Vitruvian Man
1490 · Pen, ink, and metalpoint on paper · 34 × 26 cm
Salvator Mundi
1500 · Oil on walnut panel · 66 × 46 cm
Lady with an Ermine
1490 · Oil on walnut panel · 54 × 39 cm
The Last Supper
1498 · Tempera and oil on gesso, pitch, and mastic · 460 × 880 cm
Mona Lisa
1503 · Oil on poplar panel · 77 × 53 cm
Leonardo da Vinci is known as the quintessential 'Renaissance Man' — a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, engineer, anatomist, and inventor. His paintings, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are among the most recognized artworks in history. His notebooks contain thousands of pages of scientific observations, anatomical drawings, and visionary inventions.
His most famous paintings include the Mona Lisa (c. 1503–1519), displayed at the Louvre in Paris; The Last Supper (1495–1498), a mural in Milan; Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489–1490); and Salvator Mundi (c. 1499–1510), which sold for $450.3 million in 2017, the highest price ever paid for a painting at auction.
Leonardo conceptualized numerous inventions centuries ahead of their time, including flying machines (ornithopter and aerial screw), an armored vehicle resembling a tank, a self-propelled cart, a diving suit, and concentrated solar power systems. While most were never built during his lifetime, many have been proven feasible by modern engineers.
Leonardo pioneered sfumato, a technique of softly blending colors and tones to create hazy, atmospheric effects without harsh outlines, most famously seen in the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile. He also advanced chiaroscuro (the dramatic use of light and shadow) and was among the first to use atmospheric perspective to create depth.
Leonardo da Vinci died on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67, at the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, France. He had been invited to France by King Francis I. The cause of death is believed to have been a stroke.
This page features public domain works by Leonardo da Vinci and is not managed by the artist.
Discover isee.art