(b Anchiano, nr Vinci, 15 April 1452; d Amboise, nr Tours, 2 May 1519). Italian painter, sculptor, architect, designer, theorist, engineer and scientist. He was the founding father of what is called the High Renaissance style and exercised an enormous influence on contemporary and later artists. His writings on art helped establish the ideals of representation and expression that were to dominate European academies for the next 400 years. The standards he set in figure draughtsmanship, handling of space, depiction of light and shade, representation of landscape, evocation of character and techniques of narrative radically transformed the range of art. A number of his inventions in architecture and in various fields of decoration entered the general currency of 16th-century design.

• Leonardo da Vinci
  • Copper, §2(iv): Painting support
  • France, §III, 2: Painting and graphic arts, c 1450–c 1620
  • Gay and lesbian art, §1: Questions of identity, before the 1890s
  • Italy, §III, 3: Early Renaissance painting, c 1400–c 1500
  • Italy, §III, 3(i)(e): Early Renaissance painting, c 1400–c 1500: Status of the artist
  • Italy, §III, 3(ii)(a): Early Renaissance painting, c 1400–c 1500: Florence
  • Italy, §III, 3(ii)(b): Early Renaissance painting, c 1400–c 1500: Other centres
  • Italy, §III, 4(i): High Renaissance and Mannerist painting, c 1500–c 1600: Florence
  • Italy, §XIII, 1: Collecting and dealing: Middle Ages–17th century
  • Milan, §II, 2(ii): Art life and organization, 1278–1499: Stylistic development and patronage
  • Music and art, §1: 15th and 16th centuries
  • Music and art, §2: 17th and 18th centuries
  • Psychoanalysis and art, §1: Freud
  • academies
    • Academy, §1: Origins and early development
    • Italy, §XVI, 2: Art education: Academies
  • acoustics
    • Acoustics, §2: Types of acoustic space
  • architecture
    • Chambord
    • Gothic survival, §1: Background and characteristics
    • Italy, §II, 3(i)(b): Early Renaissance architecture, c 1400–c 1500: Lombardy
    • Milan, §I, 3: History and urban development, 1500–1714
    • Milan, §IV, 1(i)(b): Cathedral architecture, after c 1400
    • Urban planning, §III, 1: c 1450–c 1800: Planning theory
    • Zaccagni
    • military
      • Bastion
      • Military architecture and fortification, §III, 2(ii): Italy, c 1450–c 1870
      • Military architecture and fortification, §III, 4(ii): Medieval and Renaissance designers & theoreticians
  • assistants
    • Caprotti, Gian Giacomo
    • Llanos and Yañez
  • attributions
    • Archinto
    • Bonaparte: (4) Lucien Bonaparte
    • Bonaparte: (8) Napoleon III
    • drawings
      • Ridolfi, Carlo
    • paintings
      • Lorenzo di Credi, §1: 1457–c 1480
      • Luini, Bernardino, §1: Life and work
      • Reynolds, Joshua, §IV: Collecting and dealing
      • Verrocchio, Andrea del, §I, 2: Painting
      • Verrocchio, Andrea del, §IV: Critical reception and posthumous reputation
    • sculpture
      • Francesco di Giorgio Martini, §3: Sculpture
  • automata
    • Automata
  • canals
    • Lallemant
  • collaboration
    • Boltraffio, Giovanni Antonio, §1: Before c 1500
    • Cellini, Benvenuto, §I, 1: Florence and Rome before the Sack, 1500–27
    • Giovio, Paolo
    • Pacioli, Luca
    • Predis, de
    • Predis, de: (2) Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis
    • Rustici, Giovanni Francesco
    • Sforza: (5) Ludovico Sforza
  • commentaries
    • David, Ludovico
  • copies
    • Bossi, Giuseppe
    • Machuca, Pedro
  • drawings
    • Caricature, §1(i): Western before 1720
    • Drawing, §IV, 3: Renaissance
    • Humanism, §3: Humanism and the visual arts
    • Naturalism, §1: General development before the 19th century
    • Rotunda, §2: From mausoleum to cenotaph
    • Science and art, §2(i): Mathematics and visual harmony
    • anatomical
      • Anatomical studies, §2(i): Renaissance: Alberti and Florentine followers
      • Nude, §2: Middle Ages and Renaissance, to 1600
    • architectural
      • Architectural drawing, §2(i): 15th and 16th centuries
      • Church, §I, 2(iv)(a): Centrally planned: Renaissance and after: Roman Catholic
      • Renaissance, §4(i): High Renaissance: Architecture
      • Staircase, §I, 3: Renaissance
    • cartoons
      • Cartoon, §2: History
      • Exhibition, §1: Before c 1700
      • Paper, §VI, 1: Causes of deterioration
    • chalk
      • Chalk, §1: Types and history
      • Este (i): (6) Isabella d’Este
