Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was a symbol of the the Italian Renaissance who was also active as a draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. As well as iconic drawings and paintings such Vitruvian Man, Last Supper and Mona Lisa, he recorded his thoughts through drawings and manusrcipts on anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology.
Leonardo da Vinci |
da Vinci Museum Florence Vitruvian Man |
da Vinci Museum Florence Last Supper |
da Vinci Museum Florence Mona Lisa |
Born in 1452, de Vinci spent two periods in Florence, the first from 1472 to 1482 the second from 1500 to 1508.
da Vinci Museum Florence Leonardo |
Leonardo's manuscripts and sketches of his scientific research were collected into codexes (notebooks) covering the study of flight, civil engineering and weapon design.
da Vinci Museum Florence Leonardo's Codexes |
The Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Florence contains reconstructions of machinery based on his drawings.
da Vinci Museum Florence iFlying Wing |
da Vinci Museum Florence Diver |
In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci ended his first period in Florence and went to work for Ludovico II, Lord of Milan. Despite being opposed to war as being a 'most bestial folly', da Vinci outlined his capabilities as a military engineer to Ludovico II by stating ' I shall create various and infinite things for attack and defence as circumstances dictate' .
da Vinci Museum Florence Bombard |
da Vinci Museum Florence Multi Barrel Gun |
da Vinci Museum Florence Tank |
da Vinci Museum Florence Tank |
da Vinci Museum Florence Scythe Charriot |