Leonardo da Vinci & the Renaissance Masters

1452 — 1519 | Vinci, Republic of Florence

The Mind That Saw Everything

Born in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, Leonardo was the illegitimate son of a notary and a peasant woman. Apprenticed to the great Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence at age 14, he quickly surpassed his master.

Leonardo's insatiable curiosity led him to dissect cadavers, design flying machines, study the flow of water, and paint some of the most recognized images in human history. His notebooks — written in mirror script — contain over 13,000 pages of observations, inventions, and sketches.

He worked for the Medici, Ludovico Sforza in Milan, Cesare Borgia, and finally Francis I of France, where he spent his final years at the Chateau of Clos Luce near Amboise.

Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1503–1519. The world's most famous painting. Her enigmatic smile and Leonardo's sfumato technique have captivated viewers for over 500 years. Oil on poplar, Louvre, Paris.

The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1495–1498. A revolutionary composition capturing the moment Jesus announces one of his disciples will betray him. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.

The Annunciation

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1472–1476. One of Leonardo's earliest known works, painted while still in Verrocchio's workshop. The angel's wings were modeled from real bird wings. Uffizi, Florence.

Virgin of the Rocks

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1483–1486. A masterpiece of chiaroscuro — the interplay of light and shadow creates an otherworldly grotto setting. Louvre, Paris.

Lady with an Ermine

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1489–1490. A portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, mistress of Ludovico Sforza. The ermine symbolizes purity and was also Sforza's emblem. Czartoryski Museum, Krakow.

Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci

c. 1490. Leonardo's iconic study of human proportions, based on the writings of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.

1475 — 1564 | Caprese, Republic of Florence

Michelangelo Buonarroti

The "Divine One." Sculptor, painter, architect, and poet — Michelangelo considered himself primarily a sculptor, yet created the most famous painted ceiling in history. His rivalry with Leonardo was legendary; the two openly despised each other.

Michelangelo's David, carved from a single block of marble that two other sculptors had abandoned, remains the ideal of human physical beauty. His ceiling of the Sistine Chapel took four years of torturous work on scaffolding, permanently damaging his eyesight.

In his later years, he designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica — still the largest masonry dome in the world. He worked until six days before his death at age 88.

The Creation of Adam c. 1508–1512 | Sistine Chapel, Vatican

David 1501–1504 | Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

Pieta 1498–1499 | St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

Sistine Chapel Ceiling 1508–1512 | Vatican City

1483 — 1520 | Urbino, Duchy of Urbino

Raphael Sanzio

The youngest of the three great masters, Raphael combined the best qualities of both Leonardo and Michelangelo — Leonardo's sfumato and psychological depth with Michelangelo's dynamism and grandeur. The result was a harmony and grace that defined the High Renaissance ideal.

Raphael was also the most socially adept of the three. Where Leonardo was solitary and Michelangelo combative, Raphael was charming and ran a massive workshop of 50+ assistants — a Renaissance creative agency.

He died on his 37th birthday, likely from a fever. Rome mourned as if it had lost a prince. His epitaph reads: "Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be outdone while he lived, and when he died, feared that she herself would die."

The School of Athens 1509–1511 | Apostolic Palace, Vatican

Marriage of the Virgin 1504 | Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

Sistine Madonna 1512 | Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

The Transfiguration 1516–1520 | Vatican Pinacoteca

1445 — 1510 | Florence, Republic of Florence

Sandro Botticelli

Born Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, Botticelli was the master of line and movement. His flowing, lyrical style was unlike anything else in the Renaissance — more decorative, more dreamlike, more emotionally charged.

He was a favorite of Lorenzo de' Medici and the Neoplatonist philosophers who surrounded him. His mythological paintings — The Birth of Venus and Primavera — are visual philosophy, encoding complex ideas about beauty, love, and the divine in breathtaking compositions.

In the 1490s, Botticelli fell under the spell of the fire-and-brimstone preacher Savonarola, and reportedly burned some of his own paintings in the "Bonfire of the Vanities." His late works became austere and haunted. He died poor and largely forgotten, not rediscovered until the 19th century.

The Birth of Venus c. 1484–1486 | Uffizi, Florence

Primavera c. 1477–1482 | Uffizi, Florence

Adoration of the Magi c. 1475 | Uffizi, Florence

Map of Hell (Dante's Inferno) c. 1480s | Vatican Library

c. 1488 — 1576 | Pieve di Cadore, Republic of Venice

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)

The greatest of the Venetian painters and the master of color. While the Florentines built their art on drawing (disegno), Titian and the Venetians championed color (colore) — and the debate between the two became the central argument of Renaissance art theory.

Titian was the painter of emperors and popes. Charles V made him a Count Palatine — an extraordinary honor for an artist. Philip II of Spain was his most devoted patron. His portraits defined how power looked for generations.

His late style — loose, almost abstract brushwork applied with fingers as much as brushes — anticipated Impressionism by 300 years. He lived to nearly 90, painting until the very end. His final work, the Pieta, was finished by his student after plague took him.

Sacred and Profane Love c. 1514 | Galleria Borghese, Rome

Venus of Urbino 1538 | Uffizi, Florence

Bacchus and Ariadne 1520–1523 | National Gallery, London

Assumption of the Virgin 1516–1518 | Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice

A Renaissance Timeline

1445

Botticelli Born

Alessandro Filipepi born in Florence — the eldest of the great Renaissance painters.

1452

Leonardo Born

Born in Vinci, Tuscany. Apprenticed to Verrocchio by age 14.

1475

Michelangelo Born

Born in Caprese. Apprenticed to Ghirlandaio, then taken into the Medici household.

1483

Raphael Born

Born in Urbino to painter Giovanni Santi. The youngest of the three great masters.

1485

Birth of Venus

Botticelli completes his mythological masterpiece for the Medici villa.

1488

Titian Born

Born in the Dolomite mountains. He would become the greatest Venetian painter.

1498

The Last Supper Completed

Leonardo finishes his revolutionary mural in Milan after three years of work.

1504

David Unveiled

Michelangelo's 17-foot marble giant placed in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence.

1508

Sistine Chapel Begins

Michelangelo begins painting the ceiling. Raphael starts the Stanze in the Vatican simultaneously.

1510

Botticelli Dies

Dies poor and forgotten in Florence, age 65. Not rediscovered for 350 years.

1511

School of Athens

Raphael completes his philosophical masterpiece, with Leonardo as Plato and Michelangelo as Heraclitus.

1519

Leonardo Dies

Dies at Clos Luce, France, age 67. Legend says he died in the arms of King Francis I.

1520

Raphael Dies

Dies on his 37th birthday. All of Rome mourns. The High Renaissance effectively ends.

1564

Michelangelo Dies

Dies in Rome at 88, still working on the Rondanini Pieta. Three days later, Galileo is born.

1576

Titian Dies

Dies of plague in Venice at nearly 90. The last of the great Renaissance masters.

Leonardo da Vinci & the Renaissance Masters