The Virgin of the Rocks LEONARDO DA VINCI c. 1495

An Italian High Renaissance painter and inventor, he lived from 1452-1519.

He has been described as the quintessential "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius, a man both infinitely curious and infinitely inventive.

Leonardo is famous for his masterly paintings, such as The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. He is also known for designing many inventions that anticipated modern technology, although few of these designs were constructed in his lifetime. In addition, he advanced the study of anatomy, astronomy, and civil engineering. Of his works, only a few paintings survive, together with his notebooks which are dispersed among various collections, containing drawings, scientific diagrams and notes. The Columbia Encyclopedia of 1963 states, "The richness and originality of intellect in his notebooks reveal one of the great minds of all time."

Most of his works are badly decomposed; this is one of the few paintings that is usable for web presentation, although the color is faded. Not certain of the original, we decided to leave it as is, except to square of the top to render the image a rectangle, by extending the uppermost left and right sides as they were.

 





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