Vinci (Vin'che), Leonardo da. One of the most eminent of Italian painters. Born in Vinci, near Florence, in 1452. He early became a sort of universal genius, exhibiting a talent for anatomy, astronomy, botany, mathematics, music, and engineering. In 1482 da Vinci entered the service of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, who made him director of an academy of arts and sciences. In 1498 he painted at Milan his masterpiece, the picture of "The Last Supper," and, in 1516, entered the service of Francis I, accompanying that monarch to France, in which country he died in 1519. Leonardo surpassed all his predecessors as a master of chiaroscuro, and was the author of "Trattato della Pittura," an excellent treatise on painting.

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