World famous person - Do you know Leonardo da Vinci ?

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519 ),Italian artist of the Renaissance.The beginning of his many-sided interests are to be found in his period of apprenticeship in the Florentine studio of Andrea Verrocchio(1469-75).In 1481 he sought the patronage of Lodovico,Duke of Milan,and included engineering and architecture among the qualifications.At Milan he made suggestions for the roofing of the cathedral and for a revised city plan,and was employed on many practical enterprises.He also painted his Last Supper(in the convent of St Maria della Grazie in Milan) and his Virgin of the Rocks.He returned to Florence(1499) and became absorbed by a project to link the the Tuscan cities by cs.He also painted his Mona Lisa,the portrait of a wife of a Florentine merchant.His last years were spent under the patronage of King Francis I of France.His repeated failure to complete projects was not due to impatience ,but to his perfectionism,the distraction of an excessive number of commissions,his fascination with techniques,and his concern with theoretical studies.His love of experimentation led to the partial and premature disintegration of some of his paintings(especially the Last Supper),as it also contributed to the eerie light which fills his later paintings and makes his landscapes different from those of any of his predecessors.His portraits are unique for their psychological insight.