Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he has also become known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology. Leonardo is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works comprise a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary Michelangelo.

15 April 1452

Born on the same birth day (15 April): Charles Willson Peale • Darren Nicholls • Dawn Wright • Elizabeth Montgomery • Fernando Pessa • Harry Edward • Heloise (columnist) • Jean Danjou • John Williams (actor) • Marty Wilde • Memos Ioannou • Robert Lacroix • Ryan Hamilton (ice hockey)

Born in the same month (April 1452): Frederick of Naples