Leonardo da Vinci was the embodiment of the "Renaissance man", a man who had attained mastery over all branches of art and science.
He was a painter, sculptor, architect and engineer besides being a scholar in the natural sciences, medicine and philosophy.
Leonardo is probably most famous for painting the Mona Lisa, which is one of the world's best-known and most widely recognized works of art.
Leonardo da Vinci was born on the 15th of April, 1452, as the illegitimate son of the notary Ser Piero di Antonio da Vinci and a peasant woman named Caterina
in a small town called Vinci, near Empoli, Tuscany.
Although last names were already in use in Europe at the time, Leonardo never had one. His full name "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci" means "Leonardo son of Piero from Vinci."
