Leonardo da Vinci was an artist and inventor. He lived long ago in Italy. Da Vinci means from Vinci. He was born near the town of Vinci in Italy. He lived during a time in Italy called the Renaissance. He learned art in Florence. He learned in the workshop of an artist named Andrea del Verrocchio.

Leonardo da Vinci kept notebooks. They were filled with drawings and notes. The Codex Atlanticus is a collection of 1,119 sheets of his drawings and notes. He wrote his notes backwards, in mirror writing. They read from right to left. He filled pages with ideas about water and rivers. He drew plans for new musical instruments.

He loved nature. He explored the mountains near Milan. He studied how birds fly. He drew designs for flying machines. Many of his flying machines were ornithopters. Ornithopters are machines with flapping wings. People do not have enough muscle power and endurance to fly with flapping wings the way birds do. He designed a flying machine that worked like a helicopter. It was never built. He drew an idea for a parachute.

In 1482 he went to Milan. He went to work for the ruling family there. He painted The Last Supper on a wall in Milan. He painted it between 1494 and 1498. He painted the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is famous for the smile of the person in the painting. It hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris. This is true as of November 2026.

He moved to France and spent the rest of his life there. The king of France gave him a manor house and an income near the royal château at Amboise. The Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise was his last home. He was a painter, a sculptor, an architect and an engineer.

Words to know

• Renaissance: a time
• workshop: art room
• parachute: a falling helper
• notebooks: note books

The short version

Leonardo da Vinci was an artist and inventor who lived long ago in Italy. He painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, and he kept notebooks filled with drawings and notes. He drew designs for flying machines and wrote his notes backwards, in mirror writing.

Quick facts

• Leonardo was born near the town of Vinci in Italy, and da Vinci means from Vinci.
• Leonardo painted The Last Supper on a wall in Milan between 1494 and 1498.
• As of November 2026, the Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris.
• Leonardo moved to France and spent the rest of his life there.
• Leonardo wrote his notes backwards, in mirror writing, so they read from right to left.