    • ink
      • Human proportion, §1: Introduction
    • landscape
      • Landscape painting, §II, 3: 15th century
    • metalpoints
      • Drawing, §III, 2(iii): Metalpoint
    • pastel
      • Pastel, §2: History and use
    • silverpoints
      • Presentation drawing
  • etchings
    • Etching, relief
  • frames
    • Frame, §I, 4: Framemakers and reframing
    • Frame, §II, 3(iii): Italian Renaissance: Craftsmen and workshops
  • groups and movements
    • Renaissance
    • Renaissance, §4(iv): High Renaissance: The move towards Mannerism
  • methods
    • Model, artist’s, §3: 16th century
    • Science and art, §2(iii): Treatment of light and colour
    • Science and art, §3(ii): Representation in science: Anatomy, physiognomy and medicine
    • Science and art, §3(iii): Representation in science: Natural and geographical sciences
    • Solvent
    • Squaring up
    • Wall painting, §I, 4(iii): Renaissance
    • anatomical studies
      • Contrapposto
    • chiaroscuro
      • Chiaroscuro
      • Tenebrism
    • drawing
      • Pouncing
    • painting
      • Bartolommeo, Fra, §1(ii): Life and work, Drawings
      • Canvas, §2: History and use
      • Light, §2: Pictorial representation of light
      • Light, §4(i): History of light in Western painting, 13th–16th centuries
    • perspective
      • Perspective, §II, 3: Linear: Anamorphic, curvilinear and orthographic
      • Perspective, §III, 2: Non-linear: Origins, before the 16th century
      • Science and art, §2(ii): Treatment of space
    • proportion
      • Human proportion, §2: Painting and sculpture
      • Human proportion, §3: Architecture and cosmology
  • paintings
    • Italy, §III, 3(i)(c): Painting: Early Renaissance, c 1400–c 1500: Technique
    • animal subjects
      • Animal subjects, §1: Before the 17th century
    • encaustic
      • Competition, §III, 2: Painting: Commission competition
      • Encaustic painting, §2(i): Pre-Renaisssance
    • frescoes
      • Battle pictures and military scenes, §1(i): The 16th century: The heroic battle piece
      • Colour, §I, 1: Western world: Medieval and Renaissance
      • Dominican Order, §III: Patronage
      • Florence, §II, 1(ii): Art life and organization, c 1400–c 1530
      • History painting, §I, 2: 16th century
      • Monastery, §I, 2(ii)(b): Christian monastic buildings: Refectory decoration
      • Renaissance, §4(iii)(a): High Renaissance: Painting and graphic art in Italy
      • Town hall, §2: Guildhalls and town halls, 12th–18th centuries
    • mythological
      • Erotic art, §I, 2(ii): Western world, c 1500–c 1700
    • portraits
      • Apollinaire, Guillaume
      • Dress, §V, 1(ii): Southern Europe, 15th century
      • Jewellery, §4: 1726–1830
      • Poggi, Giovanni
    • religious
      • Altarpiece, §2(ii)(b): Forms and development: c 1400– c 1600
      • Gesture, §2: Symbolic gestures
      • Illusionism, §2(i)(a): Large-scale projects, c 1450–c 1600
      • Lippi: (2) Filippino Lippi, §1(iv): Late works, 1494 and after
      • Mannerism, §3(ii): Formal language: Spiritual intensity
      • Pollaiuolo, §I: (2) Piero Pollaiuolo
      • Rome, §III, 4(i): Art life and organization, 1503–49
      • Verrocchio, Andrea del, §II, 2: Workshop
    • secco
      • Secco, §1(ii): Materials and techniques: Oil
  • patrons and collectors
    • England, §XIII, 2(i): Trends in collecting, 1700–1840
    • Italy, §XII, 4: Patronage: Renaissance, c 1400–c 1600
    • Alcalá, 3rd Duque de (1583-1637)
      • Ribera (i): (4) 3rd Duque de Alcalá
    • Alexander II, Emperor of Russia (reg 1855-81)
      • Romanov: (7) Alexander II, Emperor of Russia
    • Amboise, Charles II d', Comte de Chaumont (1473-(1511)
      • Amboise, d’: (2) Charles II d’Amboise
    • Amboise, Georges I d', Cardinal (1460-1510)
      • Amboise, d’: (1) Georges I d’Amboise
    • Anne of Brittany, Queen of France (1477-1514)
      • Valois, House of: (12) Anne of Brittany, Queen of France
    • Arconati, Galeazzo (Maria), Conte
      • Arconati, Galeazzo
    • Ashburnham, Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham
      • Ashburnham, Bertram
    • Borgia, Cesare, Duca di Valentino
      • Borgia: (3) Cesare Borgia
    • Borromeo, Federico, Cardinal
      • Borromeo: (2) Federico Borromeo
    • Borromeo, Vitaliano VI, Conte (1620-90)
      • Borromeo: (3) Vitaliano VI Borromeo
    • Bouverie, John
      • Bouverie, John
