Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno Valley, (1473) – Uffizi
Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, at the third hour of the night, in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno River in the territory of Florence. He was the illegitimate son of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant whose may has been a slave from the Middle East Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense, "da Vinci" simply mean "of Vinci": his full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of from Vinci".
Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five year in the hamlet of Anchiano, and then lived in the household of his father, grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in a small town of Vinci city. His father had married sixteen year old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but died young. In later life, Leonardo only record two childhood incident. At the first, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face. At the second occurred while exploring in the mountains. He discovered a cave and was both terrified that some great monster might lurk there, and driven by curiosity to find out what was inside.
Leonard's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture. Vasari, the 16th century biographer of Renaissance painters tells of how a local peasant requested that Ser Piero ask his talented son to paint a picture on a round plaque. Leonardo responded with a painting of snakes spitting fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile, having made a profit, Ser Piero bought a plaque decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow, which he gave to the peasant.
Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, at the third hour of the night, in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno River in the territory of Florence. He was the illegitimate son of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant whose may has been a slave from the Middle East Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense, "da Vinci" simply mean "of Vinci": his full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of from Vinci".
Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five year in the hamlet of Anchiano, and then lived in the household of his father, grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in a small town of Vinci city. His father had married sixteen year old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but died young. In later life, Leonardo only record two childhood incident. At the first, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face. At the second occurred while exploring in the mountains. He discovered a cave and was both terrified that some great monster might lurk there, and driven by curiosity to find out what was inside.
Leonard's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture. Vasari, the 16th century biographer of Renaissance painters tells of how a local peasant requested that Ser Piero ask his talented son to paint a picture on a round plaque. Leonardo responded with a painting of snakes spitting fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile, having made a profit, Ser Piero bought a plaque decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow, which he gave to the peasant.
Leonardo right to left
Leonardo wrote in Italian using a special kind of shorthand that he invented himself. People who study his notebooks have long been puzzled by something else, however. He usually used "mirror writing", starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction.
Leonardo wrote in Italian using a special kind of shorthand that he invented himself. People who study his notebooks have long been puzzled by something else, however. He usually used "mirror writing", starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction.
Here is a sample of Leonardo's writing as it appears in his drawings.
This is how it would look reversed by a mirror. 
People who were contemporaries of Leonardo left records that they saw him write and paint left handed. He also made sketches showing his own left hand at work. Being a lefty was highly unusual in Leonardo's time. Because people were superstitious, children who naturally started using their left hands to write and draw were forced to use their right hands.
No one knows the true reason Leonardo used mirror writing, though several possibilities have been suggested:
