Excerpt:
The beginning of the sixteenth century is the most famous period of Italian art. It was the time of Michelangelo, Raphael, Dürer, Holbein, Giorgione, Titan, Correggio and many other famous masters. Leonardo da Vinci was much more than an artist. He was an astronomer, sculptor, geologist, mathematician, botanist, animal behaviourist, inventor, engineer, architect and even a musician. He was all of these things and more. As the world faces a new millennium Leonardo da Vinci remains one of the most fascinating people history has ever known. He once said that "things of the mind left untested by the senses are useless." Leonardo left little untested, yet few people know the amazing story behind the man often described as the embodiment of the Renaissance. This Web site endeavours to introduce you to the artist, the scientific visionary, the amazing inventor and Leonardo, the man. One can never explain the existence of genius, one can but enjoy.
Did You Know? Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors; also, it took him ten years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.
Annotation:
This site combines a large number of Leonardo da Vinci's sketches with brief essays. The sketches and essays cover science subjects including anatomy, zoology, botany, astronomy, cartography, mathematics, and geology. More coverage is provided to da Vinci's work in civil and military engineering, so that this site contains essays and sketches about clocks, cranes, boats, flying machines, vehicles, the printing press, a robot, water pumps, a tank, battleships, bridges, catapults and cannons. Thumbnail size sketches are often not expandable, however, links lead to a numeric list of links to sketches, so browsers will spend time looking for the sketches they can view enlarged.