Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo performed autopsies on corpses to improve his knowledge of physiology, and ridiculed lesser artists' depictions of human flesh, saying they looked like "sacks of nuts". His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of his time. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man", a man infinitely curious and equally inventive. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time.

Mona Lisa
(La Gioconda)

c.1503-1507
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Self Portrait

c.1512
Biblioteka Reale, Turin

Virgin of the Rocks

Oil on wood, 1506
74.6" x 47.2" (189.5 x 120 cm)
National Gallery, London

The Last Supper

Tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic, 1498
181" x 346.4" (460 x 880 cm)
Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Madonna Litta

Oil on canvas, c.1490-1491
16.5" x 13" (42 x 33 cm)
Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Vitruvian Man

Pen and ink, 1492
13.5" x 9.6" (34.3 x 24.5 cm)
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice