Life of Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with lots of contributions to science & Art. Apart from his epic work of Last supper or Mono Lisa, Leonarda was associated with lots of engineering models, many of them related to military machineries. Though these models have been tested today and is acting as a big source of inspiration in today's world, during his life Leonardo's models were never tested and put to use. One of the reasons for such 'unnotified' attitude in Rome could have been the emergence of lots of genius during the Life of Leonarda. For instance Michelangelo was 23 years junior to Leonorda. But Michelangelo had a very quick career jump due to his excellence in sculpture : be it David or Pieta or Sistine chappel cealing painting. As a result, Leornado's real talent seem to have been less appreciated during his life time.

Below menioned is a chronology during the Life of Leonardo:

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From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where Raphael and Michelangelo were both active at the time. In October 1515, Francis I of France recaptured Milan. On December 19, Leonardo was present at the meeting of Francis I and Pope Leo X, which took place in Bologna. It was for Francis that Leonardo was commissioned to make a mechanical lion which could walk forward, then open its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies. In 1516, he entered François' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé near the king's residence at the royal Château d'Amboise. It was here that he spent the last three years of his life, accompanied by his friend and apprentice, Count Francesco Melzi, supported by a pension totalling 10,000 scudi.

Leonardo died at Clos Lucé, on May 2, 1519. Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story, beloved by the French and portrayed in romantic paintings by Ingres, Ménageot and other French artists, as well as by Angelica Kauffmann, may be legend rather than fact.

Leonardo's friend Vasari tells us that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament.[40] In accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in Château d'Amboise. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo also remembered his other long-time pupil and companion, Salai and his servant Battista di Vilussis, who each received half of Leonardo's vineyards, his brothers who received land, and his serving woman who received a black cloak "of good stuff" with a fur edge.

Some twenty years after Leonardo's death, French King Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benevenuto Cellini as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher."