Childhood Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the small Tucson town of Anchiano, near Florence. His parents, Ser Piero, a notary, and Caterina, a peasant woman, were unmarried, and the illegitimate Leonardo was raised by his father. Some experts claim that due to his illegitimacy Leonardo was unworthy of a proper education, and that this is the reason that he did not follow in his father's footsteps to become a notary, or why he did not study to become a doctor. Meanwhile, other Da Vinci sources claim that the young Leonardo was treated as a legitimate child, and was offered the same education as other children of that day.
Apprenticeship and First Florentine Period At the age of 15 Leonardo had already mastered skills in the fine arts and the young man was sent to Florence to work as an apprentice in the renowned workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio.
Leonardo worked with del Verrocchio until 1477, during which time del Verrocchio had been commissioned for a painting that would be The Baptism of Christ, and the painter had Leonardo aid him with the work by having his pupil paint the kneeling angel in the painting. Leonardo's angel was so outstanding that it shadowed del Verrocchio's portion of the work, and Leonardo is quoted to have later stated that "poor is a pupil that does not surpass his master." It is also said that Andrea del Verrocchio gave up his career as a painter, having suffered such humiliation by being out-painted by his own student.
In 1472, while still working with del Verrocchio, Leonardo Da Vinci was honored as he was accepted into the painter's guild of Florence.
After leaving Verrocchio's studio, Leonardo remained in Florence where he worked independently until 1481. In his final years in Florence, Leonardo Da Vinci received two substantial commissions. The first was for the painting The Adoration of the Magi for the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto; and the second was for a painting that was to be completed in the Altar of St. Bernard Chapel in the Palazzo della Signoria. The first painting was never completed and the second, Leonardo never even began, abandoning the projects to move to Milan.
While Leonardo's career seemed to be taking flight, his reputation was damaged in 1481 when he was charged with sodomy. Though the charges were later dropped, the public humiliation may have played a role in Da Vinci's abandonment of these commissions. His humiliation was even more so accentuated when Leonardo was not chosen amongst those commissioned to paint the Sistine Chapel.
First Milanese Period In 1482, Leonardo Da Vinci moved to Milan where he had been hired by the city's duke, Duke Ludovico Sforza, and had been given the title of "painter and engineer of the duke." He worked as a painter, sculptor, served as an architect, and he aided in the design of fortifications and military conceptions. Da Vinci would remain in Milan for 17 years, leaving his position with the falling out of power of the Duke with the entry of the French into Milan.
During this first Milanese period Leonardo completed at least six works. Among these works are, from 1483-1486, The Virgin of the Rocks, (which now has a home in the Louvre in Paris) and the monumental The Last Supper between 1495-1498. The extremely difficult to visit painting remains on the walls at the refectory of the Santa Maria delle Grazie, and is one of the most widely sold Da Vinci Posters of all time. Second Florentine Period Around the year 1500, Leonardo decided to leave Milan and head back to Florence where his good reputation had him readily received by the city. By 1502 Da Vinci had entered the service of Cesare Borgia, the much-feared son of Pope Alexander the VI, as senior military architect and general engineer. This position had him travelling and surveying the surrounding lands, at which time Leonardo had sketched some city plans and early maps.
Leonardo Da Vinci returned to Florence once more in 1503, at which time he was commissioned to paint a mural in the council hall in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. The wall across was commissioned to Leonardo's rival, Michelangelo, who never completed his piece. Leonardo's work, entitled The Battle of Anghiari, which was never completed either, would have measured 23 x 56 feet, double the size of The Last Supper. While working on this piece, the French governor of Milan hired Leonardo, and once again Da Vinci abandoned his project to begin employment elsewhere.
Before leaving, Leonardo accepted a commission from a wealthy Florentine merchant who wanted a portrait of his wife, Mona Lisa. From 1503-1506 Leonardo Da Vinci completed one of the most renowned works of all time, The Mona Lisa. Many scholars doubt the story of the merchant and the commission, and there are several conflicting stories about who the woman in the painting really may have been. However, the mystery behind the painting is shadowed by the genius of the work that is now seen by thousands of tourists each day at the Louvre in Paris. The painting is available today as a popular Da Vinci poster and has also been transformed into numerous novelty items.
Second Milanese Period In 1506 Leonardo traveled back to Milan to work for the French governor of Milan, Charles d'Amboise. During his time there, Leonardo Da Vinci created few paintings, and acted mainly as an architect. Some of his sketches from this period have survived and are sold alongside the many other Da Vinci posters.
