Leonardo da Vinci

Born out of wedlock in 1452 near Vinci, he trained under Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence before spending years in service to Ludovico Sforza in Milan. He worked across Florence, Milan, and Rome, gathering students and imitators, then spent his final three years in France at the invitation of Francis I, dying there in 1519. Fewer than 25 major works survived - many unfinished, more lost - but among them are the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and the Vitruvian Man. He filled notebooks with discoveries in anatomy, optics, engineering, and hydrodynamics, conceptualising helicopters, solar power, and double hulls, though he never published and most designs were unfeasible in his lifetime. In 2017, Salvator Mundi sold for $450.3 million. Since his death, the interest has never dimmed.