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{{Short description|Italian Renaissance polymath (1452–1519)}}
{{Redirect|Da Vinci|other uses|Da Vinci (disambiguation)|and|Leonardo da Vinci (disambiguation)}}
{{Renaissance Florentine name|da Vinci|Leonardo}}
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{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Leonardo da Vinci
| image              = Francesco Melzi - Portrait of Leonardo.png<!-- Please consult previous discussions on the talk page before changing this image. It is his only certain contemporary likeness. -->
| caption            = This portrait attributed to [[Francesco Melzi]], {{circa|1515–1518}}, is the only certain contemporary depiction of Leonardo.<ref>{{cite web |title=A portrait of Leonardo c. 1515–18 |publisher=[[Royal Collection Trust]] |url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/912726/a-portrait-of-leonardo |access-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123161405/https://www.rct.uk/collection/912726/a-portrait-of-leonardo |archive-date=23 November 2020}}</ref>{{sfn|Zöllner|2019|p=20}}
| birth_name         = Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
| birth_date         = {{birth date|df=yes|1452|04|15}}
| birth_place        = possibly [[Anchiano]],{{efn|name=Birthplace}} [[Vinci, Tuscany|Vinci]], {{awrap|[[Republic of Florence]]}}
| education          = Studio of [[Andrea del Verrocchio]]
| years_active       = {{circa|1470–1519}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|df=yes|1519|5|2|1452|4|15}}
| death_place        = [[Clos Lucé]], [[Amboise]], {{awrap|[[Kingdom of France]]}}
| resting_place      = [[Château d'Amboise]]
| nationality        =
| family             = [[Da Vinci family|Da Vinci]]
| known_for          = {{hlist|Painting|drawing|engineering|anatomical studies|hydrology|botany|optics|geology}}
| notable_works      = {{plainlist|
* ''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]'' ({{circa|1483–1493}})
* ''[[Lady with an Ermine]]'' ({{circa|1489–1491|lk=no}})
* ''[[Vitruvian Man|The Vitruvian Man]]'' ({{circa|1490|lk=no}})
* ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'' ({{circa|1495–1498|lk=no}})
* ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' ({{circa|1503–1516|lk=no}})}}
| movement           = [[High Renaissance]]
| signature          = Firma de Leonardo Da Vinci.svg
| signature_alt      = Signature written in ink in a flowing script
| signature_size     = 200px
}}

'''Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci'''{{efn|name=IPA}} (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian [[polymath]] of the [[High Renaissance]] who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect.{{sfn|Kemp|2003}} While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he has also become known for [[#Journals and notes|his notebooks]], in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and [[palaeontology]]. Leonardo is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomised the [[Renaissance humanism|Renaissance humanist]] ideal,{{sfn|Heydenreich|2020}} and his [[List of works by Leonardo da Vinci|collective works]] comprise a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary [[Michelangelo]].{{sfn|Kemp|2003}}{{sfn|Heydenreich|2020}}

Born out of wedlock to a successful notary and a lower-class woman in, or near, [[Vinci, Tuscany|Vinci]], he was educated in [[Florence]] by the Italian painter and sculptor [[Andrea del Verrocchio]]. He began his career in the city, but then spent much time in the service of [[Ludovico Sforza]] in Milan. Later, he worked in Florence and Milan again, as well as briefly in [[Rome]], all while attracting [[Leonardeschi|a large following]] of imitators and students. Upon the invitation of [[Francis I of France|Francis I]], he spent his last three years in France, where he died in 1519. Since his death, there has not been a time when his achievements, diverse interests, [[Personal life of Leonardo da Vinci|personal life]], and empirical thinking have failed to incite interest and admiration,{{sfn|Kemp|2003}}{{sfn|Heydenreich|2020}} making him a frequent [[List of things named after Leonardo da Vinci|namesake]] and [[Cultural references to Leonardo da Vinci|subject in culture]].

Leonardo is identified as one of the greatest painters in the history of [[Art of Europe|Western art]] and is often credited as the founder of the High Renaissance.{{sfn|Kemp|2003}} Despite having many [[Lost artworks|lost works]] and [[List of works by Leonardo da Vinci#Major extant works|fewer than 25 attributed major works]] – including numerous [[Unfinished creative work|unfinished works]] – he created some of the most influential paintings in the [[Western canon#Visual arts|Western canon]].{{sfn|Kemp|2003}} The ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' is his best known work and is regarded as the world's most famous individual painting.<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Lichfield |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-moving-of-the-mona-lisa-530771.html |title=The Moving of the Mona Lisa |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |date=1 April 2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109110245/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-moving-of-the-mona-lisa-530771.html |archive-date=9 November 2016 }}</ref> ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'' is the most reproduced religious painting of all time and his ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' drawing is also regarded as a cultural icon. In 2017, ''[[Salvator Mundi (Leonardo)|Salvator Mundi]]'', attributed in whole or part to Leonardo,{{sfn|Zöllner|2019|p=250}} was sold at auction for {{US$|450.3&nbsp;million}}, setting a new record for the [[List of most expensive paintings|most expensive painting ever sold]] at public auction.

Revered for his [[Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci|technological ingenuity]], he conceptualised flying machines, a type of [[Leonardo's fighting vehicle|armoured fighting vehicle]], concentrated solar power, a ratio machine that could be used in an [[adding machine]],<ref name="AddingMachine">{{cite web |url=http://192.220.96.166/leonardo/leonardo.html |title=Roberto Guatelli's Controversial Replica of Leonardo da Vinci's Adding Machine |last=Kaplan |first=Erez |year=1996|access-date=19 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529140741/http://192.220.96.166/leonardo/leonardo.html|archive-date=29 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=E. |date=Apr 1997 |title=Anecdotes |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=62–69 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.1997.586074 |issn=1058-6180 }}</ref> and the [[double hull]]. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime, as the modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the [[Renaissance]]. Some of his smaller inventions, however, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire. He made substantial discoveries in [[anatomy]], civil engineering, [[fluid dynamics|hydrodynamics]], geology, [[optics]], and [[tribology]], but he did not publish his findings and they had little to no direct influence on subsequent science.{{sfn|Capra|2007|pp=5–6}}
{{TOC limit|3}}

== Biography ==
=== Early life (1452–1472) ===
==== Birth and background ====
[[File:Baptism record of Leonardo Da Vinci.jpg|thumb|220x124px|right|Leonardo da Vinci's baptism record]]
Leonardo da Vinci, properly named Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci{{efn|{{IPAc-en|,|l|i:|@|'|n|a:r|d|ou|_|d|@|_|'|v|I|n|tS|i|,_|,|l|i:|ou|'|-|,_|,|l|ei|ou|'|-}} {{respell|LEE|ə|NAR|doh|_|də|_|VIN|chee|,_|LEE|oh|-,_|LAY|oh|-}}; {{IPA|it|leoˈnardo di ˌsɛr ˈpjɛːro da (v)ˈvintʃi|lang|it-Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci.ogg}}.|name=IPA}} ("Leonardo, son of ser Piero from Vinci"),{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=7}}{{sfn|Kemp|2006|p=1}}{{efn|name=ser|The inclusion of the title {{lang|it|ser}} (shortening of Italian {{lang|it|messer}} or {{lang|it|messere}}, title of courtesy prefixed to the first name) indicates that Leonardo's father was a gentleman (a low-ranking nobleman).}} was born on 15 April 1452 in, or close to, the [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] hill town of [[Vinci, Tuscany|Vinci]], Italy 20 miles from [[Florence]].{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}}{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/17 17]}}{{efn|group=SerA|The diary of his paternal grandfather Ser Antonio relays a precise account: "There was born to me a grandson, son of {{ill|Piero da Vinci|fr|lt=Ser Piero}}, on 15 April, a Saturday, at the third hour of the night."{{sfn|Vezzosi|1997|p=13}}{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}} Ser Antonio records Leonardo being baptised the following day by Piero di Bartolomeo at the [[parish]] of {{ill|Chiesa di Santa Croce (Vinci)|it|lt=Santa Croce}}.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/20 20]}}}} He was born [[Legitimacy (family law)|out of wedlock]] to Piero da Vinci (Ser Piero da Vinci d'Antonio di ser Piero di ser Guido; 1426–1504),{{sfn|Bambach|2019|pp=16, 24}} a Florentine [[Civil law notary|legal notary]],{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} and Caterina di Meo Lippi ({{circa|1434–1494}}), from the lower class.{{sfn|Marani|2003|p=13}}{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=16}}{{efn|It has been suggested that Caterina may have been a slave from the Middle East "or at least, from the Mediterranean" or even of Chinese descent. According to art critic [[Alessandro Vezzosi]], head of the [[Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci|Leonardo Museum in Vinci]], there is evidence that Piero owned a slave called Caterina.<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Hooper |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/apr/12/art.italy |title=Da Vinci's mother was a slave, Italian study claims |date=12 April 2008 |access-date=16 August 2015 |archive-date=23 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223072445/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/apr/12/art.italy |url-status=live}}</ref> The reconstruction of one of Leonardo's fingerprints shows a pattern that matches 60% of people of Middle Eastern origin, suggesting the possibility that Leonardo may have had Middle Eastern blood. The claim is refuted by Simon Cole, associate professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California at Irvine: "You can't predict one person's race from these kinds of incidences, especially if looking at only one finger". More recently, historian [[Martin Kemp (art historian)|Martin Kemp]], after digging through overlooked archives and records in Italy, found evidence that Leonardo's mother was a young local woman identified as Caterina di Meo Lippi.<ref>{{cite news |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |date=21 May 2017 |title=Tuscan archives yield up secrets of Leonardo's mystery mother |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/may/20/leonardo-da-vinci-orphan-mother-caterina |work=The Guardian |access-date=5 June 2019 |archive-date=10 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510151906/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/may/20/leonardo-da-vinci-orphan-mother-caterina |url-status=live}}</ref>}} It remains uncertain where Leonardo was born; the traditional account, from a local oral tradition recorded by the historian [[Emanuele Repetti]],{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=24}} is that he was born in [[Anchiano]], a country hamlet that would have offered sufficient privacy for the illegitimate birth, though it is still possible he was born in a house in Florence that Ser Piero almost certainly had.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/18 18]}}{{efn|name=Birthplace|See {{harvtxt|Nicholl|2005|pp=17–20}} and {{harvtxt|Bambach|2019|p=24}} for further information on the dispute and uncertainty surrounding Leonardo's exact birthplace.}} Leonardo's parents both married separately the year after his birth. Caterina – who later appears in Leonardo's notes as only "Caterina" or "Catelina" – is usually identified as the Caterina Buti del Vacca, who married the local artisan Antonio di Piero Buti del Vacca, nicknamed {{langx|it|L'Accattabriga|translation=the quarrelsome one|label=none}}.{{sfn|Marani|2003|p=13}}{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=24}} Having been betrothed to her the previous year, Ser Piero married Albiera Amadori and after her death in 1464, went on to have three subsequent marriages.{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=24}}{{sfn|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|p=65}}{{efn|See {{harvtxt|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|pp=65–66}} for detailed table on Ser Piero's marriages.}} From all the marriages, Leonardo eventually had 16 half-siblings (of whom 11 survived infancy){{sfn|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|pp=65–66}} who were much younger than he (the last was born when Leonardo was 46 years old){{sfn|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|pp=65–66}} and with whom he had very little contact.{{efn|He also never wrote about his father, except a passing note of his death in which he overstates his age by three years.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=11}} Leonardo's siblings caused him difficulty after his father's death in a dispute over their inheritance.{{sfn|Magnano|2007|p=138}}}}

[[File:Geburtshaus von Leonardo da Vinci in Vinci (Toskana).jpg|thumb|left|The possible birthplace and childhood home of Leonardo in [[Anchiano]], [[Vinci, Tuscany|Vinci]], Italy|alt=Photo of a building of rough stone with small windows, surrounded by olive trees]]
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 16th-century art historian [[Giorgio Vasari]].{{sfn|Brown|1998|pp=1, 5}}{{sfn|Marani|2003|p=12}} Tax records indicate that by at least 1457 he lived in the household of his paternal grandfather, Antonio da Vinci,{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} 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.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=175}}{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/28 28]}} He is thought to have been close to his uncle, Francesco da Vinci,{{sfn|Kemp|2003}} but his father was probably in Florence most of the time.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} 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.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} 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.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}}

Later in life, Leonardo recorded his earliest memory, now in the [[Codex Atlanticus]].{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/30 30], [https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/506 506]}} While writing on the flight of birds, he recalled as an infant when a [[Kite (bird)|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.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/30 30]|ps=. See p. [https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/506 506] for the original Italian.}}

==== Verrocchio's workshop ====
[[File:Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci - Baptism of Christ - Uffizi.jpg|thumb|''[[The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio)|The Baptism of Christ]]'' (1472–1475) by [[Verrocchio]] and Leonardo, [[Uffizi]] Gallery|alt=Painting showing Jesus, naked except for a loin-cloth, standing in a shallow stream in a rocky landscape, while to the right, John the Baptist, identifiable by the cross that he carries, tips water over Jesus' head. Two angels kneel at the left. Above Jesus are the hands of God, and a dove descending|230x230px]]

In the mid-1460s, Leonardo's family moved to Florence, which at the time was the centre of Christian [[Renaissance humanism|Humanist]] thought and culture.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=13}} Around the age of 14,{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=11}} he became a ''garzone'' (studio boy) in the workshop of [[Andrea del Verrocchio]], who was the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his time.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=13}} This was about the time of the death of Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor [[Donatello]].{{efn|The humanist influence of Donatello's ''[[David (Donatello, bronze)|David]]'' can be seen in Leonardo's late paintings, particularly ''[[St. John the Baptist (Leonardo)|John the Baptist]]''.{{sfn|Hartt|1970|pp=127–133}}{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=13}}}} Leonardo became an apprentice by the age of 17 and remained in training for seven years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bacci |first=Mina |translator-last=Tanguy |translator-first=J. |title=The Great Artists: Da Vinci |year=1978 |orig-date=1963 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |location=New York}}<!--intro--></ref> Other famous painters apprenticed in the workshop or associated with it include [[Domenico Ghirlandaio|Ghirlandaio]], [[Perugino]], [[Botticelli]], and [[Lorenzo di Credi]].{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} Leonardo was exposed to both theoretical training and a wide range of technical skills,{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=27}} including drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics, and woodwork, as well as the artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting, and modelling.{{sfn|Martindale|1972}}{{efn|The "diverse arts" and technical skills of Medieval and Renaissance workshops are described in detail in the 12th-century text ''On Divers Arts'' by [[Theophilus Presbyter]] and in the early 15th-century text ''Il Libro dell'Arte'' by [[Cennino Cennini]].}}

