Da Vinci was born in 1452 in the small town of Anchiano, which was close to Vinci. He was an illegitimate child of the Florentinenotary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina. He was a great artist. In his youth Leonardo became an apprentice in one of the highest acclaimed studios in Italy. Leonardo stayed here until 1483, when he left for Milan. In Milan he was called upon by Lodovico Sforza to construct an equestrian statue in honor of Sforza's father. The first work that Leonardo completed in Milan was the Madonna of the Rocks.

Leonardo was also a great engineer and inventor. There were many times where Leonardo was called upon by the government to design state buildings or churches or to conceive of new weaponry that if they had ever been used, then they would have taken the enemy by great surprise.

Not only was he a great inventor, Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest scientific minds ever to have lived. There are a great number of observations and experiments that were executed and recorded in his sketches. Leonardo, before his death, would have completed many studies of the human body. There are elaborate, detailed drawings of bone and muscle structure,organ-system observations, and reproductive studies. The bodies he used in these observations were often stolen from a nearby morgue.