The Life and Famous Works of Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci was born on Saturday, April 15, 1452, in the small hamlet of Anchiano not far from the Tuscan town of Vinci situated about twenty miles west of Florence. He was the illegitimate son of Master Piero da Vinci, who was a notary public. In the same year Leonardo was born, Ser Piero married his first wife. He didn't marry Leonardos mother Caterina. She was probably the daughter of a farmer. (library.thinkquest.org/3044 adv_over.html 1)Local tradition locates his birthplace to a stone cottage that overlooks fields of olive groves. .
Leonardo da Vinci was a very talented man. Other than his mathematical achievements, he also became a great inventor, astronomer, scientist and of coarse a painter. Besides having the great talent and potential for painting, geometry was his main love for life. He received his education in his father's house: the usual elementary education of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Then in 1467, when he was seventeen years old, he became an apprentice to Verrocchio; learning painting, sculpture, and attained technical and mechanical skills. In 1472 and the age of 20, "Leanardo di Ser Pierro da Vinci dipintor" was accepted into the painters" guild in Florence, but he continued to work as an apprentice until 1477. In 1476, he was denounced by the Night Watch, but was acquitted of the charge of immoral conduct. Someone wrote a letter to the city governors and thus, started a rumor, telling of his homosexuality. His family, as well as Verrocchio, intervened and eventually the charges were dropped. It is thought that this is why he spent much of his life as a recluse. (www.loadstar.prometeus.net/leonardo/life.html 1) He returned to Florence in 1500. (Hart 96) .
The Mona Lisa.
The Mona Lisa is regarded as the most famous and well-known works in all of art history. Leonardo painted it while working on The Battle of Anghiari between 1503 and 1506.