leonardo davinci 1452-1519, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist, probably the supreme example of Renaissance genius. Born in Vinci, Tuscany, he was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl. His precocious artistic talent brought him to Verrocchio's workshop in 1466, where he met Botticelli and Ghirlandaio. The cul mination of his art in this first period in Florence is seen in the magnificent, unfinished Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi), with …showed first 75 words of 400 total…

…showed last 75 words of 400 total…the Baptist (c.1513; Louvre) was executed for Pope Leo X and his brother Giuliano de' Medici in Rome. Shortly after 1515, Leonardo accepted an invitation from Francis I of France to settle in the castle of Cloux. Here he pursued his own researches until his death. His versatility and creative power, as well as the richness and originality expressed in his notebooks, drawings, and paintings, mark him as one of the great minds of all time.