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Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance painter who was considered as a man of “unquenchable curiosity.” Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy (which is outside of Florence, Italy). Da Vinci was the son of Ser Piero and a peasant girl, Caterina. Leonardo’s father took custody of him a short time after his birth. His mother married someone else then moved. Eventually, they kept having children, but not with each other. Later on, Leonardo had seventeen half brothers and sisters.
Growing up in his father’s home in Vinci, Leonardo had access to many scholarly texts. He was exposed to Italy’s rich painting community. When he was fifteen, his father sent him to a workshop in Florence. He demonstrated his amazing talent there. One of Leonardo’s first big breaks was to paint an angel in Verrocchio’s “Baptism of Christ.” Leonardo was so much better than Verrocchio that he decided to never paint again. He stayed at this workshop until 1477.
In 1482, he entered the service of Duke of Milan while leaving Florence. He spent seventeen years in Milan, leaving after Duke Sforza’s fall from power in 1499. During this time, Leonardo reached different height of artistic achievements.
The Duke kept Leonardo busy painting and sculpting and designing court festivals, but at the same time he had to work on designing weapons and machinery. From 1485 to 1490, Leonardo began to study on a large variety of subjects. Some of them were nature, geometry, and architecture. During this period, he also produced his first anatomical studies. His Milan workshop was so high in activity that more and more students wanted to join.
Leonardo’s interests were so broad, he was often compelled by new subjects that he usually failed to finish what he started. Since he lacked to finish what he started, he only performed six works in seventeen

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