    • Charles I, King of England and Scotland (reg 1625-49)
      • England, §XIII, 1: Collecting and dealing, before 1700
      • Loo, Andreas de
    • Coke, Thomas, 1st Earl of Leicester of the 1st creation (1697-1759)
      • Coke: (1) Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester
      • Grand Tour, §III: The `Classic ground’, c 1700–62
    • Condé, Henry II de Bourbon, Prince de (1588-1646)
      • Condé: (1) Henry II, Prince de
    • Czartoryska, Isabella, Princess (1746-1835)
      • Czartoryski: (2) Izabela Czartoryska
    • Esterházy, Miklós II, Prince (1765-1833)
      • Esterházy, §I: (4) Miklós Esterházy II
    • Feuchère, Jean-Jacques
      • Feuchère, Jean-Jacques
    • Flinck, Nicolaes Anthonis
      • Flinck: (2) Nicolaes Anthonis Flinck
    • Francis I, King of France (reg 1515-47)
      • Fontainebleau school, §2(i): First school: Work of Rosso and Primaticcio
      • France, §XII, 3: Patronage: 16th and 17th centuries
      • France, §XIII, 2: Collecting and dealing: 16th century
      • Italy, §IV, 3(ii)(d): High Renaissance sculpture, c 1480–c 1530: Impact in Europe
      • Valois, House of
      • Valois, House of: (14) Francis I, §2: Painting, sculpture and other arts
    • Galeazzo Maria, 5th Duke of Milan (reg 1466-76)
      • Milan, §I, 2: History and urban development, 1162–1499
    • Grimani, Domenico, Cardinal, Patriarch of Aquilea
      • Grimani: (2) Domenico Grimani
    • Guise, John
      • Guise, John
    • Hamilton, Gavin
      • Hamilton, Gavin
    • Hammer, Armand
      • Hammer, Armand
    • Howard (i), Thomas, 2nd Earl of Arundel
      • Howard (i): (1) Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel
    • Iriarte (family)
      • Iriarte
    • Jabach, Everard
      • Jabach, Everard, §2: Sales to Louis XIV, 1662 and 1671
    • Josephine, Empress of the French (1763-1814)
      • Bonaparte: (2) Josephine
    • Lely, Peter
      • Lely, Peter, §3: Collection
    • Leoni, Leone
      • Leoni: (1) Leone Leoni
    • Leoni, Pompeo
      • Leoni: (2) Pompeo Leoni
    • Ligne, Charles-Joseph-Emmanuel de, Prince (1759-92)
      • Ligne, Charles-Joseph-Emmanuel de
    • Louis XII, King of France (reg 1498-1515)
      • Valois, House of: (13) Louis XII, King of France
    • Mariette, Jean
      • Mariette: (4) Pierre-Jean Mariette
    • Medici, Ottaviano de'
      • Medici, de’: (10) Ottaviano de’ Medici
    • Mond, Ludwig
      • Mond: (1) Ludwig Mond
    • Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Walter Francis, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, 7th Duke of Queensberry
      • Montagu: (3) Walter Francis Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch
    • Musée du Louvre (Paris)
      • France, §XIV, 2: Early museums in Paris, late 18th century
    • National Gallery (London)
      • Burton, Frederic William
    • Richelieu, Armand-Jean Du Plessis, Cardinal de
      • France, §XIII, 3: Collecting and dealing: 17th century
      • Richelieu (ii): (1) Cardinal Richelieu
    • Robertet, Florimond de
      • France, §XIII, 1: Collecting and dealing: 14th and 15th centuries
      • Robertet
    • Robien, Christophe-Paul Gautron, Marquis de
      • Robien, Christophe-Paul Gautron
    • Roscoe, William
      • Roscoe, William
    • Rucellai, Bernardo (di Giovanni)
      • Rucellai: (2) Bernardo Rucellai
    • Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (reg 1576-1612)
      • Habsburg, §I: (10) Rudolf II, §3: Collections
    • Rushout, John, 2nd Baron Northwick
      • Rushout, John
    • Saint-Morys, Charles Paul Jean-Baptiste de Bourgevin Vialart de
      • Saint-Morys, Charles Paul Jean-Baptiste de Bourgevin Vialart de
    • Soderini, Piero (di Tommaso)
      • Soderini, Piero
    • Tallard, Marie-Joseph d'Hostun, Duc de
      • Tallard, Marie-Joseph d’Hostun
    • Thibaudeau, Narcisse-Adolphe, Comte de
      • Thibaudeau, Narcisse-Adolphe
    • Trivulzio, Gian Giacomo
      • Milan, §II, 3: Art life and organization, 1500–1714
    • Turini, Baldassare
      • Turini, Baldassare
    • Vecchietti, Bernardo
      • Vecchietti, Bernardo
    • Villiers, George, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628)
      • Villiers, George
    • Vos (ii) Jbzn, Jacob de (1803-82)
      • Vos, de (ii): (3) Jacob de Vos Jbzn
    • Wellesley, Henry
      • Wellesley: (2) Henry Wellesley
    • William II, King of the Netherlands (reg 1840-49)
      • Orange Nassau: (10) William II, King of the Netherlands