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====The life of Leonardo Da Vinci====
[[File: Leonardo 3.png|200px|thumb|left|Drawing of Leonardo in old age]]
Leonardo was born in 1452, in the village of Vinci, outside the city of Florence. His father was a wealthy lawyer , and his mother was a peasant woman. His parents were not married, and Leonardo was illegitimate, which carried with it a great deal of social stigma, at the time. He could not legally bear his father’s surname , and so he was named after his native village, Vinci <ref> McCurdy, Edward. The mind of Leonardo da Vinci (London, Courier Corporation, 2013), p 4 </ref>. It appears that the young boy received little or no formal education. We do know that at the age of 15 , he was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio (1435–1488). He was one of the leading artists of his day and was a great influence on the young Leonardo, especially in his dynamic representations of the human figure. After the completion of his apprenticeship, the young man from Vinci became an assistant to Verrocchio and his skill soon became well-known. His style was considered to be very original, especially his use of light and shade (McCurdy, p. 34</ref>In either 1477/1488, Leonardo set up his own studio and soon was receiving major commissions.
In 1499, when the French invaded Italy, Leonardo fled the city and stayed in Venice. Here he was active as a military engineer and drew up plans to create a series of naval defenses. In 1500, Da Vinci, who was by now one of the most famous men in all of Italy, returned to his native Florence. Here he continued to work on several artistic projects, but he appears to have left many uncompleted. Many of the projects from this period are only known from Leonardo’s drawings, which are considered to be masterpieces. In 1506, Leonardo worked for a time as a military engineer for the notorious Cesare Borgia, who was ruthlessly carving a state for himself out of Papal lands in central Italy. Around this period, he painted his most famous work, the Mona Lisa. Leonardo worked on the painting for the rest of his life and took it with him on his travels. Da Vinci returned to Milan in 1506, and he worked on an equestrian statue. Contemporaneously, he continued his scientific studies. In particular, he was fascinated with anatomy, and this dramatically influenced his art, greatly. During this time, he filled his notebooks with his observations, ideas, and drawings on a range of subjects. One common theme in his notebook is his fascination with movement, growth, and action. In 1516, he was invited to Rome, but his time here was not that productive. While he was still esteemed as an artist, his work popularity had somewhat declined. This was not as popular as it once was. surprising because Da Vinci was a rather became an increasingly reclusive figure. Still, but he continued to fill his notebooks and made many plans for future projects. Most , but most of these projects never came to fruition. He Still, he was regarded as a genius and was frequently consulted with by many leading figures, on both artistic issues, and on engineering projects.<ref>McCurdy, p 113</ref> The French king , Francis I , invited Leonardo and his disciples to his court in Fontainebleau. Leonardo was given great honors by Francis and he became the official court painter among other distinctions. The French monarch also provided him with a house and . In France, Leonardo continued to write in his notebooks and to make plans for projects, none of which he executed. He died in 1519 at the home that was given to him by the French king.
====Influence on art====