| 15th
April 1452 | Leonardo
da Vinci was born at Anchian near Vinci, Tuscany. He
was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero di Antonio, a
notary, and peasant woman Catarina. |
| 1453 |
The
fall of Constantinople ends the Eastern Empire. |
| 1457 | A
tax return made by Leonardo's grandfather showed the
child to be living with his father who was now married
to Albierra di Giovanni Amadori. |
| 1468 | Leonardo's
grandfather dies at the age of ninety-six. |
| 1469 | Starts
work as an apprentice at the workshop of Verrocchio.
Another tax return shows, that at the age of seventeen,
Leonardo is still living with his father. |
| 1470 | Madonna
with the Pomegranate. |
| 1472 | Admitted
to the Company of Painters. An entry in the registry
shows Leonardo to have been in debt for his fees and
an 'offering' on St. Luke's day -- 18th October 1472.
Assists with Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ. The Annunciation
(Uffizi
Gallery),
Genevri de' Benci. |
| 5th
August 1473 | This
was the date written by Leonardo (now aged twenty-one)
on a landscape drawing which survives today. |
| 1475-1480 | Benois Madonna.
Madonna with the Carnation |
| 8th
April 1476 | An
anonymous charge was made against seventeen-year-old
Jacopo Saltarelli for homosexuality. Leonardo is named
as one of his lovers. |
| 7th
June 1476 | A
second accusation of homosexuality was made against
Leonardo. The charge was dismissed. |
| 1478 | The Annunciation (Louvre). |
| 29th
December 1479 | Bernardo
di Bandini Baroncelli, who murdered Lorenzo the Magnificant's
brother Giuliano in Florence's cathedral, was hanged
and a drawing of this, together with notes on the murderer's
clothes, is executed by Leonardo. |
| March
1480 | Leonardo
received a commission from the monastery of S. Donato
a Scopeto for an Adoration
of the Magi
which was to be completed within thirty months. Litta Madonna, Madonna
with the Cat. |
| 1481 | Offers
his services in a letter to Ludovico Sforza, ruler of
Milan. |
| 1482 | Moves
to Milan to enter the service of Ludovico 'the Moor'who
was looking for an engineer, an artist and a musician
rolled into one. He left his Adoration of the Magi unfinished. Lady with the Ermine, Portrait of a Musician,
St. Jerome. |
| 1483 | Begins
work on The
Virgin of the Rocks, now in the Louvre. Raphael was born at Urbino. |
| 1484-1489 | In
addition to completing various commissions, Leonardo
broadens the scope of his work on architecture (plans
for a stables and a domed church), military engineering,
flying machines and war machines. |
| 1487 | Starts
his work on anatomy. |
| 1490 | Works
on stage design for the pageant Il Paradiso by Bernardo Ballincioni. |
| 1492 | Leonardo
visits Rome. Columbus's first visit to the New World. |
| 1493 | Completes
clay model of The
Great Horse
for Ludvovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. |
| 1495-1497 | The
Last Supper, La Belle Ferronniere, Portrait of a Young
Woman, Sala delle Asse. |
| 1499 | The
French invade Italy. Leonardo flees from Milan. |
| 1500 | Travels
to Venice and Florence. |
| 1501 | Madonna
of the Yarnwinder. |
| 1502 | Employed
as military engineer to Cesare Borgia. |
| 1503 | The
Battle of Anghiari commissioned. Mona Lisa begun. |
| 1504 | Leda
and the Swan. |
| 1505 | Studies
bird flight and geometry. |
| 1506 | Goes
to Milan at invitation of the French King Louis XII.
Virgin
of the Rocks, National
Gallery, London
|
| 1507 | Returns
to Florence for a visit. Possibly starts work on Virgin and Child with
St. Anne. |
| 1508 | Goes
back to Milan for anatomical and other research. |
| 1509 | Leonardo
draws maps and geological surveys of Lombardy and Lake
Isea. Starts St.
John the Baptist. |
| 1512 | The
French are defeated and driven from Milan. Michelangelo
completes Sistine ceiling. |
| 1513 | Leonardo
leaves Milan and works for Giuliano de' Medici in Rome.
Finishes Salvator
Mundi. |
| 1515 | The
French recapture Milan. |
| 1516 | Moves
to France, to work for Francois I. He is still able
to draw although his right hand is partially paralysed
due to a stroke. |
| 23rd
April 1519 | Draws
up his last will and testament. |
| 2nd
May 1519 | Leonardo
dies at the Castle of Cloux near Amboise, France and
is buried in the Church of St Florentine, but his remains
are scattered during the Wars of Religion. |