1452-1519

Italian artist and scientist whose insatiable curiosity and artistic and scientific imagination exemplify the genius of Renaissance humanism. Although primarily remembered for paintings such as The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, Leonardo was skilled as an engineer, inventor, draftsman, mathematician, architect, sculptor, and anatomist. Leonardo believed that art required accurate anatomical knowledge that could only be obtained through dissection, comparative anatomy, and physiological experiments. He may have dissected as many as thirty human bodies, but he did not complete many of his ambitious projects, including his plan for a great treatise on human anatomy.