Editing Leonardo da Vinci (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life (1452–1472) ===
==== Birth and background ====
[[File:Baptism record of Leonardo Da Vinci.jpg|thumb|220x124px|right|Leonardo da Vinci's baptism record]]
Leonardo da Vinci, properly named Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci{{efn|{{IPAc-en|,|l|i:|@|'|n|a:r|d|ou|_|d|@|_|'|v|I|n|tS|i|,_|,|l|i:|ou|'|-|,_|,|l|ei|ou|'|-}} {{respell|LEE|ə|NAR|doh|_|də|_|VIN|chee|,_|LEE|oh|-,_|LAY|oh|-}}; {{IPA|it|leoˈnardo di ˌsɛr ˈpjɛːro da (v)ˈvintʃi|lang|it-Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci.ogg}}.|name=IPA}} ("Leonardo, son of ser Piero from Vinci"),{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=7}}{{sfn|Kemp|2006|p=1}}{{efn|name=ser|The inclusion of the title {{lang|it|ser}} (shortening of Italian {{lang|it|messer}} or {{lang|it|messere}}, title of courtesy prefixed to the first name) indicates that Leonardo's father was a gentleman (a low-ranking nobleman).}} was born on 15 April 1452 in, or close to, the [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] hill town of [[Vinci, Tuscany|Vinci]], 20 miles from [[Florence]].{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}}{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/17 17]}}{{efn|group=SerA|The diary of his paternal grandfather Ser Antonio relays a precise account: "There was born to me a grandson, son of {{ill|Piero da Vinci|fr|lt=Ser Piero}}, on 15 April, a Saturday, at the third hour of the night."{{sfn|Vezzosi|1997|p=13}}{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}} Ser Antonio records Leonardo being baptised the following day by Piero di Bartolomeo at the [[parish]] of {{ill|Chiesa di Santa Croce (Vinci)|it|lt=Santa Croce}}.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/20 20]}}}} He was born [[Legitimacy (family law)|out of wedlock]] to Piero da Vinci (Ser Piero da Vinci d'Antonio di ser Piero di ser Guido; 1426–1504),{{sfn|Bambach|2019|pp=16, 24}} a Florentine [[Civil law notary|legal notary]],{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} and Caterina di Meo Lippi ({{circa|1434–1494}}), from the lower class.{{sfn|Marani|2003|p=13}}{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=16}}{{efn|It has been suggested that Caterina may have been a slave from the Middle East "or at least, from the Mediterranean" or even of Chinese descent. According to art critic [[Alessandro Vezzosi]], head of the [[Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci|Leonardo Museum in Vinci]], there is evidence that Piero owned a slave called Caterina.<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Hooper |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/apr/12/art.italy |title=Da Vinci's mother was a slave, Italian study claims |date=12 April 2008 |access-date=16 August 2015 |archive-date=23 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223072445/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/apr/12/art.italy |url-status=live}}</ref> The reconstruction of one of Leonardo's fingerprints shows a pattern that matches 60% of people of Middle Eastern origin, suggesting the possibility that Leonardo may have had Middle Eastern blood. The claim is refuted by Simon Cole, associate professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California at Irvine: "You can't predict one person's race from these kinds of incidences, especially if looking at only one finger". More recently, historian [[Martin Kemp (art historian)|Martin Kemp]], after digging through overlooked archives and records in Italy, found evidence that Leonardo's mother was a young local woman identified as Caterina di Meo Lippi.<ref>{{cite news |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |date=21 May 2017 |title=Tuscan archives yield up secrets of Leonardo's mystery mother |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/may/20/leonardo-da-vinci-orphan-mother-caterina |work=The Guardian |access-date=5 June 2019 |archive-date=10 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510151906/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/may/20/leonardo-da-vinci-orphan-mother-caterina |url-status=live}}</ref>}} It remains uncertain where Leonardo was born; the traditional account, from a local oral tradition recorded by the historian [[Emanuele Repetti]],{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=24}} is that he was born in [[Anchiano]], a country hamlet that would have offered sufficient privacy for the illegitimate birth, though it is still possible he was born in a house in Florence that Ser Piero almost certainly had.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/18 18]}}{{efn|name=Birthplace|See {{harvtxt|Nicholl|2005|pp=17–20}} and {{harvtxt|Bambach|2019|p=24}} for further information on the dispute and uncertainty surrounding Leonardo's exact birthplace.}} Leonardo's parents both married separately the year after his birth. Caterina – who later appears in Leonardo's notes as only "Caterina" or "Catelina" – is usually identified as the Caterina Buti del Vacca, who married the local artisan Antonio di Piero Buti del Vacca, nicknamed {{langx|it|L'Accattabriga|translation=the quarrelsome one|label=none}}.{{sfn|Marani|2003|p=13}}{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=24}} Having been betrothed to her the previous year, Ser Piero married Albiera Amadori and after her death in 1464, went on to have three subsequent marriages.{{sfn|Bambach|2019|p=24}}{{sfn|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|p=65}}{{efn|See {{harvtxt|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|pp=65–66}} for detailed table on Ser Piero's marriages.}} From all the marriages, Leonardo eventually had 16 half-siblings (of whom 11 survived infancy){{sfn|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|pp=65–66}} who were much younger than he (the last was born when Leonardo was 46 years old){{sfn|Kemp|Pallanti|2017|pp=65–66}} and with whom he had very little contact.{{efn|He also never wrote about his father, except a passing note of his death in which he overstates his age by three years.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=11}} Leonardo's siblings caused him difficulty after his father's death in a dispute over their inheritance.{{sfn|Magnano|2007|p=138}}}}

