Leonardo da Vinci, a polymath of the Italian Renaissance whose genius traversed art, science, and engineering, encountered his mortal twilight in the spring of 1519. The epoch in which he drew his last breath was adorned by a tapestry of socio-political forces and burgeoning cultural shifts. Anchored in the splendor and intrigue of 16th-century France,…
The dawn of the Renaissance marks a pivotal turn in the annals of history, forging a bridge from the medieval world to the early modern age with a resplendent flourish that first sparked to life in the vibrant cities of Italy. At the heart of this cultural revolution lay a unique constellation of factors—geographical advantages,…