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Leonardo di Vinci (1452-1519)Leonardo di Vinci was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, inventor, and scientist. Because he was all of these things he has been considered an example of Renaissance genius as well as one of the greatest minds of all time. He actually lacked a formal education. In his art works he would illustrate with scientific precision and artistry, subjects ranging from flying machines to caricatures; his works also included anatomical studies of people, animals, and plants. Di Vinci was a curious seeker of knowledge and explored new concepts in both art and science. From his scientific notebooks and inventions it is clear that he was years even centuries ahead of his time. Di Vinci's Mona Lisa and Last Supper stand out as the most influential and significant works of the Renaissance. To be able to paint a portrait, he studied anatomy to be able to understand how the human body worked. When it came to painting a landscape, he would undertake to study the field of botany in order to know how plants and trees developed. He would make scientific studies of how water flowed, how the light reflected off water and objects. He would even study the flight of birds and the movement of animals, all this so that he could render a more realistic image of these subjects. In this way he set out to give his images a near photograhic quality.
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