Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci was born on the fifteenth of April, 1452, near the town of Vinci, not far from Florence. He was the son of a Florentine notary, Piero da Vinci, and a young woman named Caterina. Leonardo spent most of his life in Florence and Milan. In 1469 he was apprenticed to Andrea Verrocchio, a leading Renaissance master. Leonardo acquired a variety of skills while he remained at the workshop until 1476. He left Florence for Milan in about 1482 to work for Duke Lodovico Sforza. He stayed in Milan for nearly eighteen years. During his time there he applied his knowledge of mechanics to his obligations as a civil and mil