[[File:Geburtshaus von Leonardo da Vinci in Vinci (Toskana).jpg|thumb|left|The possible birthplace and childhood home of Leonardo in [[Anchiano]], [[Vinci, Tuscany|Vinci]], Italy|alt=Photo of a building of rough stone with small windows, surrounded by olive trees]]
Very little is known about Leonardo's childhood and much is shrouded in myth, partially because of his biography in the frequently apocryphal ''[[Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects]]'' (1550) by 16th-century art historian [[Giorgio Vasari]].{{sfn|Brown|1998|pp=1, 5}}{{sfn|Marani|2003|p=12}} Tax records indicate that by at least 1457 he lived in the household of his paternal grandfather, Antonio da Vinci,{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} but it is possible that he spent the years before then in the care of his mother in Vinci, either Anchiano or Campo Zeppi in the parish of San Pantaleone.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=175}}{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/28 28]}} He is thought to have been close to his uncle, Francesco da Vinci,{{sfn|Kemp|2003}} but his father was probably in Florence most of the time.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} Ser Piero, who was the descendant of a long line of notaries, established an official residence in Florence by at least 1469 and had a successful career.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}} Despite his family history, Leonardo only received a basic and informal education in (vernacular) writing, reading, and mathematics; possibly because his artistic talents were recognised early, so his family decided to focus their attention there.{{sfn|Brown|1998|p=5}}

Later in life, Leonardo recorded his earliest memory, now in the [[Codex Atlanticus]].{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/30 30], [https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/506 506]}} While writing on the flight of birds, he recalled as an infant when a [[Kite (bird)|kite]] came to his cradle and opened his mouth with its tail; commentators still debate whether the anecdote was an actual memory or a fantasy.{{sfn|Nicholl|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/30 30]|ps=. See p. [https://archive.org/details/leonardodavinci00char/page/506 506] for the original Italian.}}

==== Verrocchio's workshop ====
[[File:Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci - Baptism of Christ - Uffizi.jpg|thumb|''[[The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio)|The Baptism of Christ]]'' (1472–1475) by [[Verrocchio]] and Leonardo, [[Uffizi]] Gallery|alt=Painting showing Jesus, naked except for a loin-cloth, standing in a shallow stream in a rocky landscape, while to the right, John the Baptist, identifiable by the cross that he carries, tips water over Jesus' head. Two angels kneel at the left. Above Jesus are the hands of God, and a dove descending|230x230px]]

In the mid-1460s, Leonardo's family moved to Florence, which at the time was the centre of Christian [[Renaissance humanism|Humanist]] thought and culture.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=13}} Around the age of 14,{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=11}} he became a ''garzone'' (studio boy) in the workshop of [[Andrea del Verrocchio]], who was the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his time.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=13}} This was about the time of the death of Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor [[Donatello]].{{efn|The humanist influence of Donatello's ''[[David (Donatello, bronze)|David]]'' can be seen in Leonardo's late paintings, particularly ''[[St. John the Baptist (Leonardo)|John the Baptist]]''.{{sfn|Hartt|1970|pp=127–133}}{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=13}}}} Leonardo became an apprentice by the age of 17 and remained in training for seven years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bacci |first=Mina |translator-last=Tanguy |translator-first=J. |title=The Great Artists: Da Vinci |year=1978 |orig-date=1963 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |location=New York}}<!--intro--></ref> Other famous painters apprenticed in the workshop or associated with it include [[Domenico Ghirlandaio|Ghirlandaio]], [[Perugino]], [[Botticelli]], and [[Lorenzo di Credi]].{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} Leonardo was exposed to both theoretical training and a wide range of technical skills,{{sfn|Rosci|1977|p=27}} including drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics, and woodwork, as well as the artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting, and modelling.{{sfn|Martindale|1972}}{{efn|The "diverse arts" and technical skills of Medieval and Renaissance workshops are described in detail in the 12th-century text ''On Divers Arts'' by [[Theophilus Presbyter]] and in the early 15th-century text ''Il Libro dell'Arte'' by [[Cennino Cennini]].}}

Leonardo was a contemporary of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino, who were all slightly older than he was.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|pp=9–20}} He would have met them at the workshop of Verrocchio or at the [[Platonic Academy (Florence)|Platonic Academy]] of the [[Medici]].{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} Florence was ornamented by the works of artists such as Donatello's contemporaries [[Masaccio]], whose figurative [[fresco]]es were imbued with realism and emotion, and [[Lorenzo Ghiberti|Ghiberti]], whose ''[[Florence Baptistery#Lorenzo Ghiberti|Gates of Paradise]]'', gleaming with [[gold leaf]], displayed the art of combining complex figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. [[Piero della Francesca]] had made a detailed study of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]],<ref>Piero della Francesca, ''On Perspective for Painting (De Prospectiva Pingendi)''</ref> and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and [[Leon Battista Alberti]]'s treatise ''[[De pictura]]'' were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks.{{sfn|Hartt|1970|pp=127–133}}<ref name="Rach">{{cite book |last=Rachum |first=Ilan |title=The Renaissance, an Illustrated Encyclopedia |year=1979}}</ref>

