-Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452
-He was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant.
-The earliest known dated work of Leonardo's is a drawing done in pen and ink of the arno valley, drawn on 5 August, 1473.
-In the 1480s Leonardo received two very important commissions, and commenced another work which was also of ground-breaking importance in terms of composition. Unfortunately two of the three were never finished and the third took so long that it was subject to lengthy negotiations over completion and payment.
-Leonardo died at clos.luce, France, on May,
1519 
