Leonardo was fascinated by the movement and properties of water. His studies on hydraulics and water flow led to innovative designs for canals, dams, and water pumps, showcasing his practical applications of scientific principles.

Obsession With Water

Employed by various rulers, Leonardo applied his ingenuity to military engineering. He designed advanced weaponry, fortifications, and machines, blending his artistic talent with practical engineering skills.

Military Engineering

Leonardo’s notebooks reveal his relentless pursuit of scientific knowledge. He explored topics ranging from flight and hydraulics to optics and geology, making observations that were centuries ahead of his time.

Scientific Inquiries

Leonardo’s anatomical studies went beyond the superficial. He dissected over 30 human bodies, producing detailed drawings of muscles, bones, and organs. His work laid the groundwork for modern anatomy, even though it remained unpublished in his lifetime.

Anatomical Studies

Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 in Vinci, Italy. From a young age, his insatiable curiosity about the natural world and his keen observational skills set him apart, driving his pursuit of knowledge across diverse fields.

Early Life & Curiosity

As a painter, Leonardo’s innovative techniques and use of light and shadow brought his works to life. Masterpieces like “The Last Supper” and “Mona Lisa” showcased his ability to capture human emotion and intricate details.

Innovative Painter

Leonardo’s fascination with the human body led him to dissect corpses, meticulously documenting his findings. His anatomical drawings, such as the Vitruvian Man, displayed an unparalleled understanding of human proportions and physiology.

Passion For The Anatomy

The Vitruvian Man exemplifies Leonardo’s blend of art and science. This iconic drawing, based on the work of the ancient architect Vitruvius, illustrates the ideal human proportions and the harmony between man and the universe.

The Vitruvian Man

“The Last Supper,” painted in the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, is a testament to Leonardo’s mastery of composition and perspective. The painting captures a pivotal moment with dynamic expressions and intricate details.

The Last Supper

Leonardo’s work exemplified the synergy between art and science. He believed that art was a form of knowledge and that observation and empirical evidence were crucial for understanding the natural world.

The Art-Science Synergy

Leonardo’s influence extends beyond his lifetime, impacting both art and science. His interdisciplinary approach, combining empirical observation with creative expression, set a precedent for future innovators and thinkers.

Legacy In Science & Art

Leonardo’s personal traits—his left-handedness, mirror writing, and unconventional lifestyle—added to his mystique. His perpetual curiosity, perfectionism, and quest for knowledge defined his approach to life and work.

Personal Traits

Leonardo began his apprenticeship with the artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. Here, he honed his skills in painting, sculpture, and mechanical arts, setting the foundation for his multifaceted career.

Apprenticeship In Florence

Leonardo navigated the complex political landscape of Renaissance Italy, securing patronage from influential figures like Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and King Francis I of France. These relationships enabled him to pursue his varied interests.

Patronage & Politics

“The Mona Lisa” remains one of the most celebrated paintings in history. Leonardo’s use of sfumato—a technique of blending colors and tones—created a lifelike and enigmatic portrait that continues to captivate audiences.

The Mona Lisa

Leonardo’s engineering projects ranged from designing bridges and aqueducts to inventing machines for weaving and manufacturing. His conceptual sketches, though not all realized, demonstrated his visionary approach to solving practical problems.

Engineering Marvels

Leonardo’s extensive notebooks, filled with sketches, observations, and ideas, provide a window into his genius. These writings cover a vast array of subjects and reveal his methodical approach to understanding the world.

Leonardo’s Notebooks

Leonardo’s studies on optics and vision were groundbreaking. He explored how light and shadow affect perception, contributing to his mastery in creating realistic and three-dimensional effects in his paintings.

Theories On Vision

Leonardo da Vinci’s legacy endures as a symbol of boundless creativity and intellectual pursuit. His works continue to inspire artists, scientists, and inventors, exemplifying the power of curiosity and the quest for understanding.

Timeless Inspiration

Leonardo’s sketches of flying machines, such as the ornithopter, reflected his dream of human flight. His detailed studies of bird flight and aerodynamics were remarkable for their time and demonstrated his visionary thinking.

Flight & Machines

Dive into the extraordinary life of Leonardo da Vinci, where art, science, and unquenchable curiosity merge to create timeless masterpieces and groundbreaking discoveries.

The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it…Most important, it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life” (The New Yorker). Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson “deftly reveals an intimate Leonardo” (San Francisco Chronicle) in a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history’s most creative genius. In the “luminous” (Daily Beast) Leonardo da Vinci, Isaacson describes how Leonardo’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance to be imaginative and, like talented rebels in any era, to think different. Here, da Vinci “comes to life in all his remarkable brilliance and oddity in Walter Isaacson’s ambitious new biography…a vigorous, insightful portrait” (The Washington Post).

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Walter Isaacson, a professor of history at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He is the author of 'Leonardo da Vinci; The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu and on Twitter at @WalterIsaacson

Early Life & Curiosity

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8 Lessons To Learn From The Genius Life of Leonardo da Vinci