Italian artist, scientist and philosopher Leonardo da Vinci, also known as Leonardo, was BOTD in 1452. Born in the town of Vinci, he was educated in Florence and apprenticed to the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. In 1478, he received his first solo commission to paint a mural at the Palazzo Vecchio, leading to further commissions from the Duke of Milan, Cesare Borgia and Pope Leo X. The archetypal “Renaissance Man”, his achievements covered nearly every aspect of the liberal arts and sciences. His paintings and drawings include some of the most well-known works of Western art, including La Gioconda (aka the Mona Lisa), The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man, Salvator Mundi and The Virgin of the Rocks. His anatomical drawings progressed understanding of the human body, and he developed over 100 inventions, including early conceptual plans for flying machines, armoured fighting chinches, adding machines and concentrated solar power. Court records show that he was tried and acquitted of sodomy with a male prostitute in 1476, probably due to the intervention of his wealthy patrons. He had two long-term relationships with pupils who were apprenticed to him as children. The first, Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, joined his household in 1490, aged 10, living with him for 25 years. Nicknamed Salaì (little devil), he is thought to be the model for Leonardo’s paintings Saint John the Baptist and Bacchus and the drawing Angelo Incarnato, portraying a naked angel with an erect penis. In 1506, Francesco Melzi, the 14 year-old son of a Milanese aristocrat, also entered Leonardo’s household, remained with him until his death and becoming the beneficiary of his artworks and notebooks. Leonardo’s final three years were spent in the court of King Francis I of France, where he died in 1519, aged 67. His fame increased in the 19th century as his work was published and reproduced. He is now considered one of the most influential artists and thinkers in Western civilisation. In 1910, Sigmund Freud published an influential essay identifying homoerotic themes in Leonardo’s writings, formally confirming the 20th century view of him as a homosexual and pederast.