Much of the painting in Verrocchio's workshop was done by his assistants. According to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his ''[[The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio and Leonardo)|The Baptism of Christ]]'' ({{Circa|1472–1475|lk=off}}), painting the young angel holding Jesus's robe with skill so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio purportedly put down his brush and never painted again<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=287}}</ref> (the latter claim probably being apocryphal).{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}} The new technique of [[oil painting|oil paint]] was applied to areas of the mostly [[tempera]] work, including the landscape, the rocks seen through the brown mountain stream, and much of Jesus's figure, indicating Leonardo's hand.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=88}} Additionally, Leonardo may have been a model for two works by Verrocchio: the bronze statue of ''[[David (Verrocchio)|David]]'' in the [[Bargello]] and the [[archangel Raphael]] in ''[[Tobias and the Angel (Verrocchio)|Tobias and the Angel]]''.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}

Vasari tells a story of Leonardo as a very young man: a local peasant made himself a round [[buckler]] shield and requested that Ser Piero have it painted for him. Leonardo, inspired by the story of [[Medusa]], responded with a [[Medusa (Leonardo)|painting of a monster]] spitting fire that was so terrifying that his father bought a different shield to give to the peasant and sold Leonardo's to a Florentine art dealer for 100 [[ducat]]s, who in turn sold it to the [[List of dukes of Milan|Duke of Milan]].<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|pp=287–289}}</ref>

=== First Florentine period (1472 – c. 1482) ===
[[File:Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo).jpg|thumb|''Adoration of the Magi'' {{circa|1478–1482}},{{#tag:ref|'''''The Adoration of the Magi'''''
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=27}}: {{circa|1481–1482}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=338}}: 1481
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=56}}: {{circa|1480–1482}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=222}}: 1481/1482
|group=d}} [[Uffizi]], Florence]]
By 1472, at the age of 20, Leonardo qualified as a master in the [[Guild of Saint Luke]], the guild of artists and doctors of medicine,{{efn|That Leonardo joined the guild by this time is deduced from the record of payment made to the Compagnia di San Luca in the company's register, Libro Rosso A, 1472–1520, Accademia di Belle Arti.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}}} but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate and live with him.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=13}} Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a 1473 pen-and-ink drawing of the [[Arno]] valley (see below).{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}<ref name=Polidoro>{{cite journal |last1=Polidoro |first1=Massimo|author-link=Massimo Polidoro |title=The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci, Part 1 |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2019 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=30–31 |publisher=Center for Inquiry}}</ref>{{efn|On the back he wrote: "I, staying with Anthony, am happy," possibly in reference to his father.}} According to Vasari, the young Leonardo was the first to suggest making the Arno river a navigable channel between Florence and [[Pisa]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=15}}

In January 1478, Leonardo received an independent commission to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel of Saint Bernard in the Florentine town hall, the [[Palazzo Vecchio|Palazzo della Signoria]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Kenneth |last2=Kemp |first2=Martin |title=Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=978-0-14-198237-3 |page=45 |edition=New, revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXifCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR45 |date=26 November 2015}}</ref> an indication of his independence from Verrocchio's studio. An anonymous early biographer, known as [[Anonimo Gaddiano]], claims that in 1480 Leonardo was living with the Medici and often worked in the garden of the [[Piazza San Marco, Florence]], where a [[Platonic Academy (Florence)|Neoplatonic academy]] of artists, poets and philosophers organised by the Medici met.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}{{Efn|Leonardo later wrote in the margin of a journal, "the Medici made me and the Medici destroyed me."{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}}}} In March 1481, he received a commission from the monks of [[:it:Chiesa di San Donato in Scopeto|San Donato in Scopeto]] for ''[[Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo)|The Adoration of the Magi]]''.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|pp=77–78}} Neither of these initial commissions were completed, being abandoned when Leonardo went to offer his services to [[Duke of Milan]] [[Ludovico Sforza]]. Leonardo wrote Sforza [[Personal life of Leonardo da Vinci#Résumé|a letter]] which described the diverse things that he could achieve in the fields of engineering and weapon design, and mentioned that he could paint.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=53–54}} He brought with him a silver string instrument – either a [[lute]] or [[lyre]] – in the form of a horse's head.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=53–54}}

With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to know the older Humanist philosophers of whom [[Marsiglio Ficino]], proponent of [[Neoplatonism]]; [[Cristoforo Landino]], writer of commentaries on Classical writings, and [[John Argyropoulos]], teacher of Greek and translator of [[Aristotle]] were the foremost. Also associated with the Platonic Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher [[Pico della Mirandola]].{{sfn|Rosci|1977|pp=9–20}}<ref name="Rach" />{{sfn|Williamson|1974}} In 1482, Leonardo was sent as an ambassador by [[Lorenzo de' Medici]] to [[Ludovico il Moro]], who ruled [[Milan]] between 1479 and 1499.{{sfn|Rosci|1977|pp=9–20}}{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=83}}

