Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 14, 1452 in the
             town of Vinci located near Florence, Italy. He lived
             during the fifteenth century, which is a period when the
             people of Europe become fascinated with art. This
             period of time was known as the Renaissance period.
             As history tells it, Leonardo Da Vinci was very talented.
             He was known as a great artist, but he became famous
             because he was able to do so many other things. He
             was an architect, a musician, inventor, sculptor,
             scientist, and a mathematician. His artistic talent
             revealed its self early in his life. When he was about
             fifteen years old, Leonardo's father took him to Florence
             Italy, to train as a painter and sculptor in the studio of
             Andrea del Verroccho. He studied with this master until
             the age of twenty five. At this point, he set up his own
             business and was famous for being a painter and a man
             of science. As a scientist, he observed everything he
             could out of nature. Leonardo used what he learned
             from nature and science to make his paintings to look
             realistic. He drew and took many notes of what he
             observed from the environment around him. HIs notes
             were written backwards, probably because he didn't
             want people to read about these wonderful discoveries
             and observations. In order to read Leonardo's notes,
             one has to hold them up to a mirror. In 1472 he entered
             a painters' professional group. His earliest extensive
             works date back to this time. In 1482 Da Vinci worked
             for Duke Lodovico Sforza in Milan for eighteen years.
             He accomplished the position as court artist, but also
             worked as an engineer and architect. While in Milan,
             Leonardo developed more theories about painting.
             Leonardo believed that knowledge should be based on
             observation. He believed that observation led to
             understanding, and artists had an responsibility to
             record this understanding by painting accu...