Leonardo da Vinci is probably the most famous artist of the Renaissance Period and perhaps all time. But what many people don't know is that he wasn't just a genius in art but he also excelled in sculpting, architecture, and inventing.
             Leonardo was born in a small stone house on April 15, 1452. He was born an illegitimate child in the small town of Vinci. We don't know much of anything about his mother accept her name was Caterina and in town history she was known to be a barmaid. On the other hand, we know much about his father. His father's name was Piero da Vinci. Piero was in his mid-twenties when Leonardo was born and he worked as a lawyer in the small town of Vinci and later moved to Florence where he became a very accomplished lawyer. Piero was a man who seemed to have bad luck because he had four wives and three of them died. He wasn't the nicest guy either because he wasn't going to take Leonardo in until he found out his new 16-year-old wife was barren. While Leonardo was growing up his father noticed his artistic talent and at the age of 15 his father took him to Florence to an art studio where he worked under Giorgio Vasari. Vasari wrote much about Leonardo after his death. He wrote that Leonardo had "a spirit and courage invariably royal and magnanimous"(The World of Leonardo, pg12) and he "could sing and improvise divinely"(The World of Leonardo, pg12). In Vasari's biography you can tell that he had much respect for Leonardo he pictures him as a happy young man that was a singer, flute player, and could converse for hours. Leonardo was entered into the painters guild shortly after his apprenticeship and started painting. Its weird though that Leonardo is known so much for his painting when he painted just over a dozen of them. But when you see Leonardo's paintings you can always tell that they are his by the lack of contour his paintings don't just flow together he has more color transitions flowing togeth...