Leonardo: the real story

Detail from Leonardo, 'The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, about 1499-1500
Learn about the life of Leonardo. Find out how he acquired a reputation as a genius, even though so few of his paintings have survived.

Early years

Leonardo was born near the Tuscan hill-town of Vinci. An illegitimate child, he was raised by his paternal grandfather. His father had a flourishing legal practice in the city of Florence, where Leonardo received his early artistic training with the sculptor Andrea Verrocchio.

Detail from Leonardo, 'The Virgin of the Rocks', 1491-1508
Detail from Leonardo, The Virgin of the Rocks, 1491-1508 

 

Verrocchio's workshop undertook a wide range of commissions including sculpture and decorative metalwork as well as paintings.

Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, Tobias and the Angel
Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, Tobias and the Angel, about 1470-5

Leonardo went on to be not only a painter and sculptor but also an architect, designer, theorist, engineer and scientist. Leonardo da Vinci created some of the most famous images in European art. Though many of his works were never finished, and even fewer have survived, he influenced generations of artists. But he didn't enjoy an easy start.

Next: Frustrated in Florence

Andrea del Verrocchio
Andrea del Verrocchio
about 1435 - 1488
Andrea del Verrocchio
 
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The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN