When one thinks of a great painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, scientist, an intelligent man, and a well-rounded person, Leonardo da Vinci is a perfect example. With his precise drawings, anatomical studies of people, animals, and plants, studies of astronomy, geology, geometry and optics, and his designs of flying machinery, Leonardo is a supreme genius of the Renaissance. His creative ideas in all aspects of his knowledge have inspired many people and things around the world.
             Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15th, 1452. The village of Vinci, which is located in central Italy, is where Leonardo was raised as a child. He was born out of wedlock between Ser Piero da Vinci and a peasant woman, Caterina. Around the late 1460s, Leonardo moved to Florence, where he entered the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, a leading painter, and sculptor in Italy, and became an apprentice. While Leonardo was completing his apprenticeship for several years, he worked alongside with Verrocchio on the painting The Baptism of Christ. During the early 1480s, while Leonardo had his own studio, he began to paint a church altarpiece, Adoration of the Kings. Because Leonardo left Florence around 1482 to become the court artist for Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, he was unable to complete the Adoration of the Kings. As a court artist, Leonardo had many duties, such as a civil and military engineer. He was also a sculptor, where he planned a huge monument of the duke's father mounted on a horse (World Book, 199). Also, Leonardo painted the Madonna of the Rocks and the famous wall painting The Last Supper while he was in Milan. Leonardo returned to Florence after the French overthrew Sforza. Because Sfroza was overthrown, he was forced to flee Milan, which also meant Leonardo had to leave. His paintings, however, remained in Milan and made him very famous. He gained a lot of respect and influenced many people such as Sandro Botticel...