Besides his work for the governor, during this time Da Vinci underwent extensive research on the human anatomy.
Final Years In 1513 the French were expelled from Milan, forcing Leonardo to seek work outside the city. Da Vinci headed to Rome where his friend, Giuliano de'Medici, the brother of the Pope Leo X, offered him living space in his residence in the Vatican.
For about three years, Leonardo stayed in Rome, and did not receive any commissions, while his rivals, Michelangelo and Raphael, where hard at work.
By 1516 the king of France, Francis I, requested that Leonardo join his service. At this time, Leonardo chose to leave Italy, his native country, where he would never return again. He bore the title of "First painter, architect, and engineer to the King," and he lived in the small town of Cloux, near the king's palace.
At the age of 67, in 1519, while living in France, Leonardo Da Vinci died and was buried in the church of Saint-Florentin. The church was ruined during the French Revolution, and completely torn down during the 19th Century. Today, there are no markings to identify Leonardo's gravesite. The Renaissance Master, as he is often referred to, continues to live on through his surviving paintings, his many notebooks and through the extensive selection of Da Vinci posters and prints that have been produced over the years. Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is one of the most famous and most celebrated works of all time. The mastery of the painting lies in its subtle detail, including the faint smile, and Mona Lisa's distinctive gaze. The work is said to have been commissioned by a gentleman named Francesco del Giocondo, who hired Leonardo to paint a portrait of his wife, and this is why The Mona Lisa is sometimes referred to as La Gioconda. While this is a theory on the origination of the painting, scholars have disagreed throughout the ages about how factual this story really is. The Mona Lisa, aside from being one of the most recognized works in the history of art, is also one of the most widely reproduced works ever. Of course there are numerous Da Vinci posters available, many of which are of The Mona Lisa, available in different hues and a variety of sizes, there are also many other reproductions of the work. For instance, Andy Warhol used the Mona Lisa in the creation of one of his prints, and Botero reproduced his own version of The Mona Lisa, a cartoon-like oil painting. In 1954, Salvador Dali created a self-portrait of himself as Mona Lisa. A work three years in the making, Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper remains one of the greatest masterpieces of all time. Even over 500 years after the painting was completed, this piece remains one of the most studied paintings in history, and The Last Supper is among the most sold of all Da Vinci posters.
In 1495 Leonardo Da Vinci was commissioned by Ludovico il Moro to paint a wall in the refectory of the Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The dining hall that Leonardo was to decorate with his painting was located in the building adjacent to the church. Leonardo was asked to create a portrait of Christ's last supper with his disciples, but more importantly, Leonardo chose to paint the very moment in which Christ announces that among the disciples lies a traitor. Through his brilliant brushwork, Leonardo manages to make the moment come to life with his personification of each of the twelve disciples, demonstrating their personal reactions to the announcement through facial expressions and movement. His 12 disciples, whom Leonardo has cleverly divided into groups of 3, surround Christ, figured in the center of the painting. Alone in the center, Christ's arms lay open, encompassing him into a triangular shape, expressive of the Divine Trinity, while the four groups around him are each boxed within their areas of the painting. Like most of Leonardo's other works, geometric shapes form the painting and aid in creating the painting's dialogue.
Unlike the other paintings that had been made of The Last Supper, Leonardo chose to sit Judas in with the rest of the disciples. In paintings by other artists, Judas was often found separated from the group, making his role of the deceiver obvious. Leonardo's inclusion of Judas with the other disciples is part of what makes the painting such a masterpiece, as his inclusion in the group forces the audience to scan the painting and each character in it, and it strengthens the notion that each of disciples was questioning of himself when Christ announced to his disciples "One of you will betray me."
While Da Vinci posters are abundant, The Last Supper is certainly amongst the most exceedingly popular, found in holy institutions and homes around the world, posters and reproductions seem to be a wonderful way of bringing Leonardo home. Da Vinci posters are timeless and long lasting, but unfortunately the same cannot be said about the actual Last Supper. Early in the 16th century, the painting started chipping away, and while many restorations have taken place to conserve the painting, today many will say that the painting has been repainted more so then restored.
When he began the painting, Leonardo decided not to use the conventional fresco methods as this required that the painting be completed quickly, and it required the painter to work continuously. This was not how Leonardo wanted to work; he wanted to take his time and to reproduce his vision without the limitation of time. Leonardo developed a new technique that he would use to complete the painting. Throughout the ages, Leonardo has been criticized for the poor technique, but The Last Supper will always remain as one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.