Leonardo was a contemporary of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino, who were all slightly older than he was.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|pp=9–20}} He would have met them at the workshop of Verrocchio or at the [[Platonic Academy (Florence)|Platonic Academy]] of the [[Medici]].{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} Florence was ornamented by the works of artists such as Donatello's contemporaries [[Masaccio]], whose figurative [[fresco]]es were imbued with realism and emotion, and [[Lorenzo Ghiberti|Ghiberti]], whose ''[[Florence Baptistery#Lorenzo Ghiberti|Gates of Paradise]]'', gleaming with [[gold leaf]], displayed the art of combining complex figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. [[Piero della Francesca]] had made a detailed study of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]],<ref>Piero della Francesca, ''On Perspective for Painting (De Prospectiva Pingendi)''</ref> and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and [[Leon Battista Alberti]]'s treatise ''[[De pictura]]'' were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks.{{sfn|Hartt|1970|pp=127–133}}<ref name="Rach">{{cite book |last=Rachum |first=Ilan |title=The Renaissance, an Illustrated Encyclopedia |year=1979}}</ref>

Much of the painting in Verrocchio's workshop was done by his assistants. According to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his ''[[The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio and Leonardo)|The Baptism of Christ]]'' ({{Circa|1472–1475|lk=off}}), painting the young angel holding Jesus's robe with skill so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio purportedly put down his brush and never painted again<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=287}}</ref> (the latter claim probably being apocryphal).{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}} The new technique of [[oil painting|oil paint]] was applied to areas of the mostly [[tempera]] work, including the landscape, the rocks seen through the brown mountain stream, and much of Jesus's figure, indicating Leonardo's hand.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=88}} Additionally, Leonardo may have been a model for two works by Verrocchio: the bronze statue of ''[[David (Verrocchio)|David]]'' in the [[Bargello]] and the [[archangel Raphael]] in ''[[Tobias and the Angel (Verrocchio)|Tobias and the Angel]]''.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}

Vasari tells a story of Leonardo as a very young man: a local peasant made himself a round [[buckler]] shield and requested that Ser Piero have it painted for him. Leonardo, inspired by the story of [[Medusa]], responded with a [[Medusa (Leonardo)|painting of a monster]] spitting fire that was so terrifying that his father bought a different shield to give to the peasant and sold Leonardo's to a Florentine art dealer for 100 [[ducat]]s, who in turn sold it to the [[List of dukes of Milan|Duke of Milan]].<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|pp=287–289}}</ref>

=== First Florentine period (1472 – c. 1482) ===
[[File:Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo).jpg|thumb|''Adoration of the Magi'' {{circa|1478–1482}},{{#tag:ref|'''''The Adoration of the Magi'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=27}}: {{circa|1481–1482}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=338}}: 1481
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=56}}: {{circa|1480–1482}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=222}}: 1481/1482
|group=d}} [[Uffizi]], Florence]]
By 1472, at the age of 20, Leonardo qualified as a master in the [[Guild of Saint Luke]], the guild of artists and doctors of medicine,{{efn|That Leonardo joined the guild by this time is deduced from the record of payment made to the Compagnia di San Luca in the company's register, Libro Rosso A, 1472–1520, Accademia di Belle Arti.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}}} but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate and live with him.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=13}} Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a 1473 pen-and-ink drawing of the [[Arno]] valley (see below).{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}<ref name=Polidoro>{{cite journal |last1=Polidoro |first1=Massimo|author-link=Massimo Polidoro |title=The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci, Part 1 |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2019 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=30–31 |publisher=Center for Inquiry}}</ref>{{efn|On the back he wrote: "I, staying with Anthony, am happy," possibly in reference to his father.}} According to Vasari, the young Leonardo was the first to suggest making the Arno river a navigable channel between Florence and [[Pisa]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=15}}

In January 1478, Leonardo received an independent commission to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel of Saint Bernard in the Florentine town hall, the [[Palazzo Vecchio|Palazzo della Signoria]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Kenneth |last2=Kemp |first2=Martin |title=Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=978-0-14-198237-3 |page=45 |edition=New, revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXifCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR45 |date=26 November 2015}}</ref> an indication of his independence from Verrocchio's studio. An anonymous early biographer, known as [[Anonimo Gaddiano]], claims that in 1480 Leonardo was living with the Medici and often worked in the garden of the [[Piazza San Marco, Florence]], where a [[Platonic Academy (Florence)|Neoplatonic academy]] of artists, poets and philosophers organised by the Medici met.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}{{Efn|Leonardo later wrote in the margin of a journal, "the Medici made me and the Medici destroyed me."{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}}} In March 1481, he received a commission from the monks of [[:it:Chiesa di San Donato in Scopeto|San Donato in Scopeto]] for ''[[Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo)|The Adoration of the Magi]]''.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|pp=77–78}} Neither of these initial commissions were completed, being abandoned when Leonardo went to offer his services to [[Duke of Milan]] [[Ludovico Sforza]]. Leonardo wrote Sforza [[Personal life of Leonardo da Vinci#Résumé|a letter]] which described the diverse things that he could achieve in the fields of engineering and weapon design, and mentioned that he could paint.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=53–54}} He brought with him a silver string instrument – either a [[lute]] or [[lyre]] – in the form of a horse's head.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=53–54}}

With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to know the older Humanist philosophers of whom [[Marsiglio Ficino]], proponent of [[Neoplatonism]]; [[Cristoforo Landino]], writer of commentaries on Classical writings, and [[John Argyropoulos]], teacher of Greek and translator of [[Aristotle]] were the foremost. Also associated with the Platonic Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher [[Pico della Mirandola]].{{sfn|Rosci|1977|pp=9–20}}<ref name="Rach" />{{sfn|Williamson|1974}} In 1482, Leonardo was sent as an ambassador by [[Lorenzo de' Medici]] to [[Ludovico il Moro]], who ruled [[Milan]] between 1479 and 1499.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|pp=9–20}}{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}

<gallery widths="165" heights="165">
File:Leonardo da Vinci Madonna of the Carnation.jpg|''[[Madonna of the Carnation]]'', {{circa|1472–1478}}, [[Alte Pinakothek]], Munich
File:Paisagem do Arno - Leonardo da Vinci.jpg|''Landscape of the Arno Valley'' (1473)
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Ginevra de' Benci - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Ginevra de' Benci]]'', {{circa|1474–1480}}, [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington D.C.
File:Madonna benois 01.jpg|''[[Benois Madonna]]'', {{circa|1478–1481}}, [[Hermitage Museum|Hermitage]], Saint Petersburg
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Hanging of Bernardo Baroncelli 1479.jpg|Sketch of the hanging of [[Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli]], 1479
</gallery>

=== First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499) ===
[[File:Leonardo Da Vinci - Vergine delle Rocce (Louvre).jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]'', {{circa|1483–1493}},{{#tag:ref|'''''Virgin of the Rocks''''' (Louvre version)
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=41}}: {{circa|1483–1493}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=339}}: between 1483 and 1486
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=164}}: 1483–{{circa|1485}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=223}}: 1483–1484/1485
|group=d}} [[Louvre]] version]]
Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 1499. He was commissioned to paint the ''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]'' for the [[Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception]] and ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)|The Last Supper]]'' for the monastery of [[Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan)|Santa Maria delle Grazie]].{{sfn|Kemp|2011}} In the spring of 1485, Leonardo travelled to [[Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1538)|Hungary]] (on behalf of Sforza) to meet king [[Matthias Corvinus]], and was commissioned by him to paint a [[Madonna (art)|Madonna]].<ref>{{interlanguage link|Franz-Joachim Verspohl|de}}. ''Michelangelo Buonarroti und Leonardo da Vinci: Republikanischer Alltag und Künstlerkonkurrenz in Florenz zwischen 1501 und 1505.'' Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 9783835302167, p. 151 (German).</ref> In 1490 he was called as a consultant, together with [[Francesco di Giorgio Martini]], for the building site of the [[Pavia Cathedral|cathedral]] of [[Pavia]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/19632579 |title=Amadeo, Bramante and Leonardo and the Cupola of Milan Cathedral |work=Achademia Leonardi Vinci|access-date=9 August 2022 |last1=Schofield |first1=Richard|archive-date=7 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407001344/https://www.academia.edu/19632579|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/44632998 |title=Leonardo a (e i rapporti con) Pavia: una verifica sui documenti |work=Annuario dell'Archivio di Stato di Milano |date=January 2020 |access-date=9 August 2022 |last1=Barbieri |first1=Ezio |last2=Catanese |first2=Filippo |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407001345/https://www.academia.edu/44632998 |url-status=live}}</ref> and was struck by the equestrian statue of [[Regisole]], of which he left a sketch.<ref>Carlo Pedretti, ''Leonardo da Vinci: Drawings of Horses and Other Animals from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.'' Johnson Reprint/HBJ, 1984, ISBN 9780384452824.</ref> Leonardo was employed on many other projects for Sforza, such as preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions; [[:File:Study for the Cupola of Milan Cathedral by Leonardo da Vinci.jpg|a drawing of]], and wooden model for, a competition to design the [[cupola]] for [[Milan Cathedral]];{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=79}} and a model for a huge [[equestrian monument]] to Ludovico's predecessor [[Francesco Sforza]]. This would have surpassed in size the only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, [[Donatello]]'s ''[[Equestrian statue of Gattamelata|Gattamelata]]'' in Padua and Verrocchio's ''[[Bartolomeo Colleoni]]'' in Venice, and became known as the ''[[Leonardo's horse|Gran Cavallo]]''.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} Leonardo completed a model for the horse and made detailed plans for its [[Casting (metalworking)|casting]],{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} but in November 1494, Ludovico gave the metal to [[Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|his brother-in-law]] to be used for a cannon to defend the city from [[Charles&nbsp;VIII of France]].{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}

Contemporary correspondence records that Leonardo and his assistants were commissioned by the Duke of Milan to paint the [[Sala delle Asse]] in the [[Sforza Castle]], {{circa}} 1498.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Arte Lombarda |number=92/93 (1–2) |year=1990 |publisher=Vita e Pensiero{{snd}}Pubblicazioni dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore |pages=76–90 |title=Leonardo's "Sala delle Asse" and the Primordial Origins of Architecture |first=John F. |last=Moffitt |jstor=43132702 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43132702 |access-date=17 August 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816192636/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43132702 |url-status=live }}</ref> The project became a [[trompe-l'œil]] decoration that made the great hall appear to be a pergola created by the interwoven limbs of sixteen mulberry trees,<ref>{{cite web |first=Rocky |last=Ruggiero |url=https://rockyruggiero.com/episode-142-leonardo-da-vincis-sala-delle-asse/ |title=Episode 142 – Leonardo da Vinci's Sala delle Asse |series=Making Art and History Come to Life, Rebuilding the Renaissance |format=audio |date=6 October 2021 |website=Rockyruggiero.com |access-date=11 October 2021 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603040721/https://rockyruggiero.com/episode-142-leonardo-da-vincis-sala-delle-asse/ |url-status=live}}</ref> whose canopy included an intricate labyrinth of leaves and knots on the ceiling.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Segui il restauro |url=http://www.saladelleassecastello.it/ |website=Castello Sforzesco – Sala delle Asse |language=it-IT |trans-title=Follow the restoration |access-date=19 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016091633/http://www.saladelleassecastello.it/ |archive-date=16 October 2018}}</ref>{{clear left}}

<gallery widths="165px" heights="165px">
File:Leonardo da vinci, Head of a girl 01.jpg|''[[Head of a Woman (Leonardo, Turin)|Head of a Woman]]'', {{circa|1483–1485}}, [[Royal Library of Turin]]
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Portrait of a Musician - Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.jpg|''[[Portrait of a Musician]]'', {{circa|1483–1487}}, [[Pinacoteca Ambrosiana]], Milan
File:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour (cropped).jpg|The ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' ({{circa|1485}}) [[Accademia, Venice|Accademia]], Venice
File:Study of horse.jpg|[[Leonardo's horse]] in [[silverpoint]], {{circa|1488}}{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=65}}
File:Leonardo da Vinci (attrib)- la Belle Ferroniere.jpg|{{lang|fr|[[La Belle Ferronnière]]}}, {{circa|1490–1498}}
File:Sala-Asse-18-02-2014-32.jpg|Detail of 1902 restoration, [[Sala delle Asse|trompe-l'œil painting]] (1498)
</gallery>

=== Second Florentine period (1500–1508) ===
[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - Virgin and Child with Ss Anne and John the Baptist.jpg|thumb|''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]'', {{circa|1499–1508}}, [[National Gallery]], London]]

When Ludovico Sforza was [[Battle of Novara (1500)|overthrown by France]] in 1500, Leonardo fled Milan for [[Venice]], accompanied by his assistant [[Salaì]] and friend, the mathematician [[Luca Pacioli]].{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=85}} In Venice, Leonardo was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of [[Santissima Annunziata, Florence|Santissima Annunziata]] and were provided with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the [[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (cartoon)|cartoon]] of ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]'', a work that won such admiration that "men [and] women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if they were going to a solemn festival."<ref name="V265" group="‡" />{{efn|In 2005, the studio was rediscovered during the restoration of part of a building occupied for 100 years by the Department of Military Geography.<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Owen |title=Found: the studio where Leonardo met Mona Lisa |work=[[The Times]] |date=12 January 2005 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/found-the-studio-where-leonardo-met-mona-lisa-8d6lb0tqddk |access-date=5 January 2010 |location=London |archive-date=3 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703053422/https://web.archive.org/web/20200703052246/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/found-the-studio-where-leonardo-met-mona-lisa-8d6lb0tqddk |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In [[Cesena]] in 1502, Leonardo entered the service of [[Cesare Borgia]], the son of [[Pope Alexander VI]], acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=85}} Leonardo created a map of Cesare Borgia's stronghold, a town plan of [[Imola]] in order to win his patronage. Upon seeing it, Cesare hired Leonardo as his chief military engineer and architect. Later in the year, Leonardo produced another map for his patron, one of [[Chiana Valley]], Tuscany, so as to give his patron a better overlay of the land and greater strategic position. He created this map in conjunction with his other project of constructing a dam from the sea to Florence, in order to allow a supply of water to sustain the canal during all seasons.

