Sharpen Your Mind: da Vinci

Posted by Jerry Lopper Feb 22, 2007

Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code brought Leonardo da Vinci's name into the public spotlight. Well known for his paintings, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, da Vinci also excelled in sculpture, architecture, music, engineering, and the physical sciences.

Born in Vinci, Italy in 1452, he was an illegitimate child who referred to himself only as Leonardo. da Vinci is not his last name, it refers to his birth city. Leonardo da Vinci means Leonardo from Vinci.

Interesting Trivia: A contemporary artist, Raphael, reportedly used da Vinci's likeness for the figure of Plato in the Vatican fresco, The School of Athens.

Source: The Intellectual Devotional, David S.Kidder & Noah D. Oppenheim