31 Innovative Leonardo da Vinci Facts

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer—Reviewed for accuracy by the FactRetriever editorial team

Published November 17, 2023

Leonardo da Vinci's parents were not married when he was born. His father, Ser Peiro, was a notary and landlord in Florence. His mother, Caterina, was a young peasant girl who later married an artisan. Leonardo grew up with his father._[2]
While Leonardo most likely primarily painted and wrote with his left hand, he was also ambidextrous._[2]
Leonardo's full name at birth was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci," which means "Leonardo (son) of ser Piero from Vinci."_[2]
Bill Gates owns Leonardo da Vinci's "Codex Leicester." He paid $30.8 million for the masterpiece, which makes it the most expensive book ever sold. The book is a collection of Leonardo's scientific writings and is named after Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester._[2]

Vinci is surrounded by hills, fields, vineyards, and olive trees

Because Leonardo had no surname, "da Vinci" simply means "of Vinci," which is a village in the Tuscany region._[2]
Because Leonardo was an illegitimate child, he had more freedom than a legitimate son, who was expected to follow in his father's footsteps._[2]
Leonardo loved word games, codes, and puzzles._[2][4]
One of Leonardo's jobs was to dissect human corpses at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nouva in France. His knowledge of anatomy informed his over 200 pages of drawings._[5]
The Mona Lisa is also known as La Gioconda. The portrait is of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, hence her Italian name, La Gioconda._[2]
Leonardo had 17 half-siblings. Specifically, he had 12 from his father and 5 from his mother._[5]
According to face recognition software, the Mona Lisa is 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful, and 2% angry._[5]

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.

- Leonardo da Vinci

The Mona Lisa has the highest value for painting insurance ever._[2]
The Last Supper is not in a museum; it is in the dining hall at the monastery of Santa Maria Delle Grazie in Milan, Italy._[2]
Leonardo died in France on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67 from a stroke. He left his drawings and notebooks to his pupil Francesco Melzi. Most of the drawings have survived to this day._[2]
Leonardo Di Caprio is named after Leonardo da Vinci._[2]
Leonardo da Vinci was gifted in music, and according to historical accounts, "he sang divinely without any preparation."_[6]
Leonardo da Vinci is widely regarded as the founder of the High Renaissance and revolutionized Western art._[2]

Leonardo's Vitruvian Man was inspired by the writings of the Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius

Leonardo's Last Supper is the most widely reproduced religious painting of all time._[3]
The most expensive painting ever sold at public auction is Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, at $450.3 million._[1]
When the French army invaded Milan in 1499, they destroyed Leonardo's masterpiece in progress, a 200-foot sculpture of a horse. Intended to be the largest equestrian statue in the world, the project was only a clay model when the army used it as target practice.
_[8]
Leonardo's IQ is said to have been around 220._[7]
Da Vinci died at Cloux (Clos-Luce) in 1519 at the age of 67. He was buried near the church of Saint-Florentin. However, the church was destroyed during the French Revolution, and it became impossible to identify his grave._[2]
Leonardo imagined many innovations ahead of his time, such as the parachute, an armored car, a helicopter, concentrated solar power, and more._[5]
For Leonardo, sight was the most important of the senses, and he adopted a process known as saper vedere or "knowing how to see."_[8]

Do you know how to see?

When Leonardo was 60 years old, he created a self-portrait with red chalk. Even though it has been extensively reproduced and is considered an iconic representation of Leonardo, some historians disagree about the true identity of the portrait._[5]
Despite filling thousands of pages of anatomical drawings, inventions, caricatures, annotations, and topics from multidisciplinary studies, Leonardo did not publish one page._[2]
Leonardo, along with some of his male friends, were arrested on charges of sodomy, which was punishable by death in Florence during the 15th century._[5]

As a child, Leonardo lived with animals on a farm, and they were a constant presence in his studio

Leonardo loved animals. He was a vegetarian and sometimes bought caged birds to let them free._[4]
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were contemporaries and rivals. Leonardo made fun of Michelangelo's overly muscular sculptures, while Michelangelo commented on Leonardo's inability to finish projects._[5]
Leonardo designed a silver lyre and a mechanical drum. He considered music the "sister of painting" because they both create harmony. For Leonardo, painting was superior because it lasted longer than music._[8]
While other mapmakers of his time would draw more important buildings larger than they were in real life, Leonardo revolutionized map-making by basing them on his knowledge of geometry and proportion._[5]