Leonardo had left Borgia's service and returned to Florence by early 1503,{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=124}} where he rejoined the [[Guild of Saint Luke#Italy|Guild of Saint Luke]] on 18 October of that year. By this same month, Leonardo had begun working on a portrait of [[Lisa del Giocondo]], the model for the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Mona Lisa – Heidelberg discovery confirms identity |url=http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/news/monalisa.html |publisher=[[University of Heidelberg]] |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105050239/http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/news/monalisa.html |archive-date=5 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |first=Vincent |last=Delieuvin |author-link=Vincent Delieuvin |title=Télématin |series=Journal Télévisé |network=France 2 Télévision |date=15 January 2008}}</ref> which he would continue working on until his later years. In January 1504, he was part of a committee formed to recommend where Michelangelo's statue of ''[[David (Michelangelo)|David]]'' should be placed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coughlan |first=Robert |title=The World of Michelangelo: 1475–1564 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofmichaelan0000unse|url-access=limited |others=et al |publisher=Time-Life Books |year=1966 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldofmichaelan0000unse/page/90 90]}}</ref> He then spent two years in Florence designing and painting a mural of ''[[The Battle of Anghiari (painting)|The Battle of Anghiari]]'' for the Signoria,{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=85}} with Michelangelo designing its companion piece, ''[[Battle of Cascina (Michelangelo)|The Battle of Cascina]]''.{{efn|Both works are lost. The entire composition of Michelangelo's painting is known from a copy by Aristotole da Sangallo, 1542.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ludwig |last=Goldscheider |title=Michelangelo: paintings, sculptures, architecture |year=1967 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0-7148-1314-1}}</ref> Leonardo's painting is known only from preparatory sketches and several copies of the centre section, of which the best known, and probably least accurate, is by [[Peter Paul Rubens]].{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|pp=106–107}}}}

In 1506, Leonardo was summoned to Milan by [[Charles II d'Amboise]], the acting [[Kingdom of France|French governor]] of the city.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} There, Leonardo took on another pupil, Count [[Francesco Melzi]], the son of a [[Lombardy|Lombard]] aristocrat, who is considered to have been his favourite student.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} The [[Council of Florence]] wished Leonardo to return promptly to finish ''The Battle of Anghiari'', but he was given leave at the behest of [[Louis XII]], who considered commissioning the artist to make some portraits.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} Leonardo may have commenced a project for an equestrian figure of d'Amboise;<ref>{{cite journal |title=Achademia Leonardi Vinci |journal=Journal of Leonardo Studies & Bibliography of Vinciana |volume=VIII |pages=243–244 |year=1990}}</ref> [[Horse and Rider (wax sculpture)|a wax model attributed to him]] survives and would be the only extant example of Leonardo's sculpture, but the [[Horse and Rider (wax sculpture)#Attribution and disputes|attribution is not widely accepted]]. Leonardo was otherwise free to pursue his scientific interests.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} Many of Leonardo's most prominent pupils either knew or worked with him in Milan,{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} including [[Bernardino Luini]], [[Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio]], and [[Marco d'Oggiono]]. In 1507, Leonardo was in Florence sorting out a dispute with his brothers over the estate of his father, who had died in 1504.

<gallery widths="165px" heights="165px">
File:Sainte Anne Leonard.jpg|''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Leonardo)|The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne]]'', {{circa|1501–1519}}, Louvre, Paris
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Plan of Imola - Google Art Project.jpg|Leonardo's map of [[Imola]], created for [[Cesare Borgia]], 1502
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Study of Two Warriors' Heads for the Battle of Anghiari - Google Art Project (cropped).jpg|Study for ''[[The Battle of Anghiari (Leonardo)|The Battle of Anghiari]]'' (now lost), {{circa|1503}}, [[Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)|Museum of Fine Arts]], Budapest
File:Leonardo da vinci - La scapigliata.jpg|''[[La Scapigliata]]'', {{circa|1506–1508}} (unfinished), [[Galleria Nazionale di Parma]], Parma
File:Study for the Kneeling Leda.jpg|Study for ''[[Leda and the Swan (Leonardo)|Leda and the Swan]]'' (now lost), {{circa|1506–1508}}, [[Chatsworth House]], England
</gallery>

=== Second Milanese period (1508–1513) ===
By 1508, Leonardo was back in Milan, living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=86}}

In 1512, Leonardo was working on plans for an equestrian monument for [[Gian Giacomo Trivulzio]], but this was prevented by an invasion of a confederation of Swiss, Spanish and Venetian forces, which drove the French from Milan. Leonardo stayed in the city, spending several months in 1513 at the Medici's [[Vaprio d'Adda]] villa.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=149–150}}

=== Rome and France (1513–1519) ===
[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - A deluge - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|An apocalyptic deluge drawn in black chalk by Leonardo near the end of his life (part of a series of 10, paired with written description in his notebooks){{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=151}}]]
In March 1513, Lorenzo de' Medici's son [[Pope Leo X|Giovanni]] assumed the papacy (as Leo X); Leonardo went to Rome that September, where he was received by the pope's brother [[Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours|Giuliano]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=149–150}} From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the [[Belvedere Courtyard]] in the [[Apostolic Palace]], where Michelangelo and [[Raphael]] were both active.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=86}} Leonardo was given an allowance of 33 ducats a month and, according to Vasari, decorated a lizard with scales dipped in [[Mercury (element)|quicksilver]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}} The pope gave him a painting commission of unknown subject matter, but cancelled it when the artist set about developing a new kind of [[varnish]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}}{{efn|Pope Leo X is quoted as saying, "This man will never accomplish anything! He thinks of the end before the beginning!"{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}}}} Leonardo became ill, in what may have been the first of multiple [[stroke]]s leading to his death.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}} He practised botany in the [[Vatican Gardens]], and was commissioned to make plans for the Pope's proposed draining of the [[Pontine Marshes]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Ohlig |editor1-first=Christoph P. J. |title=Integrated Land and Water Resources Management in History |date=2005 |publisher=Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-8334-2463-2 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAXwGrryd7sC&pg=PA33}}</ref> He also dissected [[cadaver]]s, making notes for a treatise on [[vocal cords]];<ref>{{cite book |last=Gillette |first=Henry Sampson |title=Leonardo da Vinci: Pathfinder of Science |year=2017 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_I5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |access-date=10 September 2019 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103326/https://books.google.com/books?id=f_I5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> these he gave to an official in hopes of regaining the Pope's favour, but he was unsuccessful.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}}

In October 1515, King [[Francis I of France]] recaptured Milan.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|pp=77–78}}{{efn|There is no documentary basis for the frequently made claim that Leonardo was present at the meeting between Francis I and Leo X, which took place in Bologna from 11 to 14 December 1516.<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|first=Domenico|last=Laurenza|title=Leonardo nella Roma di Leone X|journal=Lettura Vinciana|volume=XLIII|publisher=Giunti|date=2004|language=it}}</ref>}} On 21 March 1516 Antonio Maria Pallavicini, the French ambassador to the [[Holy See]], received a letter sent from [[Lyon]] a week previously by the royal advisor [[Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet]], containing the French king's instructions to assist Leonardo in his relocation to France and to inform the artist that the King was eagerly awaiting his arrival. Pallavicini was also asked to reassure Leonardo that he would be well received at court, both by the King and by his mother, [[Louise of Savoy]].<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|first=Jan|last=Sammer|chapter=L'Invitation du roi|editor-first=Carlo|editor-last=Pedretti|title=Léonard de Vinci et la France|publisher=CB Edizioni|date=2009|pages=29–33|language=fr}}</ref> Leonardo entered Francis's service later that year, and was given the use of the manor house [[Clos Lucé]] near the King's residence at the royal [[Château d'Amboise]]. He was frequently visited by Francis, and drew plans for an immense [[castle town]] the King intended to erect at [[Romorantin-Lanthenay|Romorantin]]. He also made a mechanical lion, which during a pageant walked towards the King and – upon being struck by a wand – opened its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=163, 164}}<ref group="‡" name="V265" />{{efn|It is unknown for what occasion the mechanical lion was made, but it is believed to have greeted the King at his entry into [[Lyon]] and perhaps was used for the peace talks between the French king and Pope Leo X in Bologna. A conjectural recreation of the lion has been made and is on display in the Museum of Bologna.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reconstruction of Leonardo's walking lion |url=http://www.ancientandautomata.com/ita/lavori/leone.htm |language=it|access-date=5 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825195910/http://www.ancientandautomata.com/ita/lavori/leone.htm|archive-date=25 August 2009}}</ref>}}

Leonardo was accompanied during this time by his friend and apprentice Francesco Melzi, and was supported by a pension totalling 10,000&nbsp;[[scudi]].{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=86}} At some point, Melzi drew a [[:File:A portrait of Leonardo, by Francesco Melzi.jpg|portrait of Leonardo]]; the [[Portraits of Leonardo da Vinci|only others known]] from his lifetime were a sketch by an unknown assistant on the back of one of Leonardo's studies ({{circa|1517|lk=no}})<ref>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Mark |title=Newly identified sketch of Leonardo da Vinci to go on display in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/may/02/newly-identified-sketch-of-leonardo-da-vinci-to-go-on-display-in-london |website=The Guardian |access-date=2 May 2019 |date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=4 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204220348/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/may/02/newly-identified-sketch-of-leonardo-da-vinci-to-go-on-display-in-london |url-status=live}}</ref> and a drawing by [[Giovanni Ambrogio Figino]] depicting an elderly Leonardo with his right arm wrapped in clothing.<ref name=paralysis>{{cite web |last=Strickland |first=Ashley |title=What caused Leonardo da Vinci's hand impairment? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/03/health/da-vinci-hand-palsy-study/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=4 May 2019 |date=4 May 2019 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031223425/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/03/health/da-vinci-hand-palsy-study/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|Identified via its similarity to Leonardo's [[Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk|presumed self-portrait]].<ref name=guardian2005>{{cite web |last=McMahon |first=Barbara |title=Da Vinci 'paralysis left Mona Lisa unfinished' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/01/italy.arts |website=The Guardian |access-date=2 May 2019 |date=1 May 2005 |archive-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208213719/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/01/italy.arts |url-status=live}}</ref>}} The latter, in addition to the record of an October 1517 visit by [[Luigi d'Aragona|Louis d'Aragon]],{{efn|"... Messer Lunardo Vinci {{sic}} ... an old graybeard of more than 70 years ... showed His Excellency three pictures<!--one of a certain Florentine lady done from life at the instance of the late Magnificent, Giuliano de' Medici, another of St. John the Baptist as a youth, and one of the Madonna and Child in the lap of St. Anne--> ... from whom, since he was then subject to a certain paralysis of the right hand, one could not expect any more good work."{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=163}}}} confirms an account of Leonardo's right hand being paralytic when he was 65,<ref name=seeker>{{cite web |last=Lorenzi |first=Rossella |title=Did a Stroke Kill Leonardo da Vinci? |url=https://www.seeker.com/did-a-stroke-kill-leonardo-da-vinci-1789047208.html |website=Seeker |access-date=5 May 2019 |date=10 May 2016 |archive-date=22 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222231504/https://www.seeker.com/did-a-stroke-kill-leonardo-da-vinci-1789047208.html |url-status=live}}</ref> which may indicate why he left works such as the ''Mona Lisa'' unfinished.<ref name=guardian2005 /><ref>{{cite web |last=Saplakoglu |first=Yasemin |title=A Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci May Reveal Why He Never Finished the Mona Lisa |url=https://www.livescience.com/65396-da-vinci-hand-injury.html |website=Live Science |access-date=5 May 2019 |date=4 May 2019 |archive-date=2 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202094640/https://www.livescience.com/65396-da-vinci-hand-injury.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="lazzeri">{{cite journal |last1=Lazzeri |first1=D. |last2=Rossi |first2=C. |title=The right hand palsy of Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519): new insights on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his death |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=112 | issue=8 |pages=330–333 |doi=10.1177/0141076819848115 |date=3 May 2019 |pmid=31051083 |pmc=6699018 }}</ref> He continued to work at some capacity until eventually becoming ill and bedridden for several months.<ref name=seeker />

