Leonardo da Vinci

Inventor, artist, scientist . . . Leonardo da Vinci’s wide-ranging inquisitiveness was the source of his greatest accomplishments and his lifelong financial difficulties—he would get bored quickly and rarely finish his projects. As an artist, only seventeen of his finished works survive, and yet they include two of the most famous paintings in the world: The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. His scientific studies of human anatomy were centuries ahead of their time. And his designs for inventions, such as mechanical flight, foresaw technologies that would not be developed for hundreds of years. Leonardo’s achievements make him more than just an important historical figure: He was the ultimate Renaissance man whose achievements inspire both artists and scientists more than 500 years after his death.