The Italian Renaissance was all about improvement and the acquisition of new knowledge, ways of doing things, as well as ways of thinking about them. The people of the Italian Renaissance made huge improvements in areas such as painting, sculpture, anatomy, architecture, and the defense of their country. Not one person out of all of those who made an advance in one or two of these areas could not contend with what one man accomplished in all of the above areas. Leonardo DaVinci was a man who stood for everything that the Renaissance was thought to be. That is why he was one of the greats of the Italian Renaissance along with Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael, as well as being referred to as "The Renaissance Man.".
Leonardo was born an illegitimate child to a notary and a young woman by the name of Caterina. He lived with his father from the beginning and soon developed an interest in nature, which soon spread to every aspect of his life. Leonardo and his father moved to Florence when he was 8 years old to start an apprenticeship with an artisan named Verrocchio. Leonardo's greatest influence came from this man, but soon his skill surpassed that of even his master.
In the world of painting Leonardo's brush revealed to the world some of the most magnificent paintings ever seen, even to this day. One of them, actually a fresco, is The Last Supper. Being the curious ever-inventing person he is. Leonardo decided to try and do this particular fresco a different way than was the norm at this time. He tried applying tempera to the fresh plaster as opposed to using the pigment in water. None of his ideas worked as well as he obviously hoped that it would. It is reported that he had to scrape the plaster off and start again several times. Leonardo being a very religious man decided that this would not be such an easy thing to portray, and he had an extremely difficult time painting the face of Jesus.