Leonardo da Vinci - Studies for a Madonna with a Cat

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), was a man of Renaissance: painter, draftsman, scientist and philosopher. Only 15 paintings of his has been preserved to our times, credit to some of the works is not certain, the artist left also hundreds of drawings and sketches. The most famous paintings painted by da Vinci are 'Mona Lisa', 'The Last Supper' and 'The Lady with an Ermine', the last masterpiece we can admire in Czartoryski Museum and Library in Cracow. Leonardo as a renaissance scientist had extensive interests, he dealt with geometry, hydraulics and anatomy (which is a testimony to the famous drawing titled 'The Vitruvian Man'). He left numerous records documenting scientific experiments and projects of inventions, he made his notes in mirror writing and that intrigued scholars from centuries. Scientific curiosity and inquisitiveness caused that Leonardo did not always had time to practice painting, which he regarded as the noblest of arts.