M: When most people hear the name Leonardo
da Vinci, they think of art. But in fact, he was a
man of many talents. He was a scientist, an
inventor, and an artist.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 in
Vinci, Italy. When he was 14, his father sent him
to Florence to train under Andrea del Verrocchio,
one of the best artists in the area. Leonardo
became better than Verrocchio. By his early
twenties, Leonardo was famous for his painting.
He was especially good at painting colors and
details. This made his paintings very lifelike. His
most famous paintings are the Mona Lisa and
The Last Supper.
Leonardo was also a great scientist. He was
a good observer of life and nature. He would
ask himself simple questions like, “How do
birds fly?” Then he would try to find the answers.
He was interested in everything. For example,
he studied the inner workings of the human
body. He would cut up dead bodies to examine
their insides.
Leonardo was also a talented inventor. He
believed that by understanding how each part of
a machine worked, the parts could be changed
and combined in different ways to make new
machines. Using his artistic talent, Leonardo drew
pictures of many inventions. However, few of
them were built and tested during his lifetime.
For example, his parachute wasn’t built until
1783. Also, his war tank wasn’t used until World
War I in 1917.