May 2, 2019 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of the great Italian Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci, who was both a master and innovator in the areas of painting, sculpting, architecture, science, engineering, music, mathematics, literature, anatomy, astronomy, architecture and invention.

Because of his exceptional and so widely varied talents, historians have anointed him with the titles “Universal Genius” and “Renaissance Man.” Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452 in the small hill town of Vinci along the Arno river near Florence. He was born out of wedlock to his father, Piero, a legal notary and his mother , Caterina, a young peasant girl.