In the mid- to late- 1480s, when Leonardo was attempting to establish himself as a court artist, he seemed to have started on his huge range of scientific studies, dabbling in botany, anatomy, medicine, architecture, military engineering, geography and many, many other subjects.
We know about his studies from the enormous amount of drawings
and sketches that he left behind.
He worked on the Treatise on Painting, a collection of practical
and theoretical instructions for painters, throughout his entire adult life.
