Inventive Facts About Leonardo da Vinci
When you think of da Vinci, you probably think of his artwork – like, oh, say, a little painting called the “Mona Lisa.” For most of us, that's enough to cement his reputation: he was a genius. We get it.
But Leonardo da Vinci wasn't just an incredible painter. He was an incredible everything. During his lifetime, Leonardo pushed the boundaries of engineering, botany, music, sculpture, architecture, physics, and engineering. Like the kid you went to high school with who captained both the basketball AND football teams, it's hard not to be a bit jealous.
All that accomplishment, though, can almost make it difficult to imagine him as a real person. He was a real, living, breathing person, like anybody else.
And while his many accomplishments are fascinating in their own right, so too are the details of his lived experience. So with that in mind, here are 42 inventive facts about Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci Facts
42. All in the Family
Da Vinci’s family was pretty big—all thanks to his father. He was married four times (though never to Leonardo’s mother) and had 17 other children.
Leonardo’s father was also pretty wealthy, so when he died, there were issues splitting up the inheritance among all of the children. Unfortunately, when the elder da Vinci died, Leonardo received nothing.
41. Split the Parents
Despite living with his mother until he was five, da Vinci eventually went to live with his father and the two became very close.
da Vinci still wrote letters to his mother, though, and the pair rekindled their relationship during her final years.
40. Hands-On Learning
When da Vinci was just 15 years old, he was sent to Florence and began his apprenticeship under the artist Andrea Verrocchio. Verrocchio was considered perhaps the greatest artist living in Florence, and to this day is remembered as one of the leading painters from the early Renaissance.
Which, I think you'll agree, is a pretty good place to start for any aspiring artist.
Anyway, while there, the young da Vinci learned crafts like leatherworking, metalworking, chemistry, carpentry, and sculpting, among others.
It's entirely possible that this early education in a myriad of fields helped to inspire the young Leonardo, who would go on to spend his life pursuing many different paths.
It was like a crash course in becoming the prototypical Renaissance Man.