<gallery widths="165" heights="165">
File:Leonardo da Vinci Madonna of the Carnation.jpg|''[[Madonna of the Carnation]]'', {{circa|1472–1478}}, [[Alte Pinakothek]], Munich
File:Paisagem do Arno - Leonardo da Vinci.jpg|''Landscape of the Arno Valley'' (1473)
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Ginevra de' Benci - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Ginevra de' Benci]]'', {{circa|1474–1480}}, [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington D.C.
File:Madonna benois 01.jpg|''[[Benois Madonna]]'', {{circa|1478–1481}}, [[Hermitage Museum|Hermitage]], Saint Petersburg
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Hanging of Bernardo Baroncelli 1479.jpg|Sketch of the hanging of [[Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli]], 1479
</gallery>

=== First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499) ===
[[File:Leonardo Da Vinci - Vergine delle Rocce (Louvre).jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]'', {{circa|1483–1493}},{{#tag:ref|'''''Virgin of the Rocks''''' (Louvre version)
* {{Harvtxt|Kemp|2019|p=41}}: {{circa|1483–1493}}
* {{Harvtxt|Marani|2003|p=339}}: between 1483 and 1486
* {{Harvtxt|Syson ''et al.''|2011|p=164}}: 1483–{{circa|1485}}
* {{Harvtxt|Zöllner|2019|p=223}}: 1483–1484/1485
|group=d}} [[Louvre]] version]]
Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 1499. He was commissioned to paint the ''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]'' for the [[Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception]] and ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)|The Last Supper]]'' for the monastery of [[Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan)|Santa Maria delle Grazie]].{{sfn|Kemp|2011}} In the spring of 1485, Leonardo travelled to [[Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1538)|Hungary]] (on behalf of Sforza) to meet king [[Matthias Corvinus]], and was commissioned by him to paint a [[Madonna (art)|Madonna]].<ref>{{interlanguage link|Franz-Joachim Verspohl|de}}. ''Michelangelo Buonarroti und Leonardo da Vinci: Republikanischer Alltag und Künstlerkonkurrenz in Florenz zwischen 1501 und 1505.'' Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 9783835302167, p. 151 (German).</ref> In 1490 he was called as a consultant, together with [[Francesco di Giorgio Martini]], for the building site of the [[Pavia Cathedral|cathedral]] of [[Pavia]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/19632579 |title=Amadeo, Bramante and Leonardo and the Cupola of Milan Cathedral |work=Achademia Leonardi Vinci|access-date=9 August 2022 |last1=Schofield |first1=Richard|archive-date=7 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407001344/https://www.academia.edu/19632579|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/44632998 |title=Leonardo a (e i rapporti con) Pavia: una verifica sui documenti |work=Annuario dell'Archivio di Stato di Milano |date=January 2020 |access-date=9 August 2022 |last1=Barbieri |first1=Ezio |last2=Catanese |first2=Filippo |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407001345/https://www.academia.edu/44632998 |url-status=live}}</ref> and was struck by the equestrian statue of [[Regisole]], of which he left a sketch.<ref>Carlo Pedretti, ''Leonardo da Vinci: Drawings of Horses and Other Animals from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.'' Johnson Reprint/HBJ, 1984, ISBN 9780384452824.</ref> Leonardo was employed on many other projects for Sforza, such as preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions; [[:File:Study for the Cupola of Milan Cathedral by Leonardo da Vinci.jpg|a drawing of]], and wooden model for, a competition to design the [[cupola]] for [[Milan Cathedral]];{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=79}} and a model for a huge [[equestrian monument]] to Ludovico's predecessor [[Francesco Sforza]]. This would have surpassed in size the only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, [[Donatello]]'s ''[[Equestrian statue of Gattamelata|Gattamelata]]'' in Padua and Verrocchio's ''[[Bartolomeo Colleoni]]'' in Venice, and became known as the ''[[Leonardo's horse|Gran Cavallo]]''.{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} Leonardo completed a model for the horse and made detailed plans for its [[Casting (metalworking)|casting]],{{sfn|Arasse|1998}} but in November 1494, Ludovico gave the metal to [[Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|his brother-in-law]] to be used for a cannon to defend the city from [[Charles&nbsp;VIII of France]].{{sfn|Arasse|1998}}

