Leonardo da Vinci was a vegetarian animal lover who wrote backward in mirror script, dissected corpses for anatomical knowledge, was a musical prodigy who played the lyre, and often left projects unfinished due to perfectionism or distraction. He was also known for his incredible range, from art to science, but many of his scientific ideas remained secret, and he was considered a genius, possibly even a wrestling champion.
Here are 10 surprising facts you (probably) didn't know about him.
35 Random, Fascinating Facts
Around the age of 14, he became a garzone (studio boy) in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, who was the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his time. This was about the time of the death of Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor Donatello.
The Three Volumes of Codex Forster, Leonardo da Vinci, late 15th–early 16th. Pink was often referred to as a “feast day” colour in the Renaissance, but da Vinci wore it any day he pleased, as well as various related shades of red and purple.
Most scholars believe that da Vinci was a homosexual due to his penchant for surrounding himself with young men, though some believe he was bisexual. Sigmund Freud even published an essay in 1910 that came to the conclusion that he was gay, but sublimated all his sexual urges into art and research.
This is due to a layer of varnish covering the paint, which has yellowed over the years. It is possible that the painting was once brighter and more colourful than it is now. The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, by a former employee who believed the painting belonged in Italy.
Leonardo da Vinci: IQ 180–220
While IQ tests weren't around when Leonardo da Vinci was living, some have estimated that his score would have been between 180 and 220. Like other people considered geniuses, he had a wide range of skills, excelling in everything from art and science to music and architecture.
The painting that sold for $450.3 million in 2017 is Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, setting a world record at Christie's auction in New York for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. The heavily restored work depicts Christ as the Savior of the World, holding a crystal orb, and was purchased by an intermediary for Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Leonardo da Vinci's last words: "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have." Never be satisfied in your creative pursuits, but enjoy the ride to the fullest.
100 Fun Facts for Kids
Category 1: Nature
Ending with some maths — what else — twenty-seven is the only positive whole number that is exactly three times the sum of its digits: 2 + 7 = 9 and 9 x 3 = 27. It's also a perfect cube, 33 = 3 x 3 x 3 = 27, and it's equal to the sum of the digits from two to seven, 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 = 27.
Here are 10 amazing facts: Scotland's national animal is the unicorn, honey never spoils, the human circulatory system spans over 60,000 miles, octopuses have three hearts, you can't hum with your nose plugged, there are more pyramids in Sudan than Egypt, bananas are berries, the Mona Lisa has no eyebrows, the Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the world's oxygen, and the shortest complete English sentence is "I am".
Painter, sculptor, architect, designer, theorist, engineer and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci created some of the most famous images in European art. Though many of his works were never finished, and even fewer have survived, he influenced generations of artists and he continues to be revered as a universal genius.
Leonardo da Vinci was born on 15 April 1452, in Anchiano, near Vinci.
The Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known painting insurance valuation in history at US$100 million in 1962, equivalent to $1 billion as of 2023.
Discovery and restoration: Alexander Parish, American art dealer (and "sleeper hunter") who found the painting in 2005. Robert Simon, American art historian and art dealer who bought the painting with Parish. Dianne Dwyer Modestini, American art restorer who worked on the painting in 2005–17.
A painting by Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte, titled L'empire des lumières (The Empire of Light) from 1954, sold for a record-breaking $121.16 million at Christie's in New York in November 2024, setting a new world auction record for the artist and for a Surrealist work. The painting, known for its uncanny depiction of a dark, nighttime street under a bright daytime sky, surpassed its $95 million estimate after a nearly 10-minute bidding war, becoming the first Magritte to sell for over $100 million.
Marilyn vos Savant. Marilyn vos Savant (/ˌvɒs səˈvɑːnt/ VOSS sə-VAHNT; born Marilyn Mach; August 11, 1946) is an American magazine columnist who has the highest recorded intelligence quotient (IQ) in the Guinness Book of Records, a competitive category the publication has since retired.
A new study from England concludes that Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci had the eye condition strabismus, and that it affected his vision and made art easier for him.
Adragon De Mello - Wikipedia.
Painting is the art of applying paint, pigment, or color to a surface (like canvas, wood, or paper) to create images, express ideas, or decorate, using tools like brushes to form shapes, lines, and textures that convey emotion, narrative, or abstraction, and the term also refers to the final artwork itself. It can be purely artistic expression, capturing feelings, or serve a practical purpose like protecting a wall.
“The Mona Lisa is androgynous—half man and half woman,” he said. The female influence, he allows, could be from Gherardini, or perhaps Beatrice D'Este, wife of Milanese duke Ludovico Sforza, whose court Leonardo worked at during the late 15th century.
A New Home for the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. The Mona Lisa is about to have a space of her own. In early 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the Mona Lisa at the Louvre will be relocated to a specially designed room within the museum.