Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo born on April 15

Apr 15, 1452

Anchiano, Italia. Leonardo was born to Ser Piero, a notary, and Caterina, a peasant girl; his parents were never married.

Leonardo becomes an apprentice

1467

Andrea del Verrocchio, in Florence. was the teacher of Leonardo 1467.This date is an estimate, the apprenticeship could have begun a year or two later. But even 1467 would have been a bit late according to the customs of the time: Leonardo would have been fifteen, and most apprentices began at a younger age.

"The Florence painters"

1472

Leonardo becomes a member of the Florence painters guild. Birth of Copernicus. Dante's The Divine Comedy is published. Other famous painters to join the painters' guild in 1472 were Botticelli and Perugino.

The First piant of Leonardo known

1473

Leonardo draws a landscape on the Feast of Santa Maria della Neve. This is his earliest known drawing, though he probably also had a hand in Verrochio's Baptism of Christ, which probably reached completion

Annunciation to the Virgin

1477

Leonardo had at least some part in the painting the Annunciation to the Virgin, completed around this time.

The Pazzi family

1478

The Pazzi family tries to assasinate Lorenzo and Giuliano de Medici. Lorenzo survives; Giuliano does not. This same year, Leonardo writes in his notebooks that he has begun "two Virgin Marys." He also paints the Portrait of Ginevra de Benci around this time.

Leonardo receives a commission

1481

Leonardo receives a commission to paint the Adoration of the Magi. The painting was never completed, yet was–and is–considered a masterpiece. This same year, most of the other noteworthy painters in Florence were sent to Rome to work on projects for the Pope.

Leonardo moves from Florence to Milan

1482

Leonardo moves from Florence to Milan, entering the patronage of Ludovico Sforza. By this time, Leonardo is writing in his notebooks regularly.

Leonardo receives a commission

1483

Leonardo receives a commission to paint the Virgin of the Rocks. Also, Raphael is born in 1483.

Leonardo begins a paint

1495

Leonardo begins his Last Supper in the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Leonardo decorates the walls and ceiling

1498

Leonardo decorates the walls and ceiling of the Sala delle Asse. He also made his first attempts at planning a flying machine around this time. In 1498, Savonarola is burned at the stake.

Leonardo and Pacioli

1500

Leonardo and Pacioli go to Mantua, then Leonardo continues on to Florence. In Mantua, he draws the Portrait in Profile of Isabelle d'Este. In Florence, he paints the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne.

Leonardo makes a second attempt to build a flying

1505

Leonardo makes a second attempt to build a flying machine and begins sketches for the Mona Lisa, which he completes sometime later.In 1505, Leonardo gives up on the Battle of Anghiari, which is deteriorating as he works on it.

Leonardo moves to Rome.

1513

Leonardo moves to Rome. Living in the Vatican, he studies the properties of mirrors. It is perhaps at this time that he paints the Turin Self-portrait. It was in this year that Leo X (Medici) became pope; the previous year the Medici family returned to power in Florence.

Leonardo dies.

May 2, 1519

In May, Leonardo dies at Cloux.