Contemporary correspondence records that Leonardo and his assistants were commissioned by the Duke of Milan to paint the [[Sala delle Asse]] in the [[Sforza Castle]], {{circa}} 1498.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Arte Lombarda |number=92/93 (1–2) |year=1990 |publisher=Vita e Pensiero{{snd}}Pubblicazioni dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore |pages=76–90 |title=Leonardo's "Sala delle Asse" and the Primordial Origins of Architecture |first=John F. |last=Moffitt |jstor=43132702 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43132702 |access-date=17 August 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816192636/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43132702 |url-status=live }}</ref> The project became a [[trompe-l'œil]] decoration that made the great hall appear to be a pergola created by the interwoven limbs of sixteen mulberry trees,<ref>{{cite web |first=Rocky |last=Ruggiero |url=https://rockyruggiero.com/episode-142-leonardo-da-vincis-sala-delle-asse/ |title=Episode 142 – Leonardo da Vinci's Sala delle Asse |series=Making Art and History Come to Life, Rebuilding the Renaissance |format=audio |date=6 October 2021 |website=Rockyruggiero.com |access-date=11 October 2021 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603040721/https://rockyruggiero.com/episode-142-leonardo-da-vincis-sala-delle-asse/ |url-status=live}}</ref> whose canopy included an intricate labyrinth of leaves and knots on the ceiling.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Segui il restauro |url=http://www.saladelleassecastello.it/ |website=Castello Sforzesco – Sala delle Asse |language=it-IT |trans-title=Follow the restoration |access-date=19 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016091633/http://www.saladelleassecastello.it/ |archive-date=16 October 2018}}</ref>{{clear left}}

<gallery widths="165px" heights="165px">
File:Leonardo da vinci, Head of a girl 01.jpg|''[[Head of a Woman (Leonardo, Turin)|Head of a Woman]]'', {{circa|1483–1485}}, [[Royal Library of Turin]]
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Portrait of a Musician - Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.jpg|''[[Portrait of a Musician]]'', {{circa|1483–1487}}, [[Pinacoteca Ambrosiana]], Milan
File:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour (cropped).jpg|The ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' ({{circa|1485}}) [[Accademia, Venice|Accademia]], Venice
File:Study of horse.jpg|[[Leonardo's horse]] in [[silverpoint]], {{circa|1488}}{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=65}}
File:Leonardo da Vinci (attrib)- la Belle Ferroniere.jpg|{{lang|fr|[[La Belle Ferronnière]]}}, {{circa|1490–1498}}
File:Sala-Asse-18-02-2014-32.jpg|Detail of 1902 restoration, [[Sala delle Asse|trompe-l'œil painting]] (1498)
</gallery>

=== Second Florentine period (1500–1508) ===
[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - Virgin and Child with Ss Anne and John the Baptist.jpg|thumb|''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]'', {{circa|1499–1508}}, [[National Gallery]], London]]

When Ludovico Sforza was [[Battle of Novara (1500)|overthrown by France]] in 1500, Leonardo fled Milan for [[Venice]], accompanied by his assistant [[Salaì]] and friend, the mathematician [[Luca Pacioli]].{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=85}} In Venice, Leonardo was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of [[Santissima Annunziata, Florence|Santissima Annunziata]] and were provided with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the [[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (cartoon)|cartoon]] of ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]'', a work that won such admiration that "men [and] women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if they were going to a solemn festival."<ref name="V265" group="‡" />{{efn|In 2005, the studio was rediscovered during the restoration of part of a building occupied for 100 years by the Department of Military Geography.<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Owen |title=Found: the studio where Leonardo met Mona Lisa |work=[[The Times]] |date=12 January 2005 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/found-the-studio-where-leonardo-met-mona-lisa-8d6lb0tqddk |access-date=5 January 2010 |location=London |archive-date=3 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703053422/https://web.archive.org/web/20200703052246/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/found-the-studio-where-leonardo-met-mona-lisa-8d6lb0tqddk |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In [[Cesena]] in 1502, Leonardo entered the service of [[Cesare Borgia]], the son of [[Pope Alexander VI]], acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=85}} Leonardo created a map of Cesare Borgia's stronghold, a town plan of [[Imola]] in order to win his patronage. Upon seeing it, Cesare hired Leonardo as his chief military engineer and architect. Later in the year, Leonardo produced another map for his patron, one of [[Chiana Valley]], Tuscany, so as to give his patron a better overlay of the land and greater strategic position. He created this map in conjunction with his other project of constructing a dam from the sea to Florence, in order to allow a supply of water to sustain the canal during all seasons.

Leonardo had left Borgia's service and returned to Florence by early 1503,{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=124}} where he rejoined the [[Guild of Saint Luke#Italy|Guild of Saint Luke]] on 18 October of that year. By this same month, Leonardo had begun working on a portrait of [[Lisa del Giocondo]], the model for the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Mona Lisa – Heidelberg discovery confirms identity |url=http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/news/monalisa.html |publisher=[[University of Heidelberg]] |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105050239/http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/news/monalisa.html |archive-date=5 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |first=Vincent |last=Delieuvin |author-link=Vincent Delieuvin |title=Télématin |series=Journal Télévisé |network=France 2 Télévision |date=15 January 2008}}</ref> which he would continue working on until his twilight years. In January 1504, he was part of a committee formed to recommend where Michelangelo's statue of ''[[David (Michelangelo)|David]]'' should be placed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coughlan |first=Robert |title=The World of Michelangelo: 1475–1564 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofmichaelan0000unse|url-access=limited |others=et al |publisher=Time-Life Books |year=1966 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldofmichaelan0000unse/page/90 90]}}</ref> He then spent two years in Florence designing and painting a mural of ''[[The Battle of Anghiari (painting)|The Battle of Anghiari]]'' for the Signoria,{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=85}} with Michelangelo designing its companion piece, ''[[Battle of Cascina (Michelangelo)|The Battle of Cascina]]''.{{efn|Both works are lost. The entire composition of Michelangelo's painting is known from a copy by Aristotole da Sangallo, 1542.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ludwig |last=Goldscheider |title=Michelangelo: paintings, sculptures, architecture |year=1967 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0-7148-1314-1}}</ref> Leonardo's painting is known only from preparatory sketches and several copies of the centre section, of which the best known, and probably least accurate, is by [[Peter Paul Rubens]].{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|pp=106–107}}}}

