Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a genius.

His surname da Vinci,

means from Vinci, which indicates that he was born in a small Italian
town called Vinci.

Leonardo was a painter, sculptor, architect, a poet, musician, scientist,
mathematician, inventor, astronomer, engineer, physicist and
philosopher! He worked in aeronautics, anatomy and defence. He had a
very curious and creative mind and was always studying science, nature
and the human body to see what he could learn. He designed a
parachute, a bicycle, a flying machine, a submarine and even a
helicopterall of them hundreds of years before anyone else even
dreamed about the need for them.

Leonardos mind was always quite active, but he was interested in so
many things that quite often he did not finish his tasks. He completed
very few paintings in his life: only 17 still exist, and not all of these are
finished! Leonardo's patrons didnt think he was a good employee
because he was so unreliable! In fact he was sued by patrons for not
finishing work that he was paid for.

Leonardos most famous painting is the Mona Lisa, painted between
1503 and 1506. the painting is so famous that you may have seen it
many times, but have you ever looked at it closely? For example, have
you noticed that the woman does not have any eyebrows? The fashion
of the time said that eyebrows should be plucked! Her hairline has also
been plucked high on her forehead. Ouch!

Interesting Facts:
Leonardo dissected more than 30 corpses in his search for
knowledge about the human body.
Leonardo was left handed. It was easier for him to write form
right to left, so that his writing hand did not smudge the wet ink.
His thousands of pages of notes were written in reverse and
needed to be held up to a mirror to be read. Some historians
believe that he wrote in reverse because he wanted to keep his
ideas and inventions secret.
Study of proportions
from Vitruvius's De Architectura
Pen and ink
34.3 x 24.5 cm
Mona Lisa
1503
Oil on wood
77x53cm
Leonardo da Vinci Questions:
Read the information about Leonardo da Vinci, look carefully at the
diagrams/pictures and then answer the following questions in your VAPD.

1. When was Leonardo da Vinci born?
2. Leonardo was a painter, inventor, mathematician . And what else?
3. List 5 things that Leonardo designed.
4. How many of Leonardos paintings exist today?
5. Why was Leonardo sued by some of his patrons?
6. What is Leonardos most famous painting?
7. When was this painting painted? And what was its size?
8. What was one thing you have learnt about Leonardo da Vinci form
your reading?
The ornithopter flying machine was
never actually created. It was a design
that Leonardo DaVinci made to show
how man could fly. Some experts say
that the modern day helicopter was
inspired by this design.