of the most diversely talented people ever to live, embodying the Renaissance "universal genius".