In 1506, Leonardo was summoned to Milan by [[Charles II d'Amboise]], the acting [[Kingdom of France|French governor]] of the city.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} There, Leonardo took on another pupil, Count [[Francesco Melzi]], the son of a [[Lombardy|Lombard]] aristocrat, who is considered to have been his favourite student.{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} The [[Council of Florence]] wished Leonardo to return promptly to finish ''The Battle of Anghiari'', but he was given leave at the behest of [[Louis XII]], who considered commissioning the artist to make some portraits.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} Leonardo may have commenced a project for an equestrian figure of d'Amboise;<ref>{{cite journal |title=Achademia Leonardi Vinci |journal=Journal of Leonardo Studies & Bibliography of Vinciana |volume=VIII |pages=243–244 |year=1990}}</ref> [[Horse and Rider (wax sculpture)|a wax model attributed to him]] survives and would be the only extant example of Leonardo's sculpture, but the [[Horse and Rider (wax sculpture)#Attribution and disputes|attribution is not widely accepted]]. Leonardo was otherwise free to pursue his scientific interests.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=145}} Many of Leonardo's most prominent pupils either knew or worked with him in Milan,{{sfn|Bortolon|1967}} including [[Bernardino Luini]], [[Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio]], and [[Marco d'Oggiono]]. In 1507, Leonardo was in Florence sorting out a dispute with his brothers over the estate of his father, who had died in 1504.

<gallery widths="165px" heights="165px">
File:Sainte Anne Leonard.jpg|''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Leonardo)|The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne]]'', {{circa|1501–1519}}, Louvre, Paris
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Plan of Imola - Google Art Project.jpg|Leonardo's map of [[Imola]], created for [[Cesare Borgia]], 1502
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Study of Two Warriors' Heads for the Battle of Anghiari - Google Art Project (cropped).jpg|Study for ''[[The Battle of Anghiari (Leonardo)|The Battle of Anghiari]]'' (now lost), {{circa|1503}}, [[Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)|Museum of Fine Arts]], Budapest
File:Leonardo da vinci - La scapigliata.jpg|''[[La Scapigliata]]'', {{circa|1506–1508}} (unfinished), [[Galleria Nazionale di Parma]], Parma
File:Study for the Kneeling Leda.jpg|Study for ''[[Leda and the Swan (Leonardo)|Leda and the Swan]]'' (now lost), {{circa|1506–1508}}, [[Chatsworth House]], England
</gallery>

=== Second Milanese period (1508–1513) ===
By 1508, Leonardo was back in Milan, living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=86}}

In 1512, Leonardo was working on plans for an equestrian monument for [[Gian Giacomo Trivulzio]], but this was prevented by an invasion of a confederation of Swiss, Spanish and Venetian forces, which drove the French from Milan. Leonardo stayed in the city, spending several months in 1513 at the Medici's [[Vaprio d'Adda]] villa.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=149–150}}

=== Rome and France (1513–1519) ===
[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - A deluge - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|An apocalyptic deluge drawn in black chalk by Leonardo near the end of his life (part of a series of 10, paired with written description in his notebooks){{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=151}}]]
In March 1513, Lorenzo de' Medici's son [[Pope Leo X|Giovanni]] assumed the papacy (as Leo X); Leonardo went to Rome that September, where he was received by the pope's brother [[Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours|Giuliano]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=149–150}} From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the [[Belvedere Courtyard]] in the [[Apostolic Palace]], where Michelangelo and [[Raphael]] were both active.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=86}} Leonardo was given an allowance of 33 ducats a month and, according to Vasari, decorated a lizard with scales dipped in [[Mercury (element)|quicksilver]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}} The pope gave him a painting commission of unknown subject matter, but cancelled it when the artist set about developing a new kind of [[varnish]].{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}}{{efn|Pope Leo X is quoted as saying, "This man will never accomplish anything! He thinks of the end before the beginning!"{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}}}} Leonardo became ill, in what may have been the first of multiple [[stroke]]s leading to his death.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}} He practised botany in the [[Vatican Gardens]], and was commissioned to make plans for the Pope's proposed draining of the [[Pontine Marshes]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Ohlig |editor1-first=Christoph P. J. |title=Integrated Land and Water Resources Management in History |date=2005 |publisher=Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-8334-2463-2 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAXwGrryd7sC&pg=PA33}}</ref> He also dissected [[cadaver]]s, making notes for a treatise on [[vocal cords]];<ref>{{cite book |last=Gillette |first=Henry Sampson |title=Leonardo da Vinci: Pathfinder of Science |year=2017 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_I5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |access-date=10 September 2019 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323103326/https://books.google.com/books?id=f_I5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> these he gave to an official in hopes of regaining the Pope's favour, but he was unsuccessful.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=150}}

