Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci appears to be the archetype of the versatile "renaissance man." He is regarded as one of the foremost painters ever and is also one of the most diverse gifted people known to history. He was not only a painter and draftsman, but also a sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, student of anatomy, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. But it is as a painter and draftsman that he reached supreme mastery.

Leonardo's self-portrait

Leonardo was born - according to our present calendar – on the 23 april 1452 (corresponding to April 15 according to the Julian calendar then in force) near Vinci in Tuscany, Italy. His full name was Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci ("Leonardo, son of Mr. Piero, from Vinci"). He was born outside of marriage. The mother, named Catarina, a young rural woman.

From the age of six, he lived with his father, who was a notary in the town of Vinci. Leonardo's unusual and versatile talent was early recognized. He came to study painting for Andrea del Verrocchio, a leading painter in Florence. Eventually, he came into the enjoyment of Lorenzo de Medici's patronage and later (1482) he entered the service of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, where he served as court painter, sculptor, architect and army engineer.

In 1499 Milan was occupied by the French army and Leonardo went first to Mantua and Venice, then to Florence and Rome. He came to work for various principals until in 1516 he entered the service of the king of France, Francis I, who became a close friend of Leonardo. The last years of his life the artist spent at the Royal Palace, Clos Lucé (Cloux) in Amboise in the Indre-et-Loire in France.

Leonardo's drawings have never been surpassed, and his paintings belong to art history's finest. The most famous works are the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Only about twenty paintings by Leonardo are preserved. But several of his masterful drawings are left in his many posthumous notebooks. The sculptures he made have all been destroyed and are only preserved as sketches and drawings.

Leonardo died at age 67 in May 1519 in Amboise, France, where he brought the painting Mona Lisa, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris with her "mysterious smile".

Mona Lisa

His birth chart:

Leonardo da Vinci, April 23, 1452 NS, 21:40, Vinci, Italy

(Source: Astro DataBank)

The most prominent signs are Venus-ruled Taurus (with the Sun and Venus herself) and Neptune-ruled Pisces (with the Moon, Jupiter and IC). The Elements are all balanced in Leonardo's horoscope. Prominent houses are the Third of communications and the Fifth of creativity.

Of course this great master of painting must have his Sun in the Venus-sign Taurus in the Fifth House of creativity! And likewise the Moon and Jupiter in the Neptune-ruled and artistic Pisces in the Third House of communication. And of course Neptune himself – planet of art and painting - at the highest point in the sky in the Venus-sign Libra in conjunction with the Medium Coeli. And Venus herself - also the planet of art and beauty - in her own sign Taurus in the Sixth House of activity and daily routines forming a trine aspect to Neptune on the MC!

The northern - lower - hemisphere dominates the horoscope. His identity and his own personal resources are important and form the basis for his external success. The universal genius and renaissance man is shown by Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius - the sign of expanded vision - on the Ascendant. That self-discipline and hard work were important to his success is indicated by Saturn in Libra in the Tenth House of career and fame. Saturn also controls, through Capricorn, the North Lunar node just on the cusp of the Second House of talent and ability and forms a trine to Mars in the same house.

The MC-ruler Mercury in Aries in the fourth house mirrors the independent thinker and inventor, especially as it is disposed by Mars in Aquarius. Mercury also forms a trine with Pluto in creative Leo in the Eighth House. MC in Virgo shows precision, hard work and the quest for the perfect result.

The Ascendant and chart ruler Jupiter, which can be said to represent the Renaissance Man and all-rounder, is as already mentioned in conjunction with the Moon in sensitive and artistic Pisces in the Third House and also forms a sextile with the Sun in Taurus in the Fifth House - creative vitality and strength. There is no doubt that we are dealing with the horoscope of the great artist and Renaissance genius!

Pars Fortunae – the synthesis of the placements of the Sun, Moon and Ascendant - is in Aquarius in the Second House of resources, natural endowments and talent and shows emphatically that Leonardo's greatest felicity and fulfillment undoubtedly lay in the freedom to develop his unique talents (Second House ) and to use it in the many areas that fascinated him and challenged him to do his very utmost.