==== Death ====
[[File:The castle of Amboise.jpg|thumb|left|Drawing of the [[Château d'Amboise]] ({{circa|1518|lk=no}}) attributed to [[Francesco Melzi]]]]
Leonardo died at Clos Lucé on 2 May 1519 at the age of 67, possibly of a stroke.<ref name="neurology">[[Philippe Charlier|Charlier, Philippe]]; Deo, Saudamini. [http://www.neurology.org/content/88/14/1381.full "A physical sign of stroke sequel on the skeleton of Leonardo da Vinci?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415031015/http://www.neurology.org/content/88/14/1381.full |date=15 April 2017 }}. ''Neurology''. 4 April 2017; 88 (14): 1381–1382.</ref><ref name="lazzeri" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P906UFXIoMUC&pg=PA354 |page=354 |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists |author=Ian Chilvers |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-953294-0}}</ref> Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari describes Leonardo as lamenting on his deathbed, full of repentance, that "he had offended against God and men by failing to practice his art as he should have done."<ref>Antonina Vallentin. ''Leonardo da Vinci: The Tragic Pursuit of Perfection.'' New York: The Viking Press, 1938, 533.</ref> Vasari states that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the [[Eucharist|Holy Sacrament]].<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=297}}</ref> Vasari also records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story may be legend rather than fact.{{efn|This scene is portrayed in romantic paintings by [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres|Ingres]], [[François-Guillaume Ménageot|Ménageot]] and other French artists, as well as [[Angelica Kauffman]].}}{{efn|name=edict|On the day of Leonardo's death, a royal edict was issued by the King at [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], a two-day journey from Clos Lucé. This has been taken as evidence that King Francis cannot have been present at Leonardo's deathbed, but the edict was not signed by the King.<ref>White, ''Leonardo: The First Scientist''</ref>}} In accordance with his will, sixty beggars carrying tapers followed Leonardo's casket.{{sfn|Williamson|1974}}{{efn|Each of the sixty paupers were to have been awarded in accord with Leonardo's will.{{sfn|Williamson|1974}}}} Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving, as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo's other long-time pupil and companion, Salaì, and his servant Baptista de Vilanis, each received half of Leonardo's [[vineyard]]s.{{sfn|Kemp|2011|p=26}} His brothers received land, and his serving woman received a fur-lined cloak. On 12 August 1519, [[#Location of remains|Leonardo's remains]] were interred in the Collegiate Church of Saint Florentin at the Château d'Amboise.<ref name="Florentine">{{cite web |author=Florentine editorial staff |title=Hair believed to have belonged to Leonardo on display in Vinci |url=http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2019/05/hair-believed-belonged-leonardo-displayed-vinci/ |website=The Florentine |access-date=4 May 2019 |date=2 May 2019 |archive-date=4 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504093717/http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2019/05/hair-believed-belonged-leonardo-displayed-vinci/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some 20 years after Leonardo's death, Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor [[Benvenuto Cellini]] as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher."{{sfn|Gasca|Nicolò|Lucertini|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-3-0348-7951-4/page/n28 13]}}

[[Salaì]], or Il Salaino ("The Little Unclean One", i.e., the devil), entered Leonardo's household in 1490 as an assistant. After only a year, Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton," after he had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions and spent a fortune on clothes.<ref>{{cite book |title=Leonardo, Codex C. 15v |publisher=Institut of France. Trans. Richter}}</ref> Nevertheless, Leonardo treated him with great indulgence, and he remained in Leonardo's household for the next thirty years.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=84}} Salaì executed paintings under the name of Andrea Salaì, but although Vasari claims that Leonardo "taught him many things about painting,"<ref group="‡" name="V265">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=293}}</ref> his work is generally considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils, such as [[Marco d'Oggiono]] and [[Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio|Boltraffio]].

At the time of his death in 1524, Salaì owned a painting referred to as ''Joconda'' in a posthumous inventory of his belongings; it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait.<ref name="NR">{{cite web |last=Rossiter |first=Nick |date=4 July 2003 |title=Could this be the secret of her smile? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/04/07/banr.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030925222942/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2003%2F04%2F07%2Fbanr.xml|archive-date=25 September 2003|access-date=3 October 2007 |website=Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
{{Main|Personal life of Leonardo da Vinci}}

[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - Saint John the Baptist C2RMF retouched.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Saint John the Baptist (Leonardo)|Saint John the Baptist]]'' {{circa|1507–1516|lk=no}},{{#tag:ref|'''''Saint John the Baptist'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=189}}: {{circa|1507–1514|lk=no}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=340}}: {{circa|1508|lk=no}}
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=63}}: {{circa|1500 onwards|lk=no}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=248}}: {{circa|1508–1516|lk=no}}
|group=d}} Louvre. Leonardo is thought to have used [[Salaì]] as the model.<ref name="Pedretti-2009">{{Cite book |editor-last=Pedretti |editor-first=Carlo |title=Leonardo da Vinci: l'Angelo incarnato & Salai = the Angel in the flesh & Salai |date=2009 |publisher=Cartei & Bianchi |isbn=978-88-95686-11-0 |location=Foligno (Perugia) |pages=201 |oclc=500794484}}</ref>]]

Despite the thousands of pages Leonardo left in notebooks and manuscripts, he scarcely made reference to his personal life.{{sfn|Zöllner|2019|p=20}}

Within Leonardo's lifetime, his extraordinary powers of invention, his "great physical beauty" and "infinite grace," as described by [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]],<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=284}}</ref> as well as all other aspects of his life, attracted the curiosity of others. One such aspect was his love for animals, likely including [[vegetarianism]] and according to Vasari, a habit of purchasing caged birds and releasing them.<ref>MacCurdy, Edward (1928). "The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci." In: [http://www.ivu.org/history/davinci/hurwitz.html ''Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227121050/http://www.ivu.org/history/davinci/hurwitz.html |date=27 February 2009 }}</ref><ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=286}}</ref>

Leonardo had many friends who are now notable either in their fields or for their historical significance, including mathematician [[Luca Pacioli]],{{sfn|Bambach|2003}} with whom he collaborated on the book ''[[Divina proportione]]'' in the 1490s. Leonardo appears to have had no close relationships with women except for his friendship with [[Cecilia Gallerani]] and the two Este sisters, [[Beatrice d'Este|Beatrice]] and [[Isabella d'Este|Isabella]].<ref>Cartwright Ady, Julia. ''Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497.'' J. M. Dent, 1899; Cartwright Ady, Julia. ''Isabella D'Este, Marchioness of Mantua, 1474–1539.'' J. M. Dent, 1903.</ref> While on a journey that took him through [[Mantua]], he drew a portrait of Isabella that appears to have been used to create a painted portrait, now lost.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}

Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. His sexuality has been the subject of satire, analysis, and speculation. This trend began in the mid-16th century and was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably by [[Sigmund Freud]] in his ''[[Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood]]''.<ref>Sigmund Freud, ''Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci'', (1910).</ref> Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils [[Salaì]] and [[Francesco Melzi|Melzi]]. Melzi, writing to inform Leonardo's brothers of his death, described Leonardo's feelings for his pupils as both loving and passionate. It has been claimed since the 16th century that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. [[Walter Isaacson]] in [[Leonardo da Vinci (Isaacson book)|his biography of Leonardo]] makes explicit his opinion that the relations with Salaì were intimate and homosexual.{{sfn|Isaacson|2017|pp=129–138}}

In 1476, when he was aged twenty-four, court records show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with [[sodomy]] in an incident involving a known male prostitute. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence, and there is speculation that since one of the accused, Lionardo de Tornabuoni, was related to Lorenzo de' Medici, the family exerted its influence to secure the dismissal.{{sfn|Isaacson|2017}} Since that date much has been written about his presumed homosexuality<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Jonathan  |date=26 March 2021 |title=Leonardo, ladies' man: why can't we accept that Da Vinci was gay? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/mar/26/leonardo-aidan-turner-amazon-prime-video-series-gay |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511221427/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/mar/26/leonardo-aidan-turner-amazon-prime-video-series-gay |archive-date=11 May 2022 |access-date=27 March 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> and its role in his art, particularly in the [[androgyny]] and [[eroticism]] manifested in ''[[Saint John the Baptist (Leonardo)|Saint John the Baptist]]'' and ''[[Bacchus (Leonardo)|Bacchus]]'' and more explicitly in erotic drawings.<ref>Michael Rocke, ''Forbidden Friendships'' epigraph, pp. 148 & 298, N120.</ref><ref name="Pedretti-2009" />{{efn|[[Martin Kemp (art historian)|Martin Kemp]] states that "it is clear that Leonardo, whether he was active or not, was homosexual. But the question is, then, what do we do with that information? Is this profoundly expressed in his art? Is this a major explanatory mode? Over years of looking at Leonardo, I am not resistant to thinking of sexuality as a key but I have not found it particularly helpful."<ref>{{cite web |author=Ana Finel Honigman |title=Universal Leonardo |url=https://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/honigman/honigman1-19-06.asp |website=Artnet |access-date=11 May 2025}}</ref>}} <!-- The info contained here is beyond dispute. It HAS been claimed. Please look at the main article and carry on the argument there. -->{{clear left}}

== Paintings ==
{{See also|List of works by Leonardo da Vinci}}
Despite the recent awareness and admiration of Leonardo as a scientist and inventor, for the better part of four hundred years his fame rested on his achievements as a painter. A handful of works that are either authenticated or attributed to him have been regarded as among the great masterpieces. These paintings are famous for a variety of qualities that have been much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics. By the 1490s Leonardo had already been described as a "Divine" painter.{{sfn|Arasse|1998|pp=11–15}}

Among the qualities that make Leonardo's work unique are his innovative techniques for laying on the paint; his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology; his interest in [[physiognomy]] and the way humans register emotion in expression and gesture; his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition; and his use of subtle gradation of tone. All these qualities come together in his most famous painted works, the ''Mona Lisa'', the ''Last Supper'', and the ''Virgin of the Rocks''.{{efn|These qualities of Leonardo's works are discussed in {{harvtxt|Hartt|1970|pp=387–411}}.}}

=== Early works ===
[[File:Annunciation (Leonardo c. 1472–1476).jpg|thumb|''[[Annunciation (Leonardo)|Annunciation]]'' {{circa|1472–1476}},{{#tag:ref|'''''The Annunciation'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=6}}: {{circa|1473–1474}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=338}}: {{circa|1472–1475}}
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=15}}: {{circa|1472–1476}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=216}}: {{circa|1473–1475}}
|group=d}} [[Uffizi]], is thought to be Leonardo's earliest extant and complete major work.]]
Leonardo first gained attention for his work on the ''[[The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio)|Baptism of Christ]]'', painted in conjunction with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at Verrocchio's workshop, both of which are [[Annunciation]]s. One is small, {{nowrap|{{convert|59|cm}}}} long and {{convert|14|cm|abbr=on}} high. It is a "[[predella]]" to go at the base of a larger composition, a painting by Lorenzo di Credi from which it has become separated. The other is a much larger work, {{convert|217|cm|abbr=on}} long.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|pp=88, 90}} In both Annunciations, Leonardo used a formal arrangement, like two well-known pictures by [[Fra Angelico]] of the same subject, of the [[Virgin Mary]] sitting or kneeling to the right of the picture, approached from the left by an angel in profile, with a rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a lily. Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now generally attributed to Leonardo.{{sfn|Marani|2003|p=338}}

In the smaller painting, Mary averts her eyes and folds her hands in a gesture that symbolised submission to God's will. Mary is not submissive, however, in the larger piece. The girl, interrupted in her reading by this unexpected messenger, puts a finger in her bible to mark the place and raises her hand in a formal gesture of greeting or surprise.{{sfn|Hartt|1970|pp=127–133}} This calm young woman appears to accept her role as the [[Mother of God]], not with resignation but with confidence. In this painting, the young Leonardo presents the humanist face of the Virgin Mary, recognising humanity's role in God's incarnation.

=== Paintings of the 1480s ===
[[File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_—_Jerome.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|''[[Saint Jerome in the Wilderness (Leonardo)|Saint Jerome in the Wilderness]]'' (unfinished) {{circa|1480–1490}},{{#tag:ref|'''''Saint Jerome in the Wilderness'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=31}}: {{circa|1481–1482}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=338}}: probably {{circa|1480}}
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=139}}: {{circa|1488–1490}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=221}}: {{circa|1480–1482}}
|group=d}} [[Apostolic Palace|Vatican]]]]

In the 1480s, Leonardo received two very important commissions and commenced another work that was of ground-breaking importance in terms of composition. Two of the three were never finished, and the third took so long that it was subject to lengthy negotiations over completion and payment.

One of these paintings was ''[[Saint Jerome in the Wilderness (Leonardo)|Saint Jerome in the Wilderness]]'', which Bortolon associates with a difficult period of Leonardo's life, as evidenced in his diary: "I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die."{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} Although the painting is barely begun, the composition can be seen and is very unusual.{{efn|The painting, which in the 18th century belonged to [[Angelica Kauffman]], was later cut up. The two main sections were found in a junk shop and cobbler's shop and were reunited.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|pp=104–106}} It is probable that outer parts of the composition are missing.}} [[Jerome]], as a [[penitent]], occupies the middle of the picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His kneeling form takes on a trapezoid shape, with one arm stretched to the outer edge of the painting and his gaze looking in the opposite direction. J. Wasserman points out the link between this painting and Leonardo's anatomical studies.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|pp=104–106}} Across the foreground sprawls his symbol, a great lion whose body and tail make a double spiral across the base of the picture space. The other remarkable feature is the sketchy landscape of craggy rocks against which the figure is silhouetted.

