| 1452 | Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born in the village of Anchiano, near the town of Vinci in Italy. |
| 1467 | At the age of 14, he became the apprentice of the artist, Andrea del Verrocchio, in Florence. |
| 1472 | Leonardo became a member of the Painters’ Guild of Florence. |
| c.1472–1475 | He painted The Annunciation. |
| c.1474–1478 | He painted a portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci. |
| 1478 | He painted The Benois Madonna (The Madonna with Flowers). |
| 1478–1480 | He painted The Madonna of the Carnation (The Madonna with Child). |
| 1480 | He painted Saint Jerome in the Wilderness. |
| 1481 | Leonardo began work on The Adoration of the Magi, for the monastery of San Donato at Scopeto. |
| 1482 | He moved to Milan, and worked for Ludovico Sforza, as a painter and an engineer. |
| 1483 | He painted the first version of The Virgin of the Rocks and sketched the design for a parachute. |
| 1485 | Leonardo painted The Lady with an Ermine. He also sketched the designs for several military vehicles. |
| 1487 | He drew the ‘Vitruvian Man’ with notes, and sketched the design of a fighting ship. |
| 1488 | Leonardo designed a city of the future and sketched the designs for a flying machine. |
| 1489–1490 | He sketched the design for a kind of computer. |
| 1492 | Leonardo completed the ceramic model horse for the Francesco Sforza Monument. The bronze version was never made. |
| 1495–1498 | The Last Supper and the second Madonna of the Rocks were painted. |
| 1499–1500 | He spent time in Venice before returning to Florence. Leonardo was commissioned to paint The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist. He finished a sketch for it, but never completed the painting. |
| 1500 | Leonardo returned to Florence. He began painting The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (completed in 1510). He sketched the design for a gun. |
| 1502 |
