Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

This portrait attributed to Francesco Melzi, c. 1515–1518, is the only certain contemporary depiction of Leonardo.

Childhood

The house where Leonardo lived as a child

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the village of Anciano near the small town of Vinci, near Florence at "three o'clock in the morning" that is, at 22:30 according to modern time. A remarkable entry in the diary of Leonardo's grandfather, Antonio da Vinci (1372-1468) (literal translation): "On Saturday, at three o'clock in the morning on April 15, my grandson, the son of my son Piero, was born. The boy was named Leonardo. He was baptized by Father Piero di Bartolomeo." His parents were the 25-year-old notary Pierrot (1427-1504) and his beloved, peasant Katerina. Leonardo spent the first years of his life with his mother. His father soon married a rich and noble girl, but this marriage turned out to be childless, and Piero took his three-year-old son to be raised. Separated from his mother, Leonardo spent his whole life trying to recreate her image in his masterpieces. He lived at that time with his grandfather.

In 1466 Leonardo da Vinci entered the studio of Verrocchio as an artist's apprentice.

Verrocchio's workshop was located in the intellectual center of what was then Italy, the city of Florence, which allowed Leonardo to study the humanities, as well as acquire some technical skills. He studied drawing, chemistry, metallurgy, working with metal, plaster and leather. In addition, the young apprentice was engaged in drawing, sculpture and modeling. In addition to Leonardo, Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi, Agnolo di Polo studied in the workshop, Botticelli worked, such famous masters as Ghirlandaio and others often visited. Subsequently, even when Leonardo's father takes him to work in his workshop, he continues to cooperate with Verrocchio.

In 1473, at the age of 20, Leonardo da Vinci qualified as a master in the Guild of St. Luke.

Verrocchio's Workshop

Verrocchio's painting "The Baptism of Christ". The angel on the left (lower left corner) is a creation by Leonardo

Annunciazione(Annunciation)

The Annunciation" (ital. Annunciazione) is one of the earliest paintings by Leonardo da Vinci. Presumably created in 1472-1475, when Leonardo was still working in the workshop of his teacher Verrocchio. The picture illustrates the gospel text about the Annunciation — the announcement by the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary about the future birth of Jesus Christ.

Battaglia di Anghiari

The lost fresco by Leonardo da Vinci. The artist worked on it in 1503-1506 .

The fresco was intended to decorate one of the walls of the hall of the Grand Council (Salon of the Five Hundred) of the Signoria Palace in Florence.

Copies of the cardboard for this fresco have been preserved. One of the best drawings — by Rubens — is in the collection of the Louvre.

Cenacol(The Last Supper)