In his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci was an engineer, artist, anatomist, physiologist and much more. His full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of (Mes)ser Piero from Vinci". Leonardo da Vinci is famous for his realistic paintings, such as Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's The Last Supper, as well as for influential drawings such as Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

Leonardo da Vinci conceived of ideas vastly ahead of his own time, notably conceptually inventing the helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, the calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double hull, and others too numerous to mention. Relatively few of da Vinci's designs were constructed or were feasible during his lifetime; modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the Renaissance. In addition, Leonardo da Vinci greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of water (hydrodynamics). Of Leonardo da Vinci's works, only a few paintings survive, together with his notebooks (scattered among various collections) containing drawings, scientific diagrams and notes.

It was no doubt in these closing years of his life that Leonardo da Vinci drew the "Portrait of Himself" in red chalk, now at Turin, which is probably the only authentic portrait of him in existence.

LEONARDO DA VINCI's ART
Leonardo da Vinci pioneered new painting techniques in many of his pieces. One of them, a colour shading technique called "Chiaroscuro", used a series of glazes custom-made by Leonardo da Vinci. It is characterized by subtle transitions between colour areas. Chiaroscuro is a technique of bold contrast between light and dark. Another effect created by Leonardo da Vinci is called sfumato, which creates an atmospheric haze or smoky effect.

Leonardo da Vinci was an apprentice to the artist Verrocchio in Florence when he was about 15. In 1476 Leonardo da Vinci worked with Verrocchio to paint The Baptism of Christ for the friars of Vallombrosa. Da Vinci painted the angel at the front and the landscape, and the difference between the two artists' work can be seen, with Leonardo da Vinci's finer blending and brushwork. Giorgio Vasari told the story that when Verrocchio saw da Vinci's work he was so amazed that he resolved never to touch a brush again.

Leonardo da Vinci's first solo painting was the Madonna and Child completed in 1478; at the same time, he also painted a picture of a little boy eating sherbet. From 1480 to 1481, he created what is known as da Vinci's Annunciation painting, now in the Louvre. In 1481 he also painted an unfinished work of St. Jerome. Between 1481 and 1482 Leonardo da Vinci started painting The Adoration of the Magi. Da Vinci made extensive, ambitious plans and many drawings for the painting, but it was never finished, as Leonardo da Vinci's services had been accepted by the Duke of Milan.

LEONARDO VINCI - POPULAR CULTURE
With the genius and legacy of Leonardo da Vinci having captivated authors and scholars generations after his death, many examples of "da Vinci fiction" can be found in culture and literature. The most prominent example is Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code (2003), which alleged that Leonardo da Vinci was a member of a secret society called the Priory of Sion.