Leonardo da Vinci was a Florentine artist, one of the great teachers of the High Renaissance, which is also celebrated as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineers, and scientists. Love-depth knowledge and research is the essence of both artistic and scientific efforts. His innovations in the field of painting influenced the course of Italian art for more than a century after his death, and scientific studies-particularly in the field of anatomy, optics, and hydraulics-anticipated many of the developments of modern science. Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, in the small Tuscan town of Vinci, near Florence. He was the son of a wealthy Florentine notary and a peasant woman. In the mid-1460s the family settled in Florence, where Leonardo was given the best education that Florence, the intellectual and artistic center of Italy, could offer. He quickly advanced socially and intellectually. He was handsome, persuasive in conversation, and a fine musician and improvisation. About 1466 he ...