Possible self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1512–1515. Wikimedia Commons. Source.
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Leonardo da Vinci was born in Italy in 1452. Today, he is famous as the artist who painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, but painting was only one of his many interests. Leonardo was fascinated by the world around him. He studied the human body, plants, water, light, machines and the flight of birds. He filled notebooks with drawings and ideas. Some pages show designs for flying machines, bridges and unusual weapons. Many of these machines were never built during his lifetime, but the drawings show how carefully he observed movement and engineering. Leonardo sometimes studied human bodies to understand muscles and bones. His anatomical drawings were remarkably detailed. He also used his knowledge of light, shape and the human body to improve his art. Leonardo did not publish most of his scientific work, and many of his notebooks were scattered after his death in 1519. Centuries later, people began to understand the extraordinary range of his thinking. He is remembered not simply as a great painter, but as a person whose curiosity crossed the boundaries between art, science and invention.