The daring display of figure composition, the landscape elements and personal drama also appear in the great unfinished masterpiece, the ''[[Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo)|Adoration of the Magi]]'', a commission from the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. It is a complex composition, of about {{nowrap|250 × 250 centimetres.}} Leonardo did numerous drawings and preparatory studies, including a detailed one in linear perspective of the ruined [[classical architecture]] that forms part of the background. In 1482 Leonardo went to Milan at the behest of Lorenzo de' Medici in order to win favour with Ludovico il Moro, and the painting was abandoned.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}

<!--[[File:Leonardo da Vinci Virgin of the Rocks (National Gallery London).jpg|thumb|''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]'', [[National Gallery]], London, demonstrates Leonardo's interest in nature]]-->
[[File:Lady with an Ermine - Leonardo da Vinci (adjusted levels).jpg|thumb|upright|left|''[[Lady with an Ermine]]'', {{circa|1489–1491}},{{#tag:ref|'''''Lady with an Ermine'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=49}}: {{circa|1491}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=339}}: 1489–1490
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=111}}: {{circa|1489–1490}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=226}}: 1489/1490
|group=d}} [[Czartoryski Museum]], [[Kraków]], Poland]]

The third important work of this period is the ''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]'', commissioned in Milan for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. The painting, to be done with the assistance of the [[Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis|de Predis brothers]], was to fill a large complex [[altarpiece]].{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|p=108}} Leonardo chose to paint an apocryphal moment of the infancy of Christ when the infant [[John the Baptist]], in protection of an angel, met the Holy Family on the road to Egypt. The painting demonstrates an eerie beauty as the graceful figures kneel in adoration around the infant Christ in a wild landscape of tumbling rock and whirling water.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Mysterious Virgin |publisher=[[National Gallery, London]] |url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/collection/features/potm/2006/may/feature1.htm | access-date =27 September 2007 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071015062743/http://nationalgallery.org.uk/collection/features/potm/2006/may/feature1.htm | archive-date =15 October 2007 }}</ref> While the painting is quite large, about {{nowrap|200 × 120 centimetres,}} it is not nearly as complex as the painting ordered by the monks of San Donato, having only four figures rather than about fifty and a rocky landscape rather than architectural details. The painting was eventually finished; in fact, two versions of the painting were finished: one remained at the chapel of the Confraternity, while Leonardo took the other to France. The Brothers did not get their painting, however, nor the de Predis their payment, until the next century.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=85}}

Leonardo's most remarkable portrait of this period is the ''[[Lady with an Ermine]]'', presumed to be [[Cecilia Gallerani]] ({{circa|1483–1490}}), lover of Ludovico Sforza.<ref name=treasures>{{cite web |url=http://culture.pl/en/event/da-vincis-lady-with-an-ermine-among-polands-treasures |title=Da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine among Poland's "Treasures" – Event – Culture.pl|access-date=18 November 2017|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042043/http://culture.pl/en/event/da-vincis-lady-with-an-ermine-among-polands-treasures|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Lady with an Ermine in the exhibition Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration |last=Kemp |first=M. |location=Washington-New Haven-London |pages=271}}</ref> The painting is characterised by the pose of the figure with the head turned at a very different angle to the torso, unusual at a date when many portraits were still rigidly in profile. The ermine plainly carries symbolic meaning, relating either to the sitter, or to Ludovico who belonged to the prestigious [[Order of the Ermine (France)|Order of the Ermine]].<ref name=treasures />
{{Clear}}

=== Paintings of the 1490s ===
[[File:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'',{{#tag:ref|'''''The Last Supper'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=67}}: {{circa|1495–1497}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=339}}: between 1494 and 1498
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=252}}: 1492–1497/1498
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=230}}: {{circa|1495–1498}}
|group=d}} [[Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan)|Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie]], Milan ({{circa|1492–1498}})]]
Leonardo's most famous painting of the 1490s is ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'', commissioned for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. It represents the [[Last Supper|last meal]] shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death, and shows the moment when Jesus has just said "one of you will betray me", and the consternation that this statement caused.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}

The writer [[Matteo Bandello]] observed Leonardo at work and wrote that some days he would paint from dawn till dusk without stopping to eat and then not paint for three or four days at a time.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|p=124}} This was beyond the comprehension of the [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]] of the convent, who hounded him until Leonardo asked Ludovico to intervene. Vasari describes how Leonardo, troubled over his ability to adequately depict the faces of Christ and the traitor [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]], told the duke that he might be obliged to use the prior as his model.<ref group="‡" name=":0">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=290}}</ref>

The painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterisation,<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|pp=289–291}}</ref> but it deteriorated rapidly, so that within a hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined."{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=97}} Leonardo, instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a [[Ground (art)|ground]] that was mainly [[gesso]], resulting in a surface subject to mould and to flaking.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=98}} Despite this, the painting remains one of the most reproduced works of art; countless copies have been made in various mediums.

Toward the end of this period, in 1498 Leonardo's trompe-l'œil decoration of the [[Sala delle Asse]] was painted for the Duke of Milan in the [[Castello Sforzesco]].

=== Paintings of the 1500s ===
In 1505, Leonardo was commissioned to paint ''The Battle of Anghiari'' in the [[Salone dei Cinquecento]] ("Hall of the Five Hundred") in the [[Palazzo Vecchio]], Florence. Leonardo devised a dynamic composition depicting four men riding raging war horses engaged in a battle for possession of a standard, at the [[Battle of Anghiari]] in 1440. Michelangelo was assigned the opposite wall to depict the [[Battle of Cascina]]. Leonardo's painting deteriorated rapidly and is now known from a copy by [[Rubens]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Seracini |first1=Maurizio |title=The Secret Lives of Paintings |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/maurizio_seracini_the_secret_lives_of_paintings?language=en#t-48953 |format=lecture |date=2012|access-date=14 March 2016|archive-date=18 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018193215/https://www.ted.com/talks/maurizio_seracini_the_secret_lives_of_paintings?language=en#t-48953|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Mona Lisa]]'' or ''La Gioconda'' {{circa|1503–1516}},{{#tag:ref|'''''Mona Lisa'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=127}}: {{circa|1503–1515}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=340}}: {{circa|1503–1504; 1513–1514}}
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=48}}: {{circa|1502 onward}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=240}}: {{circa|1503–1506; 1510}}
|group=d}} [[Louvre]], Paris]]
Among the works created by Leonardo in the 16th century is the small portrait known as the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' or ''La Gioconda'', the laughing one. In the present era, it is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive smile on the woman's face, its mysterious quality perhaps due to the subtly shadowed corners of the mouth and eyes such that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined. The shadowy quality for which the work is renowned came to be called ''[[sfumato]],'' or "Leonardo's smoke". Vasari wrote that the smile was "so pleasing that it seems more divine than human, and it was considered a wondrous thing that it was as lively as the smile of the living original."<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=294}}</ref>

Other characteristics of the painting are the unadorned dress, in which the eyes and hands have no competition from other details; the dramatic landscape background, in which the world seems to be in a state of flux; the subdued colouring; and the extremely smooth nature of the painterly technique, employing [[oil paint|oils]] laid on much like [[tempera]], and blended on the surface so that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|p=144}} Vasari expressed that the painting's quality would make even "the most confident master ... despair and lose heart."<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1965|p=266}}</ref> The perfect state of preservation and the fact that there is no sign of repair or overpainting is rare in a panel painting of this date.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=103}}

In the painting ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Leonardo)|Virgin and Child with Saint Anne]]'', the composition again picks up the theme of figures in a landscape, which Wasserman describes as "breathtakingly beautiful"{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|p=150}} and harkens back to the ''Saint Jerome'' with the figure set at an oblique angle. What makes this painting unusual is that there are two obliquely set figures superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, Saint Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as he plays roughly with a lamb, the sign of his own impending sacrifice.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} This painting, which was copied many times, influenced Michelangelo, Raphael, and [[Andrea del Sarto]],{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=109}} and through them [[Pontormo]] and [[Correggio]]. The trends in composition were adopted in particular by the Venetian painters [[Tintoretto]] and [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]].

== Drawings ==
[[File:Head of a Warrior - Da Vinci 1 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|''Antique Warrior in Profile'', {{circa|1472|lk=no}}. British Museum, London]]
[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - presumed self-portrait - WGA12798.jpg|thumb|upright|Presumed [[Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk|self-portrait of Leonardo]] ({{Circa|1510}}) at the [[Royal Library of Turin|Royal Library]] of [[Turin]], Italy]]

Leonardo was a prolific draughtsman, keeping journals full of small sketches and detailed drawings recording all manner of things that took his attention. As well as the journals there exist many studies for paintings, some of which can be identified as preparatory to particular works such as ''The Adoration of the Magi'', ''The Virgin of the Rocks'' and ''The Last Supper''.<ref name=Popham /> His earliest dated drawing is a ''Landscape of the Arno Valley'', 1473, which shows the river, the mountains, [[Montelupo Fiorentino|Montelupo]] Castle and the farmlands beyond it in great detail.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}<ref name=Popham>{{cite book |first=A. E. |last=Popham |title=The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci |year=1946}}</ref>{{efn|This work is now in the collection of the [[Uffizi]], Drawing No. 8P.}}

Among his famous drawings are the ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'', a study of the proportions of the human body; the ''Head of an Angel'', for ''[[The Virgin of the Rocks]]'' in the [[Louvre]]; a botanical study of ''Star of Bethlehem''; and a large drawing (160&nbsp;×&nbsp;100&nbsp;cm) in black chalk on coloured paper of ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]'' in the National Gallery, London.<ref name=Popham /> This drawing employs the subtle ''[[sfumato]]'' technique of shading, in the manner of the ''Mona Lisa''. It is thought that Leonardo never made a painting from it, the closest similarity being to ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Leonardo)|The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne]]'' in the Louvre.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=102}}

Other drawings of interest include numerous studies generally referred to as "caricatures" because, although exaggerated, they appear to be based upon observation of live models. Vasari relates that Leonardo would look for interesting faces in public to use as models for some of his work.<ref group="‡" name=":0" /> There are numerous studies of beautiful young men, often associated with Salaì, with the rare and much admired facial feature, the so-called "Grecian profile".{{efn|The "Grecian profile" has a continuous straight line from forehead to nose-tip, the bridge of the nose being exceptionally high. It is a feature of many [[Ancient Greek sculpture|Classical Greek]] statues.}} These faces are often contrasted with that of a warrior.<ref name=Popham /> Salaì is often depicted in fancy-dress costume. Leonardo is known to have designed sets for pageants with which these may be associated. Other, often meticulous, drawings show studies of drapery. A marked development in Leonardo's ability to draw drapery occurred in his early works. Another often-reproduced drawing is a macabre sketch that was done by Leonardo in Florence in 1479 showing the body of [[Bernardo Baroncelli]], hanged in connection with the murder of [[Giuliano de' Medici|Giuliano]], brother of Lorenzo de' Medici, in the [[Pazzi conspiracy]].<ref name=Popham /> In his notes, Leonardo recorded the colours of the robes that Baroncelli was wearing when he died.

Like the two contemporary architects [[Donato Bramante]] (who designed the [[Cortile del Belvedere|Belvedere Courtyard]]) and [[Antonio da Sangallo the Elder]], Leonardo experimented with designs for centrally planned churches, some of which appear in his journals, as both plans and views, although none was ever realised.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|pp=9–20}}{{sfn|Hartt|1970|pp=391–392}}

== Journals and notes ==
{{See also|List of works by Leonardo da Vinci#Manuscripts}}
[[Renaissance humanism]] recognised no mutually exclusive polarities between the sciences and the arts, and Leonardo's studies in science and engineering are sometimes considered as impressive and innovative as his artistic work.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} These studies were recorded in 13,000 pages of notes and drawings, which fuse art and [[natural philosophy]] (the forerunner of modern science). They were made and maintained daily throughout Leonardo's life and travels, as he made continual observations of the world around him.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} Leonardo's notes and drawings display an enormous range of interests and preoccupations, some as mundane as lists of groceries and people who owed him money and some as intriguing as designs for wings and shoes for walking on water. There are compositions for paintings, studies of details and drapery, studies of faces and emotions, of animals, babies, dissections, plant studies, rock formations, whirlpools, war machines, flying machines and architecture.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}
[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - Studies of the foetus in the womb.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A page showing [[Studies of the Fetus in the Womb|Leonardo's study of a foetus in the womb]] ({{circa|1510|lk=no}}), Royal Library, [[Windsor Castle]]]]

These notebooks – originally loose papers of different types and sizes – were largely entrusted to Leonardo's pupil and heir Francesco Melzi after the master's death.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=169}} These were to be published, a task of overwhelming difficulty because of its scope and Leonardo's idiosyncratic writing.<ref name=KDK>{{cite journal |author=Keele Kenneth D |year=1964 |title=Leonardo da Vinci's Influence on Renaissance Anatomy |journal=Med Hist |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=360–370 |pmc=1033412 |pmid=14230140 |doi=10.1017/s0025727300029835 |issn = 0025-7273}}</ref> Some of Leonardo's drawings were copied by an anonymous Milanese artist for a planned treatise on art (''[[Codex Huygens]]'', {{circa|1570}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bean |first1=Jacob |last2=Stampfle |first2=Felice |title=Drawings from New York Collections I: The Italian Renaissance |date=1965 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |location=Greenwich, CT |pages=81–82}}</ref> After Melzi's death in 1570, the collection passed to his son, the lawyer Orazio, who initially took little interest in the journals.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=169}} In 1587, a Melzi household tutor named Lelio Gavardi took 13 of the manuscripts to Pisa; there, the architect [[Giovanni Magenta]] reproached Gavardi for having taken the manuscripts illicitly and returned them to Orazio. Having many more such works in his possession, Orazio gifted the volumes to Magenta. News spread of these lost works of Leonardo's, and Orazio retrieved seven of the 13 manuscripts, which he then gave to [[Pompeo Leoni]] for publication in two volumes; one of these was the ''[[Codex Atlanticus]].'' The other six works had been distributed to a few others.<ref>{{cite book |last=Major |first=Richard Henry |author-link=Richard Henry Major |title=Archaeologia: Or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, Volume 40, Part 1 |date=1866 |publisher=The Society |location=London |pages=15–16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlBIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA15 |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103326/https://books.google.com/books?id=HlBIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> After Orazio's death, his heirs sold the rest of Leonardo's possessions, and thus began their dispersal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Calder |first=Ritchie |url=https://archive.org/details/leonardoageofeye0000cald |title=Leonardo & the Age of the Eye |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1970 |location=New York |pages=275 |isbn=978-0-671-20713-7}}</ref>

Some works have found their way into major collections such as the Royal Library at [[Windsor Castle]], the Louvre, the {{lang|es|[[Biblioteca Nacional de España]]|italic=no}}, the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], the [[Biblioteca Ambrosiana]] in Milan, which holds the 12-volume Codex Atlanticus, and the [[British Library]] in London, which has put a selection from the [[Codex Arundel]] (BL Arundel MS 263) online.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sketches by Leonardo |website=Turning the Pages |publisher=[[British Library]] |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html | access-date =27 September 2007 | archive-date =24 June 2010 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100624031653/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html | url-status =dead}}</ref> Works have also been at [[Holkham Hall]], the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], and in the private hands of [[John Nicholas Brown&nbsp;I]] and [[Robert Lehman]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=169}} The [[Codex Leicester]] is the only privately owned major scientific work of Leonardo; it is owned by [[Bill Gates]] and displayed once a year in different cities around the world.

