There are few people in the history of the world whose intellect and creative powers are as revered as Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). His voracious appetite for learning and his tremendous powers of observation made him both a great inventor and artist.

Though his name is legendary, many people still do not know about the man himself. Who was Leonardo da Vinci? He was an inventor, engineer, architect, draftsman, artist, and more. He lived around Florence much of his life, making a living working on commissions for both art and engineering.

"BEYOND WHAT THE EYE SEES, REACHING OUT TO WHAT THE HEART FEELS"

For centuries, the ideal had been to make it impossible to see brush strokes altogether. And there was a strict hierarchy of subject matter, with historical and religious scenes at the top moving all the way down to the lowly still-life. The Impressionists came along and changed that. They experimented with brush strokes and painted scenes from everyday life.

The Post-Impressionists picked up on those innovations, but they pushed them even further. A painter like Van Gogh infuses his canvases with lots of life — going beyond what his eye saw and into what his heart felt.

"THE BIRTH OF BEAUTY"

The Birth of Venus gave the Italian Renaissance one of its most important treasures. Painted sometime around 1485, the idyllic vision of Venus arriving from the ocean on a seashell grips us even today.

"THE IMMORTAL OF THE MORTAL"

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) gave us many visual delights, from café scenes to still lifes with sunflowers in vases. But one of his most enduring and charmingly gothic images is Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette (1886).

The Creation of Adam painting is Michelangelo's most magnificent work on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, out of all the paintings. The major art reviewers only had kind words to say about this fresco, with Vasari characterizing Adam in superlatives:

"Adam, whose beauty, stance, and features are so flawless that he appears to have been fashioned by the Supreme Creator himself, rather than a mere mortal's brush."

"BETTER TO REIGN IN HELL THAN TO SERVE IN HEAVEN"

The L'Ange Dechu, or Fallen Angel, is perhaps one of the most popular works of art ever created. Behind flexed arms, a winged nude hides his face. His brows arch over red-rimmed eyes and a tear of rage as his mane of hair breaks in the wind.