Born the illegitimate son of a 25-year-old notary, Ser Piero, and a peasant girl, Caterina, on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, just outside Florence. His father took custody of the child shortly after his birth. His mother married someone else and moved to a neighboring town. Leonardo eventually had 17 half sisters and brothers from his mother.

In his father's Vinci home, Leonardo had access to scholarly texts from family and friends. Exposed to Vinci's longstanding painting tradition, when about 15, Leonardo was apprenticed to the renowned workshop of Andrea del Verrochio in Florence. Even as an apprentice, his genius was evidenced by many pieces produced 1470-5 in the Verrocchio's workshop. For example, an angel in Verrochio's "Baptism of Christ," so much better than his master's that Verrochio allegedly resolved never to paint again.

Leonardo stayed in the Verrocchio workshop until 1477, when he entered the service of the Duke of Milan in 1482, abandoning his first commission in Florence, "The Adoration of the Magi". After 17 years in Milan, he left only because of Duke Ludovico Sforza's fall from power in 1499. But Leonardo had already begun his notable scientific and artistic achievements.

Besides painting and sculpting and designing elaborate court festivals, the Duke had put Leonardo to work designing weapons, buildings and machinery. From 1485 to 1490, Leonardo produced studies on nature, flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal construction, canals and architecture (designing everything from churches to fortresses). His work from this period contain designs for advanced weapons, including a tank and other war vehicles, various combat devices, and submarines. Also during this period, Leonardo produced his first anatomical studies. His Milan workshop was alive with apprentices and students.

But his interests were so extensive, filled with new subjects, that Leonardo usually failed to finish what he started, completing only six works in these 17 years, including "The Last Supper" and "The Virgin on the Rocks". He spent most of his time in scientic research, studying nature, or in his workshop cutting up bodies or pondering philosophy.

During 1490-5, Leonardo began recording his studies in meticulously illustrated notebooks, covering four principal themes: painting, architecture, the elements of mechanics, and human anatomy. These studies and sketches were collected into various codices and manuscripts, now collected by museums and individuals. (Bill Gates recently paid $30 million for the Codex Leicester.)

After the invasion of Milan by the King François of France and Ludovico Sforza's fall from power in 1499, Leonardo had to finda new patron. During the next 16 years, Leonardo worked and traveled throughout Italy for a number of employers, including Cesare Borgia. He traveled for a year with Borgia's army as a military engineer. Leonardo designed a bridge to span "The Golden Horn" in Constantinople during this period and received a commission to paint the "Battle of Anghiari".

About 1503, Leonardo reportedly began the "Mona Lisa".

On July 9, 1504, he received notice of the death of his father, Ser Piero, but was deprived of inheritancee by his many half-siblings. But the death of a beloved uncle resulted in besting his siblings and use of the uncle's land and money.

From 1513 to 1516, Leonardo maintained a workshop in Rome, undertaking a variety of projects for the Pope. He continued his studies of human anatomy and physiology, but the Pope forbade him from dissecting cadavers.

After the death of his patron, Giuliano de' Medici, in March of 1516, he was offered the title of Premier Painter and Engineer and Architect of the King by François I in France, with a stipend and manor house near the royal chateau at Amboise as guest of the King and his queenly sister, Marguerite d'Angoulême. He designed for them the largest chateau of its time.

Although suffering from a paralysis of the right hand, Leonardo was yet able to draw and teach, producing studies for "The Virgin and Child with St. Anne", drawings of cats, horses, dragons, St. George, anatomical studies, studies on the nature of water, drawings of the Deluge, and of various machines.

Leonardo died on May 2, 1519 in Cloux, France. Legend has it that King François was at his side when he died, cradling Leonardo's head in his arms.

Certainly, Leonardo's few completed and half-completed art works display his rich genius. But, in part, it is their small number which makes them "priceless" to collectors. His scientific studies were remarkable, even visionary, although some were independently anticipated by others. One exaggeration about his work is that Leonardo created a "flying machine". At best, it is a glider, and he had no thought of its needing an engine. Scifi writers (as in many "StarTrek" episodes) and sfans (scifi fans) and "Sunday Supplement" scribblers have created a worshipful legend beyond the reality, making Leonardo seem like a man from the Future or an alien -- science become magic.

You might enjoy a fictional account of his life, "Leonardo Da Vinci", by Dimitri Merijowski, in The Modern Library Collection.