Most of Leonardo's writings are in [[Mirror writing|mirror-image]] cursive.<ref name="Polidoro" /><ref name="Taylor">{{cite book |last=Da Vinci |first=Leonardo |url=https://archive.org/details/notebooks00leon/page/n11/mode/2up |title=The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=[[New American Library]] |orig-year=1960|year=1971|editor-last=Taylor|editor-first=Pamela |location=New York |page=x |isbn=978-0-486-22572-2|editor2-last=Taylor|editor2-first=Francis Henry|editor-link2=Francis Henry Taylor}}</ref> Since Leonardo wrote with his left hand, it was probably easier for him to write from right to left.<ref>{{cite book |last=Livio |first=Mario|author-link=Mario Livio |title=The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUARfgWRH14C|orig-date=2002 |edition=First trade paperback |year=2003 |publisher=[[Random House|Broadway Books]] |location=New York City |isbn=0-7679-0816-3 |page=136|access-date=22 December 2018|archive-date=13 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313121951/https://books.google.com/books?id=bUARfgWRH14C|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|He also drew with his left hand, his [[Hatching|hatch]] strokes "slanting down from left to right{{snd}} the natural stroke of a left-handed artist".{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=31}} He also sometimes wrote conventionally with his right hand.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/da-vinci-was-ambidextrous-new-handwriting-analysis-shows.amp |title=Da Vinci was ambidextrous, new handwriting analysis shows |last=Ciaccia |first=Chris |website=Fox News |date=15 April 2019|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213082907/https://www.foxnews.com/science/da-vinci-was-ambidextrous-new-handwriting-analysis-shows.amp|url-status=live}}</ref>}} Leonardo used a variety of shorthand and symbols, and states in his notes that he intended to prepare them for publication.<ref name=Taylor /> In many cases a single topic is covered in detail in both words and pictures on a single sheet, together conveying information that would not be lost if the pages were published out of order.<ref>Windsor Castle, Royal Library, sheets RL 19073v–74v and RL 19102.</ref> Why they were not published during Leonardo's lifetime is unknown.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}{{clear left}}

== Science and inventions ==
{{Main|Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci}}
[[File:De divina proportione - Vigintisex Basium Planum Vacuum.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rhombicuboctahedron]] as published in [[Luca Pacioli|Pacioli's]] ''[[Divina proportione]]'' (1509)]]

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 language|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 muove" ("The Sun does not move").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Theodore Andrea|author-link=Theodore Andrea Cook |title=The Curves of Life |year=1914 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028937179/page/n425 390] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028937179 |publisher=Constable and Company Ltd |location=London}}</ref>

In the 1490s he studied mathematics under Luca Pacioli and prepared a series of drawings of regular solids in a skeletal form to be engraved as plates for Pacioli's book ''[[Divina proportione]]'', published in 1509.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} While living in Milan, he studied light from the summit of [[Monte Rosa]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} Scientific writings in his notebook on fossils have been considered as influential on [[Palaeontology#History|early palaeontology]].<ref>Baucon, A. (2010). "Da Vinci's ''Paleodictyon'': the fractal beauty of traces." In: ''Acta Geologica Polonica,'' p. 60(1). Accessible from the [http://www.tracemaker.com/ author's homepage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511153408/http://www.tracemaker.com/ |date=11 May 2019 }}</ref>

The content of his journals suggest that he was planning a series of treatises on a variety of subjects. A coherent treatise on [[anatomy]] is said to have been observed during a visit by Cardinal Louis d'Aragon's secretary in 1517.<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Malley |last2=Saunders |title=Leonardo on the Human Body |year=1982 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York}}</ref> Aspects of his work on the studies of anatomy, light and the landscape were assembled for publication by Melzi and eventually published as ''[[Codex Urbinas|A Treatise on Painting]]'' in France and Italy in 1651 and Germany in 1724,{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=117}} with engravings based upon drawings by the Classical painter [[Nicolas Poussin]].{{sfn|Heydenreich|2020}} According to Arasse, the treatise, which in France went into 62 editions in 50 years, caused Leonardo to be seen as "the precursor of French academic thought on art."{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}

While Leonardo's experimentation followed scientific methods, a recent and exhaustive analysis of Leonardo as a scientist by Fritjof Capra argues that Leonardo was a fundamentally different kind of scientist from [[Galileo]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] and other scientists who followed him in that, as a "[[Polymath|Renaissance Man]]", his theorising and hypothesising integrated the arts and particularly painting.{{sfn|Capra|2007|pp=xvii–xx}}

=== Anatomy and physiology ===
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Leonardo started his study of the [[anatomy]] of the [[human body]] under the apprenticeship of Verrocchio, who demanded that his students develop a deep knowledge of the subject. As an artist, he quickly became master of ''topographic anatomy'', drawing many studies of [[muscle]]s, [[tendon]]s and other visible anatomical features.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

As a successful artist, Leonardo was given permission to [[Dissection|dissect]] human corpses at the [[Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova]] in Florence and later at hospitals in Milan and Rome. From 1510 to 1511 he collaborated in his studies with the doctor [[Marcantonio della Torre]], professor of Anatomy at the [[University of Pavia]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Second-Florentine-period-1500-08 |title=Leonardo da Vinci |encyclopedia=Britannica|access-date=9 August 2022|archive-date=9 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809222523/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Second-Florentine-period-1500-08|url-status=live}}</ref> Leonardo made over 240 detailed drawings and wrote about 13,000 words toward a treatise on anatomy.<ref name=Sooke /> Only a small amount of the material on anatomy was published in Leonardo's ''Treatise on Painting''.<ref name=KDK /> During the time that Melzi was ordering the material into chapters for publication, they were examined by anatomists and artists, including [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]], [[Benvenuto Cellini|Cellini]] and [[Albrecht Dürer]], who made drawings from them.<ref name=KDK />

Leonardo's anatomical drawings include many studies of the [[human skeleton]], its parts, and the muscles and sinews. He studied the mechanical functions of the skeleton and the muscular forces that are applied to it in a manner that prefigured the modern science of [[biomechanics]].<ref name=Mason>{{cite book |last=Mason |first=Stephen F. |title=A History of the Sciences |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofscience00maso |url-access=registration |publisher=Collier Books |year=1962 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofscience00maso/page/550 550]}}</ref> He drew the heart and [[Circulatory system|vascular system]], the [[sex organs]] and other internal organs, making one of the first scientific drawings of a [[foetus]] ''in utero''.<ref name=Popham /> The drawings and notation are far ahead of their time, and if published would undoubtedly have made a major contribution to medical science.<ref name=Sooke>[[Alastair Sooke]],  [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/leonardo-da-vinci/10202124/Leonardo-da-Vinci-Anatomy-of-an-artist.html "Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomy of an artist"], ''Daily Telegraph'', 28 July 2013. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202055415/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/leonardo-da-vinci-met-death-dissected-corpses-embryos-hearts/ |date=2 December 2019 }}, accessed 29 July 2013.</ref>

Leonardo also closely observed and recorded the effects of age and of human emotion on the physiology, studying in particular the effects of age. He drew many figures who had significant facial deformities or signs of illness.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}<ref name=Popham /> Leonardo also studied and drew the anatomy of many animals, dissecting cows, birds, monkeys, bears, and frogs, and comparing in his drawings their anatomical structure with that of humans. He also made studies of horses.<ref name=Popham />

Leonardo's dissections and documentation of muscles, nerves, and vessels helped to describe the physiology and mechanics of movement. He attempted to identify the source of 'emotions' and their expression. He found it difficult to incorporate the prevailing system and theories of [[humorism|bodily humours]], but eventually he abandoned these physiological explanations of bodily functions. He made the observations that humours were not located in cerebral spaces or [[Ventricular system|ventricles]]. He documented that the humours were not contained in the heart or the liver, and that it was the heart that defined the circulatory system. He was the first to define [[atherosclerosis]] and liver [[cirrhosis]]. He created models of the cerebral ventricles with the use of melted wax and constructed a glass [[aorta]] to observe the circulation of blood through the aortic valve by using water and grass seed to watch flow patterns.<ref name="Jones2012">{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Roger |title=Leonardo da Vinci: anatomist |journal=British Journal of General Practice |volume=62 |issue=599 |year=2012 |page=319 |issn=0960-1643 |doi=10.3399/bjgp12X649241 |pmid=22687222 |pmc=3361109}}</ref>

=== Engineering and inventions ===
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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.<ref name="guarnieri1">{{Cite journal |last=Guarnieri |first=M. |s2cid=202729396 |year=2019 |title=Reconsidering Leonardo |journal=IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=35–38 |doi=10.1109/MIE.2019.2929366 |bibcode=2019IIEM...13c..35G |hdl=11577/3310853 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> In a letter of 1482 to the lord of Milan [[Ludovico il Moro]], he wrote that he could create all sorts of machines both for the protection of a city and for siege. When he fled from Milan to Venice in 1499, he found employment as an engineer and devised a system of moveable barricades to protect the city from attack. In 1502, he created a scheme for diverting the flow of the Arno river, a project on which [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] also worked.<ref>{{cite book |last=Masters |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Masters |title=Machiavelli, Leonardo and the Science of Power |year=1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Masters |first=Roger |title=Fortune is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-452-28090-8}}</ref> He continued to contemplate the canalisation of [[Lombardy#Soils|Lombardy's plains]] while in Louis XII's company{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} and of the [[Loire]] and its tributaries in the company of Francis I.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=164}} Leonardo's journals include a vast number of inventions, both practical and impractical. They include [[Viola organista|musical instruments]], [[Leonardo's robot|a mechanical knight]], hydraulic pumps, reversible crank mechanisms, finned mortar shells, and a [[steam cannon]].{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}

[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - 1860,0616.99, Studies of military tank-like machines (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Leonardo's drawings of a scythed chariot and a [[Leonardo's fighting vehicle|fighting vehicle]]]]

Leonardo was fascinated by the phenomenon of [[History of aviation|flight]] for much of his life, producing many studies, including ''[[Codex on the Flight of Birds]]'' ({{circa|1505}}), as well as plans for several flying machines, such as a flapping [[ornithopter]] and a machine with a helical [[Helicopter rotor|rotor]].{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} In a 2003 documentary by British television station [[Channel Four]], titled ''Leonardo's Dream Machines'', various designs by Leonardo, such as a [[Parachute#Early Renaissance|parachute]] and [[Leonardo's crossbow|a giant crossbow]], were interpreted and constructed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365434/ |title=Leonardo's Dream Machines (TV Movie 2003) |website=IMDb|access-date=30 June 2018|archive-date=8 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208160755/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365434/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/leonardo/parachute.html British Library online gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121011521/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/leonardo/parachute.html |date=21 November 2019 }} (retrieved 10 October 2013)</ref> Some of those designs proved successful, whilst others fared less well when tested. Similarly, a team of engineers built ten machines designed by Leonardo in the 2009 American television series ''[[Doing DaVinci]]'', including a [[Leonardo's fighting vehicle|fighting vehicle]] and a [[Leonardo's self-propelled cart|self-propelled cart]].

Research performed by [[Marc van den Broek]] revealed older prototypes for more than 100 inventions that are ascribed to Leonardo. Similarities between Leonardo's illustrations and drawings from the Middle Ages and from Ancient Greece and Rome, the Chinese and Persian Empires, and Egypt suggest that a large portion of Leonardo's inventions had been conceived before his lifetime. Leonardo's innovation was to combine different functions from existing drafts and set them into scenes that illustrated their utility. By reconstituting technical inventions he created something new.<ref>{{citation |mode=cs1 |surname1=[[Marc van den Broek]] |title=Leonardo da Vinci Spirits of Invention. A Search for Traces |publisher=A.TE.M. |location=Hamburg |isbn=978-3-00-063700-1 |date=2019 |language=en}}</ref>

In his notebooks, Leonardo first stated the 'laws' of sliding [[friction]] in 1493.<ref name=Hutchings>{{Cite journal |last=Hutchings |first=Ian M. |date=15 August 2016 |title=Leonardo da Vinci׳s studies of friction |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043164816300588 |journal=Wear |language=en |volume=360–361 |pages=51–66 |doi=10.1016/j.wear.2016.04.019 |issn=0043-1648|access-date=22 January 2021|archive-date=12 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212083723/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043164816300588|url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> His inspiration for investigating friction came about in part from his study of [[perpetual motion]], which he correctly concluded was not possible.{{sfn|Isaacson|2017|pp=194–197}} His results were never published and the friction laws were not rediscovered until 1699 by [[Guillaume Amontons]], with whose name they are now usually associated.<ref group="‡" name=":0" /> For this contribution, Leonardo was named as the first of the 23 "Men of Tribology" by [[Duncan Dowson]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dowson |first=Duncan |date=1 October 1977 |title=Men of Tribology: Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) |url=https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article/99/4/382/429918/Men-of-Tribology-Leonardo-da-Vinci-1452-1519 |journal=Journal of Lubrication Technology |language=en |volume=99 |issue=4 |pages=382–386 |doi=10.1115/1.3453230 |issn=0022-2305|doi-access=free|access-date=22 January 2021|archive-date=23 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223055154/https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article/99/4/382/429918/Men-of-Tribology-Leonardo-da-Vinci-1452-1519|url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Legacy ==
{{further|Cultural references to Leonardo da Vinci|List of things named after Leonardo da Vinci}}

