~Childhood~

          My childhood  wasn't how you would expect a normal childhood to be.  My father, Ser Piero, was a notary who didn't make alot of money.  My mother, Caterina, was a peasant girl.  My mother and father were never married.  In the same year that I was born, my father married his first wife.  I was born on April 15, 1452.  I was born in Anchiano, but when I was around five, I moved in with my grandparents, in Vinci, Italy.  Soon after I was born, my mother found someone to marry, and so my father got custody of me.  Even after the seperation, my mother and father continued to have children.  I now have a total of seventeen half brother and sisters.

          While I was living with my grandmother and grandfather, I attended school there.  I learned how to read, write and to calculate.  I was also taught geometry and to speak Latin.  Once I turned 14, I moved to Florence where I began an apprenticeship in the workshop of Verrocchio.

~Apprenticeship~

               Once I started my apprenticeship with Verrocchio, things got very good for me. While I was working with him, he started to be fascinated with my work.  I was shocked that he like my work so much because I was working with one of the best painters and artist of that time. Verrocchio was good in all type of things.  He was a sculptor, painter, goldsmith, bronze caster and more.  When  Verrocchio really started liking my work, he gave me a spot in the workshop. So, once I  got a spot in the work shop, I began working with some of the finest artist of that time.  Such as Botticelli, Perugino and Lorenzo di Credi.

               I started my apprenticeship with the mixing of colors and then I began to paint the simple parts of paintings.  During 1466-1472 I didn't do any paintings. I taught myself to paint in oils during this time. 

               In June 1472, I was listed in the red book of painters from Florence.  With my membership in the red book, that ended my apprenticeship with Verrocchio.  Even after the ending of my apprenticeship, I still didn't leave the workshop.

  This is a cut out of the Red Book of painters, where my ancient name was listed, Lionardo.

~First Works~

               My first and dated project was a pen-and-ink drawing of the Arnovalley.  I drew this picture on August 5, 1473.  I drew this drawing where if you look at it, it makes it seem like it is real and that you're right there in the picture.  Kind of like 3-D.  No one had ever done it this way before, so that's why I did it that way.

This is the Arnovalley painting.

               In 1476, Verrocchio and I decided that we would work together and make a painting.  It worked out very well and we created the wonderful painting by the name of Baptism Of Christ.  I painted the front angel and the landscape.  If you look at the painting, you can tell the difference between his work and my work. 

This is the Baptism of Christ.

               During 1476-1478, I had opened my own shop because I had gotten two orders from someone to paint them pictures.  I drew a sketch of a youth and my angel from the Baptism Of Christ.  Also, you can see that I had already studied the basics of mechanics because they were related in the picture.

This is the sketch that I drew while I had my own workshop.

               Also, Leonardo da Vinci invented the first ever airplane.  Even though it never made it off the ground, he was the first person to ever think of such an idea.  He made drawings and mapped out what he needed to do, in order to make an airplane. 

~Famous Pieces~

               During my life time I have had a few projects that have become really famous.  The most famous one of all my projects is the Mona Lisa, it's real name is Mona Lisa Del Gioconda.  It was originally it was larger than what you see it as today.  Two sides, one on the left, and one on the right, have been cut off.  That is why it is hard to tell that she is sitting on a Terrace.  It is also hard to notice the details of the Mona Lisa.  This is because some parts of the painting are partially damaged.  One detail that is known about the Mona Lisa,  is that it has no eyebrows.  A lot of things happened to the Mona Lisa, it was stolen several times, moved to different places and other things.  One time when it got stolen, they attempted to pour acid on the portrait, but it only damaged the bottom half of the project. Restoration took many years. 

  This is the Mona Lisa.  Today it is in a museum in Paris in a bullet proof glass case.

               In 1495, I began painting The Last Supper of the dining hall of the Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy and completed it in 1498.  The Last Supper  was painted on the northern wall of the dining room.  It measures fifteen by twenty-nine feet. It still stands whole as of today, besides the construction of a doorway in 1653, which eliminated the lower central area of the painting.

                The Last Supper is a typical subject chosen for the decoration of many refectories because of the theme of sacrifice, I chose to capture the moment when Jesus announces to the apostles that he knows that one of them will betray him.  The apostles are caught in their sense of astonishment immediately after this announcement. 

This is a picture of The Last Supper.  After going through many restorations.

~Death~ 

               It was a very sad day on May 2, 1519, this is the day that Leonardo da Vinci died.  He had previously had been paralyzed on the right side of his body since 1517.  Also, a few weeks before Leonardo had passed, he had come down with an illness.  Although this is just a legend, they say that  as soon as King Francis  heard about Leo's illness, he came right there to see Leo.  This is only a legend, because on May 1, 1519, King Francis was in St. Germain en Laye and so he couldn't be in Amboise one day later.  In 1929. Cesare Mussini painted a picture of the final meeting with Leonardo da Vinci.

This is the picture of the last meeting, painted by Cesare Mussini.

               On April 23, 1519, Leonardo wrote his last and final will.  The chapel of St. Hubert is the last resting place of Leonardo da Vinci.  Originally, Leonardo was buried in the heart of the king castle in San Fiorentino.  After destruction of the church and parts of the castle, Leonardo was transferred to the Chapel of St. Hubert.

This is the Chapel where Leonardo's last resting place was.