In October 1515, King [[Francis I of France]] recaptured Milan.{{sfn|Wasserman|1975|pp=77–78}}{{efn|There is no documentary basis for the frequently made claim that Leonardo was present at the meeting between Francis I and Leo X, which took place in Bologna from 11 to 14 December 1516.<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|first=Domenico|last=Laurenza|title=Leonardo nella Roma di Leone X|journal=Lettura Vinciana|volume=XLIII|publisher=Giunti|date=2004|language=it}}</ref>}} On 21 March 1516 Antonio Maria Pallavicini, the French ambassador to the [[Holy See]], received a letter sent from [[Lyon]] a week previously by the royal advisor [[Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet]], containing the French king's instructions to assist Leonardo in his relocation to France and to inform the artist that the King was eagerly awaiting his arrival. Pallavicini was also asked to reassure Leonardo that he would be well received at court, both by the King and by his mother, [[Louise of Savoy]].<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|first=Jan|last=Sammer|chapter=L'Invitation du roi|editor-first=Carlo|editor-last=Pedretti|title=Léonard de Vinci et la France|publisher=CB Edizioni|date=2009|pages=29–33|language=fr}}</ref> Leonardo entered Francis's service later that year, and was given the use of the manor house [[Clos Lucé]] near the King's residence at the royal [[Château d'Amboise]]. He was frequently visited by Francis, and drew plans for an immense [[castle town]] the King intended to erect at [[Romorantin-Lanthenay|Romorantin]]. He also made a mechanical lion, which during a pageant walked towards the King and – upon being struck by a wand – opened its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies.{{sfn|Wallace|1972|pp=163, 164}}<ref group="‡" name="V265" />{{efn|It is unknown for what occasion the mechanical lion was made, but it is believed to have greeted the King at his entry into [[Lyon]] and perhaps was used for the peace talks between the French king and Pope Leo X in Bologna. A conjectural recreation of the lion has been made and is on display in the Museum of Bologna.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reconstruction of Leonardo's walking lion |url=http://www.ancientandautomata.com/ita/lavori/leone.htm |language=it|access-date=5 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825195910/http://www.ancientandautomata.com/ita/lavori/leone.htm|archive-date=25 August 2009}}</ref>}}

Leonardo was accompanied during this time by his friend and apprentice Francesco Melzi, and was supported by a pension totalling 10,000&nbsp;[[scudi]].{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=86}} At some point, Melzi drew a [[:File:A portrait of Leonardo, by Francesco Melzi.jpg|portrait of Leonardo]]; the [[Portraits of Leonardo da Vinci|only others known]] from his lifetime were a sketch by an unknown assistant on the back of one of Leonardo's studies ({{circa|1517|lk=no}})<ref>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Mark |title=Newly identified sketch of Leonardo da Vinci to go on display in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/may/02/newly-identified-sketch-of-leonardo-da-vinci-to-go-on-display-in-london |website=The Guardian |access-date=2 May 2019 |date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=4 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204220348/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/may/02/newly-identified-sketch-of-leonardo-da-vinci-to-go-on-display-in-london |url-status=live}}</ref> and a drawing by [[Giovanni Ambrogio Figino]] depicting an elderly Leonardo with his right arm wrapped in clothing.<ref name=paralysis>{{cite web |last=Strickland |first=Ashley |title=What caused Leonardo da Vinci's hand impairment? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/03/health/da-vinci-hand-palsy-study/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=4 May 2019 |date=4 May 2019 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031223425/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/03/health/da-vinci-hand-palsy-study/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|Identified via its similarity to Leonardo's [[Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk|presumed self-portrait]].<ref name=guardian2005>{{cite web |last=McMahon |first=Barbara |title=Da Vinci 'paralysis left Mona Lisa unfinished' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/01/italy.arts |website=The Guardian |access-date=2 May 2019 |date=1 May 2005 |archive-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208213719/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/01/italy.arts |url-status=live}}</ref>}} The latter, in addition to the record of an October 1517 visit by [[Luigi d'Aragona|Louis d'Aragon]],{{efn|"... Messer Lunardo Vinci {{sic}} ... an old graybeard of more than 70 years ... showed His Excellency three pictures<!--one of a certain Florentine lady done from life at the instance of the late Magnificent, Giuliano de' Medici, another of St. John the Baptist as a youth, and one of the Madonna and Child in the lap of St. Anne--> ... from whom, since he was then subject to a certain paralysis of the right hand, one could not expect any more good work."{{sfn|Wallace|1972|p=163}}}} confirms an account of Leonardo's right hand being paralytic when he was 65,<ref name=seeker>{{cite web |last=Lorenzi |first=Rossella |title=Did a Stroke Kill Leonardo da Vinci? |url=https://www.seeker.com/did-a-stroke-kill-leonardo-da-vinci-1789047208.html |website=Seeker |access-date=5 May 2019 |date=10 May 2016 |archive-date=22 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222231504/https://www.seeker.com/did-a-stroke-kill-leonardo-da-vinci-1789047208.html |url-status=live}}</ref> which may indicate why he left works such as the ''Mona Lisa'' unfinished.<ref name=guardian2005 /><ref>{{cite web |last=Saplakoglu |first=Yasemin |title=A Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci May Reveal Why He Never Finished the Mona Lisa |url=https://www.livescience.com/65396-da-vinci-hand-injury.html |website=Live Science |access-date=5 May 2019 |date=4 May 2019 |archive-date=2 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202094640/https://www.livescience.com/65396-da-vinci-hand-injury.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=fainting>{{cite news |last=Bodkin |first=Henry |title=Leonardo da Vinci never finished the Mona Lisa because he injured his arm while fainting, experts say |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/05/04/leonardo-da-vinci-never-finished-mona-lisa-injured-arm-fainting/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/05/04/leonardo-da-vinci-never-finished-mona-lisa-injured-arm-fainting/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=6 May 2019 |date=4 May 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He continued to work at some capacity until eventually becoming ill and bedridden for several months.<ref name=seeker />