[[File:Statue of Leonardo DaVinci in Uffizi Alley, Florence, Italy.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue outside the [[Uffizi]], Florence, by [[Luigi Pampaloni]] (1791–1847)|alt=]]
Although he had no formal academic training,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Polidoro |first1=Massimo |author-link1=Massimo Polidoro |title=The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci, Part 2 |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |date=2019 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=23–24}}</ref> many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the "[[Universal Genius]]" or "Renaissance Man", an individual of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination."<ref name=HG>{{cite book |first=Helen |last=Gardner |title=Art through the Ages |year=1970 |pages=450–56}}</ref> He is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived.<ref name="genius">See the quotations from the following authors, in section "Fame and reputation": Vasari, Boltraffio, Castiglione, "Anonimo" Gaddiano, Berensen, Taine, Fuseli, Rio, Bortolon.</ref> According to art historian [[Helen Gardner (art historian)|Helen Gardner]], the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent in recorded history, and "his mind and [[Personal life of Leonardo da Vinci|personality]] seem to us superhuman, while the man himself mysterious and remote."<ref name=HG /> Scholars interpret his view of the world as being based in logic, though the empirical methods he used were unorthodox for his time.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=8}}

Leonardo's fame within his own lifetime was such that the King of France carried him away like a trophy, and was claimed to have supported him in his old age and held him in his arms as he died. Interest in Leonardo and his work has never diminished. Crowds still queue to see his best-known artworks, T-shirts still bear his most famous drawing, and writers continue to hail him as a genius while speculating about his private life, as well as about what one so intelligent actually believed in.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}

The continued admiration that Leonardo commanded from painters, critics and historians is reflected in many other written tributes. [[Baldassare Castiglione]], author of ''[[Il&nbsp;Cortegiano]]'' (''The Courtier''), wrote in 1528: "...Another of the greatest painters in this world looks down on this art in which he is unequalled..."<ref>{{cite web | author-link = Baldassare Castiglione |first=Baldassare |last=Castiglione |title=Il Cortegiano |url=https://archive.org/details/illibrodelcorteg00cast_2 |year=1528 |language=Italian}}</ref> while the biographer known as "Anonimo Gaddiano" wrote, {{circa|1540|lk=no}}: "His genius was so rare and universal that it can be said that nature worked a miracle on his behalf..."<ref>"Anonimo Gaddiani", elaborating on ''Libro di Antonio Billi'', 1537–1542</ref> Vasari, in his ''[[Lives of the Artists]]'' (1568), opens his chapter on Leonardo:<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1965|p=255}}</ref>

<blockquote>In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill. Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty, who displayed infinite grace in everything that he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied he solved with ease.</blockquote>

[[File:Francois Ier Leonard de Vinci-Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.jpg|thumb|''[[The Death of Leonardo da Vinci]]'', by [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres|Ingres]], 1818{{efn|name=edict}}|alt=]]

The 19th century brought a particular admiration for Leonardo's genius, causing [[Henry Fuseli]] to write in 1801: "Such was the dawn of modern art, when Leonardo da Vinci broke forth with a splendour that distanced former excellence: made up of all the elements that constitute the essence of genius..."<ref>{{citation |mode=cs1 |first=Henry |last=Fuseli |title=Lectures |series=Vol II |year=1801}}</ref> This is echoed by A. E. Rio who wrote in 1861: "He towered above all other artists through the strength and the nobility of his talents."<ref>{{cite web |first=A.E. |last=Rio |title=L'art chrétien |url=https://archive.org/details/ldpd_10800128_000 |year=1861 |language=French |access-date=19 May 2021}}</ref>

By the 19th century, the scope of Leonardo's notebooks was known, as well as his paintings. [[Hippolyte Taine]] wrote in 1866: "There may not be in the world an example of another genius so universal, so incapable of fulfilment, so full of yearning for the infinite, so naturally refined, so far ahead of his own century and the following centuries."<ref>{{cite web |first=Hippolyte |last=Taine |title=Voyage en Italie |url=https://archive.org/details/voyageenitalie00taingoog |year=1866 |publisher=Paris, Hachette et cie |language=Italian |access-date=19 May 2021}}</ref>

Art historian [[Bernard Berenson]] wrote in 1896: {{blockquote|Leonardo is the one artist of whom it may be said with perfect literalness: Nothing that he touched but turned into a thing of eternal beauty. Whether it be the cross section of a skull, the structure of a weed, or a study of muscles, he, with his feeling for line and for light and shade, forever transmuted it into life-communicating values.<ref>{{cite book |first=Bernard |last=Berenson | author-link = Bernard Berenson |title=The Italian Painters of the Renaissance |year=1896}}</ref>}}

The interest in Leonardo's genius has continued unabated; experts study and translate his writings, analyse his paintings using scientific techniques, argue over attributions and search for works which have been recorded but never found.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artnewsonline.com/currentarticle.cfm?art_id=1240 |title=ArtNews article about current studies into Leonardo's life and works |first=Melinda |last=Henneberger |publisher=Art News Online | access-date = 10 January 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060505165842/http://www.artnewsonline.com/currentarticle.cfm?art_id=1240 |archive-date = 5 May 2006}}</ref> Liana Bortolon, writing in 1967, said: {{blockquote|Because of the multiplicity of interests that spurred him to pursue every field of knowledge...Leonardo can be considered, quite rightly, to have been the universal genius par excellence, and with all the disquieting overtones inherent in that term. Man is as uncomfortable today, faced with a genius, as he was in the 16th century. Five centuries have passed, yet we still view Leonardo with awe.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}}} The [[Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana]] is a special collection at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].<ref>Marmor, Max. "The Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana." ''[[The Book Collector]]'', 38, no. 3 (Autumn 1989): 1–23.</ref>

[[File:Museo leonardiano di vinci, 04.JPG|thumb|[[Leonardian Museum of Vinci|Leonardo Museum in Vinci]], which houses a large collection of models constructed on the basis of Leonardo's drawings|alt=]]
Twenty-first-century author [[Walter Isaacson]] based much of [[Leonardo da Vinci (Isaacson book)|his biography of Leonardo]]{{sfn|Isaacson|2017}} on thousands of notebook entries, studying the personal notes, sketches, budget notations, and musings of the man whom he considers the greatest of innovators. Isaacson was surprised to discover a "fun, joyous" side of Leonardo in addition to his limitless curiosity and creative genius.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Italie |first1=Hillel |title=NonFiction: Biography honors 'fun, joyous' sides of genius da Vinci |agency=Associated Press |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |date=7 January 2018 |page=G6}}</ref>

On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death, the Louvre in Paris arranged for the largest ever single exhibit of his work, called ''Leonardo'', between November 2019 and February 2020. The exhibit includes over 100 paintings, drawings and notebooks. Eleven of the paintings that Leonardo completed in his lifetime were included. Five of these are owned by the Louvre, but the ''Mona Lisa'' was not included because it is in such great demand among general visitors to the Louvre; it remains on display in its gallery. ''Vitruvian Man'', however, is on display following a legal battle with its owner, the [[Gallerie dell'Accademia]] in Venice. ''[[Salvator Mundi (Leonardo)|Salvator Mundi]]''{{efn|''[[Salvator Mundi (Leonardo)|Salvator Mundi]]'', a painting by Leonardo depicting Jesus holding an orb, sold for a world record US$450.3&nbsp;million at a [[Christie's]] auction in New York, 15 November 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/leonardo-da-vinci-painting-salvator-mundi-sells-for-450-3-million-1510794281 |title=Leonardo da Vinci Painting 'Salvator Mundi' Sells for $450.3 Million |last=Crow |first=Kelly |date=16 November 2017 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=16 November 2017 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660|archive-date=29 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629202935/https://www.wsj.com/articles/leonardo-da-vinci-painting-salvator-mundi-sells-for-450-3-million-1510794281|url-status=live}}</ref> The highest known sale price for any artwork was previously US$300&nbsp;million, for [[Willem de Kooning]]'s ''[[Interchange (de Kooning)|Interchange]]'', which was sold privately in September 2015.<ref name=fox>[https://www.foxnews.com/world/leonardo-da-vinci-painting-salvator-mundi-sold-for-record-450-3-million ''Leonardo da Vinci painting 'Salvator Mundi' sold for record $450.3 million''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101192840/https://www.foxnews.com/world/leonardo-da-vinci-painting-salvator-mundi-sold-for-record-450-3-million |date=1 January 2023 }}, Fox News, 16 November 2017</ref> The highest price previously paid for a work of art at auction was for [[Pablo Picasso]]'s ''[[Les Femmes d'Alger]]'', which sold for US$179.4&nbsp;million in May 2015 at Christie's New York.<ref name=fox />}} was also not included because its Saudi owner did not agree to lease the work.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://aleteia.org/2019/12/01/louvre-exhibit-has-most-da-vinci-paintings-ever-assembled/ |title=Leonardo da Vinci's Unexamined Life as a Painter |date=1 December 2019 |magazine=The Atlantic |access-date=1 December 2019 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029051649/https://aleteia.org/2019/12/01/louvre-exhibit-has-most-da-vinci-paintings-ever-assembled/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://aleteia.org/2019/12/01/louvre-exhibit-has-most-da-vinci-paintings-ever-assembled/ |title=Louvre exhibit has most da Vinci paintings ever assembled |date=1 December 2019 |publisher=Aleteia |access-date=1 December 2019 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029051649/https://aleteia.org/2019/12/01/louvre-exhibit-has-most-da-vinci-paintings-ever-assembled/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''Mona Lisa'', considered Leonardo's [[magnum opus]], is often regarded as the most famous portrait ever made.{{sfn|Kemp|2003}}{{sfn|Turner|1993|p=3}} ''The Last Supper'' is the most reproduced religious painting of all time,<ref name=HG /> and Leonardo's ''Vitruvian Man'' drawing is also considered a [[cultural icon]].<ref>Vitruvian Man is referred to as "iconic" at the following websites and many others: [https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Vitruvian-Man.html Vitruvian Man] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002194508/https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Vitruvian-Man.html |date=2 October 2020 }}, [http://artpassions.com/art/1109-Fine-Art-Classics/0000067329-Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Vitruvian-Man.html Fine Art Classics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909064630/http://artpassions.com/art/1109-Fine-Art-Classics/0000067329-Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Vitruvian-Man.html |date=9 September 2017 }}, [http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=403230&sectioncode=26 Key Images in the History of Science]; {{webarchive|title=Curiosity and difference |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130113435/http://ingenious.org.uk/read/identity/bodyimage/Curiosityanddifference/ |date=30 January 2009 }}; [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/aug/30/art1 "The Guardian: The Real da Vinci Code"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803033719/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/aug/30/art1 |date=3 August 2020 }}</ref>

More than a decade of analysis of Leonardo's [[genetic genealogy]], conducted by [[Alessandro Vezzosi]] and Agnese Sabato, came to a conclusion in mid-2021. It was determined that the artist has 14 living male relatives. The work could also help determine the authenticity of remains thought to belong to Leonardo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Turner |first=Ben |date=6 July 2021 |title=Scientists may have cracked the mystery of da Vinci's DNA |url=https://www.livescience.com/da-vinci-family-history.html|access-date=9 July 2021 |website=Live Science|archive-date=8 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708162511/https://www.livescience.com/da-vinci-family-history.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Location of remains ==
[[File:Tombe de Léonard de Vinci.JPG|thumb|upright|Tomb in the chapel of Saint Hubert at the [[Château d'Amboise]] where a plaque describes it as the presumed site of Leonardo's remains]]

While Leonardo was certainly buried in the [[collegiate church]] of Saint Florentin at the Château d'Amboise in 12 August 1519, the current location of his remains is unclear.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/502 502]}}{{sfn|Isaacson|2017|p=515}} Much of Château d'Amboise was damaged during the [[French Revolution]], leading to the church's demolition in 1802.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/502 502]}} Some of the graves were destroyed in the process, scattering the bones interred there and thereby leaving the whereabouts of Leonardo's remains subject to dispute; a gardener may have even buried some in the corner of the courtyard.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/502 502]}}

In 1863, fine-arts [[inspector general]] [[Arsène Houssaye]] received an imperial commission to excavate the site and discovered a partially complete skeleton with a bronze ring on one finger, white hair, and stone fragments bearing the inscriptions "EO", "AR", "DUS", and "VINC"{{snd}} interpreted as forming "Leonardus Vinci".<ref name="Florentine" />{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/502 502]}}<ref name="Ouest">{{cite news |last=Montard |first=Nicolas |date=30 April 2019 |title=Léonard de Vinci est-il vraiment enterré au château d'Amboise? |trans-title=Is Leonardo da Vinci really buried at the Château d'Amboise? |work=[[Ouest-France]] |language=fr |url=https://www.ouest-france.fr/leditiondusoir/data/49693/reader/reader.html?t=1556639116403#!preferred/1/package/49693/pub/71961/page/4 |access-date=4 May 2019 |archive-date=30 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430171845/https://www.ouest-france.fr/leditiondusoir/data/49693/reader/reader.html?t=1556639116403#!preferred/1/package/49693/pub/71961/page/4 |url-status=live}}</ref> The skull's eight teeth correspond to someone of approximately the appropriate age, and a silver shield found near the bones depicts a beardless [[Francis I of France|Francis I]], corresponding to the king's appearance during Leonardo's time in France.<ref name="Ouest" />

Houssaye postulated that the unusually large skull was an indicator of Leonardo's intelligence; author [[Charles Nicholl (author)|Charles Nicholl]] describes this as a "dubious [[phrenological]] deduction".{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/502 502]}} At the same time, Houssaye noted some issues with his observations, including that the feet were turned toward the [[high altar]], a practice generally reserved for [[laymen]], and that the skeleton of {{convert|1.73|m|ft}} seemed too short.<ref name="Ouest" />{{failed verification|talkpage=Talk:Leonardo da Vinci#Houssaye and 1.73 m/5.8ft inconsistency|date=February 2023}} Art historian [[Mary Margaret Heaton]] wrote in 1874 that the height would be appropriate for Leonardo.{{sfn|Heaton|1874|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA204 204]|loc="The skeleton, which measured five feet eight inches, accords with the height of Leonardo da Vinci. The skull might have served for the model of the portrait Leonardo drew of himself in red chalk a few years before his death."}} The skull was allegedly presented to [[Napoleon III]] before being returned to the Château d'Amboise, where they were {{nowrap|re-interred}} in the chapel of Saint Hubert in 1874.<ref name="Ouest" /><ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |last=Knapton |first=Sarah |date=5 May 2016 |title=Leonardo da Vinci paintings analysed for DNA to solve grave mystery |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/05/leonardo-da-vinci-paintings-analysed-for-dna-to-solve-grave-myst/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/05/leonardo-da-vinci-paintings-analysed-for-dna-to-solve-grave-myst/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=21 August 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A plaque above the tomb states that its contents are only presumed to be those of Leonardo.{{sfn|Isaacson|2017|p=515}}

