Leonardo da Vinci Family Tree: The Story Behind The Renaissance's Greatest Mind

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, born 15 April 1452 in Anchiano, near Vinci, Florence, Italy, was a polymath of the Italian Renaissance — painter (Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Vitruvian Man), inventor, scientist, architect, sculptor, anatomist, and engineer. He died 2 May 1519 in Amboise, Kingdom of France, age 67.

The Family's Roots: A Florentine Notary Family

The da Vinci family was a respectable notary family from the small Tuscan town of Vinci. Leonardo was born illegitimately to his father and a peasant woman.

His Parents

Father: Ser Piero d'Antonio da Vinci (1426–1504) — Florentine notary; married four times after Leonardo's birth; had legitimate children from each wife.

Mother: Caterina di Meo Lippi (c. 1434–1494) — peasant woman (some recent research suggests possibly an enslaved woman from the Caucasus); married Antonio di Piero Buti (a kiln worker) shortly after Leonardo's birth and raised five other children with him.

His Half-Siblings

Leonardo had at least 17 half-siblings from his father's four marriages and his mother's other children:

From his mother's marriage to Antonio Buti: Piera, Maria, Lisabetta, Francesco, Sandra.

From his father's four marriages: Antonio, Maddalena, Giuliano, Lorenzo, Bartolomeo, Domenico, Bartolomeo, Margherita, Pandolfo, Benedetto, Pandolfo, Giovanni, etc. (many died in infancy).

His Apprentice and Heir: Salaì and Francesco Melzi

Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno ("Salaì") (c. 1480–1524) — Leonardo's apprentice from age 10 (1490); close companion for 25+ years; received half of Leonardo's vineyard in his will.

Francesco Melzi (1491–1568) — Milanese noble; Leonardo's apprentice and primary heir; inherited Leonardo's manuscripts and brought them back to Italy after his death; published the Treatise on Painting (Trattato della pittura) from Leonardo's notes.

His Personal Life

Leonardo never married and had no biological children.

The da Vinci Family Tree at a Glance

Family Origins: Notary family; Vinci, Tuscany.

Father: Ser Piero da Vinci (1426–1504) — notary; married four times.

Mother: Caterina di Meo Lippi (c. 1434–1494) — peasant; later married a kiln worker.

Half-siblings: At least 17 across his father's four marriages and his mother's remarriage.

Apprentices/Companions: Salaì (1480–1524); Francesco Melzi (1491–1568) — Leonardo's heir for his manuscripts.

Leonardo da Vinci:

  • Born 15 April 1452, Anchiano (Vinci)
  • Largely self-educated; apprenticed under Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence from age 14 (1466)
  • Independent master: 1478
  • Service of Ludovico Sforza (Duke of Milan): 1482–1499 — designed the never-built Sforza horse statue
  • The Last Supper: 1495–98 (Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan)
  • Mona Lisa: c. 1503–1519 (now Louvre, Paris)
  • Service of Cesare Borgia (1502–03), Florence (1503–06), Milan again (1508–13), Rome (1513–16)
  • Final years (1516–19): Amboise, France, at the invitation of King Francis I — pensioned; designed buildings; produced few works
  • Died 2 May 1519, Amboise; reportedly in the arms of Francis I (though disputed)
  • Buried at Saint-Hubert Chapel, Château d'Amboise
  • His ~6,000 notebook pages survive in the Codex Atlanticus, Codex Leicester (owned by Bill Gates since 1994), Codex Arundel, etc.

What the da Vinci Family Story Teaches Us

A notary father who never married Leonardo's mother. A peasant mother who married someone else shortly after his birth. At least 17 half-siblings from both parents' subsequent marriages. No biological children of his own. An apprentice (Salaì) who was a 25-year companion. An apprentice (Melzi) who became his manuscript heir.

For every family — large or small, famous or otherwise — the Leonardo story carries the same lesson. Some family lines continue through apprentices, not biological descendants. Francesco Melzi's preservation of Leonardo's manuscripts is on the da Vinci family record alongside every painting — and is why we still have them. Write down which non-biological successors took on family continuation.

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