==== Death ====
[[File:The castle of Amboise.jpg|thumb|left|Drawing of the [[Château d'Amboise]] ({{circa|1518|lk=no}}) attributed to [[Francesco Melzi]]]]
Leonardo died at Clos Lucé on 2 May 1519 at the age of 67, possibly of a stroke.<ref name="neurology">[[Philippe Charlier|Charlier, Philippe]]; Deo, Saudamini. [http://www.neurology.org/content/88/14/1381.full "A physical sign of stroke sequel on the skeleton of Leonardo da Vinci?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415031015/http://www.neurology.org/content/88/14/1381.full |date=15 April 2017 }}. ''Neurology''. 4 April 2017; 88 (14): 1381–1382.</ref><ref name="fainting" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P906UFXIoMUC&pg=PA354 |page=354 |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists |author=Ian Chilvers |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-953294-0}}</ref> Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari describes Leonardo as lamenting on his deathbed, full of repentance, that "he had offended against God and men by failing to practice his art as he should have done."<ref>Antonina Vallentin. ''Leonardo da Vinci: The Tragic Pursuit of Perfection.'' New York: The Viking Press, 1938, 533.</ref> Vasari states that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the [[Eucharist|Holy Sacrament]].<ref group="‡">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=297}}</ref> Vasari also records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story may be legend rather than fact.{{efn|This scene is portrayed in romantic paintings by [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres|Ingres]], [[François-Guillaume Ménageot|Ménageot]] and other French artists, as well as [[Angelica Kauffman]].}}{{efn|name=edict|On the day of Leonardo's death, a royal edict was issued by the King at [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], a two-day journey from Clos Lucé. This has been taken as evidence that King Francis cannot have been present at Leonardo's deathbed, but the edict was not signed by the King.<ref>White, ''Leonardo: The First Scientist''</ref>}} In accordance with his will, sixty beggars carrying tapers followed Leonardo's casket.{{sfn|Williamson|1974}}{{efn|Each of the sixty paupers were to have been awarded in accord with Leonardo's will.{{sfn|Williamson|1974}}}} Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving, as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo's other long-time pupil and companion, Salaì, and his servant Baptista de Vilanis, each received half of Leonardo's [[vineyard]]s.{{sfn|Kemp|2011|p=26}} His brothers received land, and his serving woman received a fur-lined cloak. On 12 August 1519, [[#Location of remains|Leonardo's remains]] were interred in the Collegiate Church of Saint Florentin at the Château d'Amboise.<ref name="Florentine">{{cite web |author=Florentine editorial staff |title=Hair believed to have belonged to Leonardo on display in Vinci |url=http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2019/05/hair-believed-belonged-leonardo-displayed-vinci/ |website=The Florentine |access-date=4 May 2019 |date=2 May 2019 |archive-date=4 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504093717/http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2019/05/hair-believed-belonged-leonardo-displayed-vinci/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some 20 years after Leonardo's death, Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor [[Benvenuto Cellini]] as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher."{{sfn|Gasca|Nicolò|Lucertini|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-3-0348-7951-4/page/n28 13]}}

[[Salaì]], or Il Salaino ("The Little Unclean One", i.e., the devil), entered Leonardo's household in 1490 as an assistant. After only a year, Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton," after he had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions and spent a fortune on clothes.<ref>{{cite book |title=Leonardo, Codex C. 15v |publisher=Institut of France. Trans. Richter}}</ref> Nevertheless, Leonardo treated him with great indulgence, and he remained in Leonardo's household for the next thirty years.{{sfn|Ottino della Chiesa|1967|p=84}} Salaì executed paintings under the name of Andrea Salaì, but although Vasari claims that Leonardo "taught him many things about painting,"<ref group="‡" name="V265">{{harvnb|Vasari|1991|p=293}}</ref> his work is generally considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils, such as [[Marco d'Oggiono]] and [[Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio|Boltraffio]].

At the time of his death in 1524, Salaì owned a painting referred to as ''Joconda'' in a posthumous inventory of his belongings; it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait.<ref name="NR">{{cite web |last=Rossiter |first=Nick |date=4 July 2003 |title=Could this be the secret of her smile? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/04/07/banr.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030925222942/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2003%2F04%2F07%2Fbanr.xml|archive-date=25 September 2003|access-date=3 October 2007 |website=Daily Telegraph |location=London}}</ref>