31 Innovative Leonardo da Vinci Facts

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer

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]