Leonardo da Vinci Timeline

1452

Leonardo is born on April 15, supposedly in Anchiano, a hamlet steeply uphill from the Tuscan village of Vinci. His mother's name is Caterina; she is presumed to have been a servant who worked in his paternal grandfather's house. Leonardo's father is Ser Piero da Vinci (d. 1504). Though his parents are unmarried, Ser Piero acknowledges Leonardo as his son.

Also happening this year:

• German King Frederick IV (1415–1493) is crowned Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III.
• After working on this project since 1425, Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) completes the Gates of Paradise for the Florence Baptistery.
• Girolamo Savonarola, future Florentine firebrand, is born in Ferrara.

1455-66

Tax records indicate that Leonardo is living in his grandfather's house. Caterina has married and is having more children in her new home, while Ser Piero, now a notary, has also married (the first of his four wives) and is spending most of his time working with clients in Florence. Neither parent sees Leonardo very often, and the boy spends most of his time with his uncle Francesco, a farmer.

During these same years Leonardo is being given a basic education, most probably by tutors. This is not the same, "fine arts" education that wealthy or (legitimate) upper middle class children receive, but he absorbs everything readily and a love of learning is kindled. Leonardo will later teach himself those areas of study he was denied.

1467

Leonardo is 15 now, so we presume by this time he's become (or been--13 was more the more customary age at which to begin) apprenticed to master artist Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488) in the latter's workshop in Florence.

Hindsight says that Leonardo had the talent to pursue all sorts of careers, but some were off limits to him due to his illegitimate status. This is, however, getting to be a lucrative time to be an artist, he's shown he's got the aptitude and Verrocchio's workshop is one of the best Florence has to offer. Here Leonardo is learning not only drawing and painting, but sculpture, bronze casting, decorative metalwork and a bit of mechanical engineering through his master's many and varied commissions.

1469

Lorenzo de' Medici (b. 1449), a.k.a. Lorenzo the Magnificent, Lord of Florence, takes over the civic and cultural Florentine reigns of power upon the death of his father, Piero (b. 1416). Lorenzo is instrumental in causing an already-thriving artists' community to prosper wildly, either directly or, more commonly, by suggesting that other leading Florentines patronize _______(insert artist's name here). Leonardo is still serving his apprenticeship under Verrocchio.

Also happening this year:

• Niccoló Machiavelli, Humanist philosopher, politician and future friend of Leonardo is born in Florence.
• Prince Ferdinand of Aragon and Princess Isabella of Castile are wed.
• Florentine painter Fra Filippo Lippi (b. 1406) dies.

1471

Verrocchio, with his workshop, constructs and mounts the palla, or copper orb, on the lantern of the dome of Florence Cathedral. This crowning point on the crowning point of Brunelleschi's astounding feat of engineering (the dome itself) completes the exterior of the Cathedral after over 170 years of construction. Leonardo is so impressed he makes sketches of Verrocchio's devices to hoist the orb, and recalls the day in detail over 40 years later.

Also happening this year:

• Albrecht Dürer is born in Nuremberg.
• Francesco della Rovere (1414-1484) becomes Pope Sixtus IV.
• Borso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (b. 1413) dies.

1472

Leonardo, now twenty years old, is listed as a dues-paying member of the Compagnia di San Luca, the painter's guild of Florence. While this means he is a master in his own right, he will continue to collaborate with Verrocchio on commissions. Fellow 1472 inductees to the Compagnia di San Luca include Sandro Botticelli (1444 or 45-1510) and Perugino (ca. 1450-1523).

Also happening this year:

• Lucas Cranach the Elder is born in Kronach, Germany.
• Bianca Maria Sforza, future wife of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, is born in Milan.
• Leon Battista Alberti (b. 1404), Florentine artist, architect and author of Della pittura (On Painting) dies.
• Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) Divine Comedy is first printed in the Perugian town of Foligno.

1473

On August 5, Feast Day of Santa Maria delle Neve (Saint Mary of the Snow), Leonardo executes a drawing of the Arno River valley from a vantage point in the Montalbano hills near Vinci. This is his earliest known dated work.

We're fairly certain that between now and 1476 he has a hand, at least, in painting Annunciation. In this same time frame he also paints Madonna of the Carnation and collaborates with Verrocchio on the latter's altarpiece commission entitled Baptism of Christ.

Also happening this year:

• Nicolaus Copernicus (d. 1543) is born in Poland.
• James IV of Scotland (d. 1513) is born at Stirling Castle.
• Alessandro Sforza (b. 1409), condottiero (mercenary), lord of Pesaro and brother to Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan, dies.

1475

Between now and 1578 Leonardo paints the portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, a recently-married Florentine aristocrat.

He is also studying and working in the San Marco (a religious complex in Florence) sculpture garden being underwritten by his newly-acquired patron, Lorenzo de' Medici, "Il Magnifico." Sienese artist Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439-1501) later corroborates this in his Codice Magliabechiano.

Also happening this year:

• Future rival Michelangelo Buonarroti is born in Caprese.
• Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici (d. 1521), future Pope Leo X and son of Lorenzo, is born in Florence.
• Cesare Borgia (d. 1507), illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and future employer of Leonardo, is born in Rome.
• Paolo Uccello (b. ca. 1397) dies.

1476

Leonardo is twenty-four this year, and it's not the best of his life. On April 9, and again on June 7, he is charged as one of several men that committed sodomy with the young apprentice to a Florentine goldsmith. Though the charges are dismissed later in June, the public humiliation surely lingers.

This same year, Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici decide to sell Verrocchio's recently-completed bronze David to the Palazzo della Signoria (now the Palazzo Vecchio), the Florentine town hall. Stories persist to this day that the model for David was Leonardo.

Also happening this year:

• Galeazzo Maria Sforza (b. 1444), Duke of Milan, is assassinated.
• Vlad III the Impaler is killed by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Bucharest.

1478

Though he still works with Verrocchio, Leonardo gets a solo commission this year to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel of San Bernardo in the Palazzo della Signoria--a work he will leave unfinished. He does, however, complete the Benois Madonna around this time.

*The* news event of the year occurs on April 26, when the Pazzi conspirators attempt to kill both Lorenzo (who is wounded) and Giuliano (who dies) de' Medici. Many conspirators are executed by public hanging and one in particular inspires a detailed drawing from Leonardo, complete with written notes on the corpse's clothing. Leonardo is by now in the habit of writing what will become known as his "Notebooks."

Also happening this year:

• Baldassare Castiglione (d. 1529) is born.

1479

All of our Florentine artist friends are busy working this year, and nothing truly noteworthy happens except for the birth of one baby girl. Honestly, this isn't noteworthy at the time, either, but little Lisa Gherardini will go on to marry--at age 15, no less--the textile merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo, and he will commission Leonardo to paint his young wife's portrait in the future.

1519

Leonardo dies on May 2 at home in Clos Lucé. His remains are presumed to have been interred first (per his wishes) in the cloister of the church of Saint-Florentin in Amboise, then later removed to the chapel of Saint-Hubert on the grounds of Château d'Amboise. Melzi is his primary heir and the executor of his estate.

Also happening this year:

• Mannerism begins to take hold.
• Maximilian I (r. 1508-1519) dies and is succeeded by Charles I of Spain (now Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor).
• Lucretia Borgia (b. 1480), Francesco II Gonzaga (b. 1466) and Lorenzo II de' Medici (b. 1492) also die.
• Martin Luther argues that the Pope is not infallible.
• Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) leaves Portugal to circumnavigate the globe.