It has since been theorised that the folding of the skeleton's right arm over the head may correspond to the paralysis of Leonardo's right hand.<ref name="paralysis" /><ref name="neurology" /><ref name="Ouest" /> In 2016, it was announced that DNA tests would be conducted to determine whether the attribution is correct.<ref name="telegraph" /> The DNA of the remains will be compared to that of samples collected from Leonardo's work and his half-brother Domenico's descendants;<ref name="telegraph" /> it may also be [[DNA sequencing|sequenced]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Newman |first=Lily Hay |date=6 May 2016 |work=Slate Magazine |title=Researchers Are Planning to Sequence Leonardo da Vinci's 500-Year-Old Genome |url=https://slate.com/technology/2016/05/scientists-at-the-leonardo-project-want-to-sequence-da-vinci-s-genome.html |access-date=4 May 2019 |archive-date=7 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307140612/https://slate.com/technology/2016/05/scientists-at-the-leonardo-project-want-to-sequence-da-vinci-s-genome.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, documents were published revealing that Houssaye had kept the ring and a lock of hair. In 1925, his great-grandson sold these to an American collector. Sixty years later, another American acquired them, leading to their being displayed at the [[Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci|Leonardo Museum in Vinci]] beginning on 2 May 2019, the 500th anniversary of the artist's death.<ref name="Florentine" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Messia |first1=Hada |last2=Robinson |first2=Matthew |date=30 April 2019 |title=Leonardo da Vinci's 'hair' to undergo DNA testing |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/leonardo-da-vinci-hair-lock-intl-scli/index.html |access-date=3 May 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128121823/http://www.cnn.com/style/article/leonardo-da-vinci-hair-lock-intl-scli/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Leonardo polyhedron]]

== Notes ==
'''General'''
{{notelist}}

'''Dates of works'''
{{Reflist|group=d|colwidth=30em}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
'''Early'''
{{Reflist|group="‡"|colwidth=20em}}

'''Modern'''
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}

=== Works cited ===
==== Early ====
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author=Anonimo Gaddiano |author-link=Anonimo Gaddiano |year=c. 1530 |title=Codice Magliabechiano |chapter=Leonardo da Vinci}} in {{cite book |year=2019 |title=Lives of Leonardo da Vinci (Lives of the Artists) |publisher=[[J. Paul Getty Museum]] |location=Los Angeles |isbn=978-1-60606-621-8 |pages=103–114}}
* {{cite book |last=Giovio |first=Paolo |author-link=Paolo Giovio |year=c. 1527 |title=Elogia virorum illustrium |chapter=The Life of Leonardo da Vinci}} in {{cite book |year=2019 |title=Lives of Leonardo da Vinci (Lives of the Artists) |publisher=[[J. Paul Getty Museum]] |location=Los Angeles |isbn=978-1-60606-621-8 |pages=103–114}}
* {{cite book |last=Vasari |first=Giorgio |author-link=Giorgio Vasari |year=1965 |orig-date=1568 |title=[[Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects|Lives of the Artists]] |chapter=The Life of Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Penguin Classics |translator=George Bull |isbn=978-0-14-044164-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Vasari |first=Giorgio|author-mask=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/livesofartists0000vasa_k5j0 |title=The Lives of the Artists |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1991|orig-date=1568 |isbn=0-19-283410-X |series=Oxford World's Classics |language=en|translator-last=Bondanella|translator-first=Peter|translator-last2=Bondanella|translator-first2=Julia Conway}}
{{refend}}

==== Modern ====
'''Books'''
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book |author-link=:fr:Daniel Arasse |author=Arasse, Daniel |year=1998 |title=Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Konecky & Konecky |location=[[Old Saybrook]] |isbn=978-1-56852-198-5 |ref={{sfnRef|Arasse|1998}} }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Bambach |editor-first=Carmen C. |editor-link=Carmen C. Bambach |year=2003 |title=Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-300-09878-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwQxDJMKRE4C |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103327/https://books.google.com/books?id=QwQxDJMKRE4C |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Bambach |first=Carmen C. |author-link=Carmen C. Bambach |year=2019 |title=Leonardo da Vinci Rediscovered |volume=1, The Making of an Artist: 1452–1500 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-19195-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Bortolon |first=Liana |year=1967 |title=The Life and Times of Leonardo |publisher=Paul Hamlyn |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=David Alan |year=1998 |title=Leonardo Da Vinci: Origins of a Genius |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-07246-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z34SeyFWV8oC |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103327/https://books.google.com/books?id=z34SeyFWV8oC |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Capra |first=Fritjof |year=2007 |author-link=Fritjof Capra |title=The Science of Leonardo |publisher=Doubleday |location=US |isbn=978-0-385-51390-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/scienceofleonard00capr |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Clark |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Clark |year=1961 |title=Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=City of Westminster |oclc=187223}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gasca |first1=Ana Millàn |last2=Nicolò |first2=Fernando |last3=Lucertini |first3=Mario |year=2004 |title=Technological Concepts and Mathematical Models in the Evolution of Modern Engineering Systems |publisher=Birkhauser |isbn=978-3-7643-6940-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-3-0348-7951-4 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Hartt |first=Frederich |year=1970 |title=A History of Italian Renaissance Art |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-23136-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Heaton |first=Mary Margaret |author-link=Mary Margaret Heaton |year=1874 |title=Leonardo Da Vinci and His Works: Consisting of a Life of Leonardo Da Vinci |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=New York |oclc=1706262 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUaAAAAYAAJ |access-date=26 September 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103328/https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUaAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Isaacson |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Isaacson |year=2017 |title=Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-5011-3915-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkA5DwAAQBAJ |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103329/https://books.google.com/books?id=vkA5DwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Kemp (art historian) |year=2006 |orig-date=1981 |title=Leonardo Da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-920778-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJwVDAAAQBAJ |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103329/https://books.google.com/books?id=oJwVDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Martin |year=2011 |orig-date=2004 |title=Leonardo |edition=Revised |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-19-280644-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Martin |last2=Pallanti |first2=Giuseppe |year=2017 |title=Mona Lisa: The People and the Painting |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-874990-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Martin |year=2019 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: The 100 Milestones |publisher=[[Sterling Publishing|Sterling]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4549-3042-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Magnano |first=Milena |year=2007 |title=Leonardo |series=I geni dell'arte |location=Milano |publisher=Mondadori Arte |isbn=978-88-370-6432-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Marani |first=Pietro C. | author-link=Pietro C. Marani |year=2003 |orig-date=2000 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings |publisher=[[Harry N. Abrams]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8109-3581-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Martindale |first=Andrew |year=1972 |title=The Rise of the Artist |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-56006-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/riseofartistinmi0000mart |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Nicholl |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Nicholl (author) |year=2005 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind |title-link=Leonardo da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-14-029681-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=O'Malley |first1=Charles D. |author-link=Charles D. O'Malley|last2=Saunders |first2=J.B. de C.M. |year=1952 |title=Leonardo on the Human Body: The Anatomical, Physiological, and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. With Translations, Emendations and a Biographical Introduction |publisher=Henry Schuman |location=New York}}
* {{cite book |last=Ottino della Chiesa |first=Angela |year=1967 |title=The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci |translator-last=Jay |translator-first=Madeline |series=Classics of the World's Great Art |publisher=[[Harry N. Abrams]] |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/completepainting0000unse_v5k6}}
* {{cite book |last=Pedretti |first=Carlo |author-link=Carlo Pedretti |year=1982 |title=Leonardo, a study in chronology and style |publisher=Johnson Reprint Corp |location=Cambridge |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=TgXMajWbVfcC}} |isbn=978-0-384-45281-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Pedretti |first=Carlo |year=2006 |title=Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Taj Books International |location=Surrey |isbn=978-1-84406-036-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Popham |first=A.E. |author-link=Arthur E. Popham| year=1976|orig-year=1946 |title=The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Jonathan Cape | isbn=978-0-224-60462-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Richter |first=Jean Paul |author-link=Jean Paul Richter |year=1970 |title=The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Dover |isbn=978-0-486-22572-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/notebooksofleona01leon |url-access=registration}} volume 2: {{ISBN|0-486-22573-9}}. A reprint of [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5000 the original 1883 edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728201301/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5000 |date=28 July 2020 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rosci |first=Marco |year=1977 |title=Leonardo |publisher=Bay Books Pty Ltd |isbn=978-0-85835-176-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Syson |first1=Luke |last2=Keith |first2=Larry |last3=Galansino |first3=Arturo |last4=Mazzotta |first4=Antoni |last5=Nethersole |first5=Scott |last6=Rumberg |first6=Per |year=2011 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan |publisher=[[National Gallery]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-85709-491-6 |ref={{sfnRef|Syson ''et al.''|2011}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Turner |first=A. Richard |year=1993 |title=Inventing Leonardo |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-520-08938-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zlMZDSe21aAC |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103833/https://books.google.com/books?id=zlMZDSe21aAC |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Vezzosi |first=Alessandro |author-link=Alessandro Vezzosi |translator-last=Bonfante-Warren |translator-first=Alexandra |year=1997 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man |title-link=Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance |series='[[Découvertes Gallimard|New Horizons]]' series |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |edition=English translation |isbn=978-0-500-30081-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Wallace |first=Robert |year=1972 |orig-date=1966 |title=The World of Leonardo: 1452–1519 |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofleonardo100wall}}
* {{cite book |last=Wasserman |first=Jack |year=1975 |title=Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=[[Harry N. Abrams]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8109-0262-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Williamson |first=Hugh Ross |author-link=Hugh Ross Williamson |year=1974 |title=Lorenzo the Magnificent |publisher=Michael Joseph |isbn=978-0-7181-1204-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Zöllner |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Zöllner |year=2015 |title=Leonardo |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Taschen]] |location=Cologne |isbn=978-3-8365-0215-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Zöllner |first=Frank |year=2019 |orig-date=2003 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings |edition=Anniversary |publisher=[[Taschen]] |location=Cologne |isbn=978-3-8365-7625-3}}
{{refend}}

'''Journals and encyclopedia articles'''
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite journal |last=Brown |first=David Alan |date=1983 |title=Leonardo and the Idealized Portrait in Milan |journal=Arte Lombarda |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=102–116 |jstor=43105426}} {{subscription required}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Leonardo da Vinci | volume= 16 |last1= Colvin |first1= Sidney |author1-link= Sidney Colvin | pages = 444–454 |short=1}}
* {{cite book |last=Cremante |first=Simona |year=2005 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor |publisher=Giunti |isbn=978-88-09-03891-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Giacomelli |first=Raffaele |author-link=Raffaele Giacomelli |year=1936 |title=Gli scritti di Leonardo da Vinci sul volo |publisher=G. Bardi |location=Roma}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Heydenreich |first=Ludwig Heinrich |author-link=Ludwig Heinrich Heydenreich |date=28 April 2020 |title=Leonardo da Vinci &#124; Biography, Art & Facts &#124; Britannica |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=Chicago |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci |access-date=26 September 2020 |archive-date=25 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225152720/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/336408/Leonardo-da-Vinci/59104/Science |url-status=live}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Kemp |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Kemp (art historian) |year=2003 |title=Leonardo da Vinci |encyclopedia=[[Grove Art Online]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T050401 |isbn=978-1-884446-05-4 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000050401 |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=11 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311022526/https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000050401 |url-status=live}} {{Grove Art subscription}}
* {{cite journal |last=Lupia |first=John N. |date=Summer 1994 |title=The Secret Revealed: How to Look at Italian Renaissance Painting |journal=Medieval and Renaissance Times |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=6–17 |issn=1075-2110}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
See {{harvtxt|Kemp|2003}} and {{harvtxt|Bambach|2019|pp=442–579}} for extensive bibliographies
{{Library resources box |by=yes |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Leonardo da Vinci }}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Vanna  |editor1-first=Arrighi |editor2-last=Bellinazzi |editor2-first=Anna |editor3-last=Villata |editor3-first=Edoardo |year=2005 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: la vera immagine: documenti e testimonianze sulla vita e sull'opera |trans-title=Leonardo da Vinci: the true image: documents and testimonies on life and work |language=Italian |publisher=[[Giunti Editore]] |location=Florence |isbn=978-88-09-04519-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Vecce |first=Carlo |author-link=Carlo Vecce |others=Foreword by [[Carlo Pedretti]] |year=2006 |title=Leonardo |language=Italian |publisher=Salerno |location=Rome |isbn=978-88-8402-548-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Winternitz |first=Emanuel |year=1982 |title=Leonardo da Vinci As a Musician |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-02631-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/leonardodavincia0000wint |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |year=1983 |title=Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle |publisher=[[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87099-362-6 |url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/84801/rec/2 |access-date=31 January 2013 |archive-date=15 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715011701/http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/84801/rec/2 |url-status=live}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
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'''General'''
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061015075342/http://www.universalleonardo.org/index.php Universal Leonardo]}}, a database of Leonardo's life and works maintained by [[Martin Kemp (art historian)|Martin Kemp]] and Marina Wallace
* [https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/leonardo-da-vinci Leonardo da Vinci] on the [[National Gallery]] website

'''Works'''
* [http://www.catalogo.bibliotecaleonardiana.it/ Biblioteca Leonardiana], online bibliography (in Italian)
* [https://www.leonardodigitale.com/ e-Leo: Archivio digitale di storia della tecnica e della scienza], archive of drawings, notes and manuscripts
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1629}}
* {{Librivox author|id=12252}}
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/dv/index.htm Complete text and images of Richter's translation of the Notebooks]
* [https://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/The-Notebooks-of-Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Complete1 The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardo Da Vinci}}
[[Category:Leonardo da Vinci| ]]
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