5 interesting things about Leonardo da Vinci, history's most famous polymath

It's possible to read Leonardo's texts only by looking at them through a mirror. Earlier, a popular theory suggested that he did it to encrypt his writings; today, most researchers agree that da Vinci would use a more complicated secret code to do so. Most probably, he was originally left-handed and it was easier for him to write in reverse.

Leonardo never received any formal education in Latin or mathematics. At the age of 15, he started apprenticeship at Andrea del Verrocchio's workshop.

Da Vinci's father was a wealthy lawyer. Very little is known about Leonardo's mother. According to most sources, she was a young peasant woman who gave birth to her son at the age of 15. Leonardo lived with his father, grandparents and uncle. He had 12 half-siblings, as his father remarried multiple times.

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first legendary humans to actively defend the rights of animals. He was a vegetarian and believed that people were also animals, which was completely at odds with the culture of the 16^th century.

These Leonardo da Vinci facts prove that he was one of the most outstanding personalities of his time. Later centuries also saw many masterminds – just read these 10 facts about Marie Curie to get surprised.

Many scientists believe that Leonardo might not have been able to finish his legendary painting due to a severe fainting episode, which left him with an injured arm. Even though he was ambidextrous, Leonardo used only the right hand while working on the Mona Lisa.