Leonardo Da Vinci, the Epitome of the Italian Renaissance

Florence, the shelter for artists in need of wealthy patrons to give them an opportunity to rise to fame, was the center of innovation and creativity in the Italian Renaissance. This renowned city was famous for supplying some of the best artists in the world and for creating the some of the world’s most treasured art. Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the greatest painters in the world, was born in Florence and lived his adulthood in Florence, the essence and heart of the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci virtually changed the world and the Italian Renaissance by greatly influencing it with his fresh and unique ideas. Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most famous and acclaimed painters of all times was more than a painter. He was a genius, who not only was notably advanced for his time, but also was recognized one of the greatest polymaths of all time. Leonardo’s intellectual capacity surpassed most of the men of his time. Leonardo da Vinci was not only a man who was influenced by the Renaissance, he was the man who influenced and shaped the Renaissance with his paintings and observations. The Renaissance period is indebted to Leonardo da Vinci for defining its culture and embodying the portrait of what we have come to associate as the humanist Italian Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci was “one of the greatest representative figures of the Italian Renaissance and the most complete universal genius in history.”

Leonardo da Vinci was born outside of Florence in Vinci as the illegitimate son of Caterina, a peasant and Ser Peiro, a public notary. As a young boy, he demonstrated his great gift for art and was apprenticed to Verrocchio , a famous artist who gave up art after he admitted that Leonardo was better than he was. Leonardo...

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