The passage describes how ordinary individuals possess significant talents, but occasionally, a person emerges with such extraordinary, almost supernatural, gifts of beauty, grace, and intellect that they far surpass others, appearing divinely inspired in all their endeavors. This description, suggesting everything they do stems from God rather than human ability, was universally applied to Leonardo da Vinci. He was an artist of striking physical beauty, who moved with infinite grace, and possessed a genius so profound that he effortlessly solved any problem he encountered.

These words were penned by Giorgio Vasari, a contemporary artist and writer from the Italian Renaissance, in his book ‘Lives of the Artists’, as a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci.

Born in Vinci, near Florence, in 1472, Leonardo da Vinci was the illegitimate son of a wealthy notary and a local peasant girl. He was raised first in his mother’s home, then later in his father’s family household, where he received an informal education in Latin, geometry, and mathematics.

Showing an early aptitude for painting, Leonardo was apprenticed at age fourteen to Verrocchio, who managed one of Florence’s most prestigious workshops. During this period, Leonardo gained extensive knowledge, contributing to many paintings attributed to the master, as was customary. Legend claims his work on one painting was so superior that Verrocchio, humbled, laid down his brush and never painted again.

By the age of twenty, Leonardo had qualified as a ‘master’ in his own right. Though his father established his own workshop for him, Leonardo’s deep respect for Verrocchio ensured their continued artistic collaboration.

Ten years later, in 1482, Leonardo moved to Milan, where he secured several commissions from Duke Ludovico Sforza. It was there that he created some of his most renowned works, including ‘Virgin of the Rocks’ and ‘The Last Supper’. In 1499, Leonardo fled to Venice when Florence came under French attack. In Venice, he applied his skills to military engineering, designing mobile barricades to defend the city from naval assaults. He also collaborated with Niccolò Machiavelli, whose name later became synonymous with deceptive and immoral politics, on plans to divert the Arno river.

In 1500, Leonardo returned to Florence and resided at the Santissima Annunziata monastery. He opened a workshop and produced a drawing in charcoal and black and white chalk titled ‘The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist’. Its immense popularity drew large crowds from all walks of life, who queued eagerly to see it.

Between 1500 and 1510, Leonardo split his time between Milan and Florence. For a period, he relocated to Cesena to work for Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, on military architecture and engineering. This work notably included the creation of maps, which were rare at the time but proved extremely valuable for his patron’s military planning.

This decade also saw the creation of arguably his most famous painting, the ‘Mona Lisa’, also known as La Gioconda, La Joconde, or the Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo.

The ‘Mona Lisa’ has been famously described as “the world’s most recognized, visited, written about, sung about, and parodied work of art.”

Leonardo spent his last years in Italy at the Vatican, where Raphael and Michelangelo were also working.

In 1515, following the French recapture of Milan, Leonardo was befriended by King Francis I of France, who brought him to France. The King granted him the use of Clos Lucé, a manor house close to his own residence at the royal Château d’Amboise. Leonardo lived out his final years here, dying in 1519. Legend claims the King cradled Leonardo’s head as he passed away. Francis I certainly held Leonardo in high esteem, remarking twenty years later that “No other man born in the world knew as much as Leonardo, not just in painting, sculpture, and architecture, but as a truly great philosopher.”

While primarily celebrated as a painter, with ‘The Last Supper’ and the ‘Mona Lisa’ being among the world’s most recognized artworks, Leonardo was also renowned for his drawings. His ‘Vitruvian Man’, a study of human body proportions, has since become an international icon.

What makes Leonardo da Vinci truly extraordinary is the sheer breadth and depth of his interests. After studying anatomy during his Florentine apprenticeship, he later received permission to dissect human corpses at hospitals in Florence, Milan, and Rome. Around 1510, he collaborated with doctor Marcantonio della Torre on an anatomy treatise. Remarkably, his 200 pages of drawings and numerous notes on the subject remained unpublished for over five decades after his death.

Leonardo possessed an apparently insatiable curiosity that spanned countless subjects, making him a prolific inventor who conceived a vast array of both practical and visionary, sometimes impractical, ideas. Flight held a particular fascination for him, prompting him to design several plausible flying machines, including a hang glider and a device remarkably similar to a modern helicopter.