Who was the most creative artist in history and what did he create? Leonardo Da Vinci, who was not only the artist, but also inventor and scientist and most known Renaissance master. Most known works are Mona Lisa and Last Supper.

The old masters generally were well enough versed in anatomy that they could paint figures from their imagination, but they also used models when required. Carravagio and Vermeer, for example, had to have used models to paint as realistically as they did.