First Florentine period 1464/69 - 1481/83

Leonardo’s first commission is recorded, for an altarpiece in the Chapel of S. Bernardino in the Palazzo della Signoria (Government Palace) of Florence.

A drawing by Leonardo in the Uffizi is inscribed: “----ber 1478, I began the two Virgin Marys”.

Leonardo may have painted his Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci during this year.

On April 26th, Giuliano de’ Medici (brother of Lorenzo il Magnifico, “the Magnificent”) is murdered in Florence Cathedral (Pazzi Conspiracy). Lorenzo escapes with injuries.

The Spanish Inquisition is founded to root out and destroy heresy.