In article <[log in to unmask]>, Fae Texas <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
 
re: "da Vinci:"  The problem is not that some people call da Vinci by his
last name, but that "da Vinci" is an appellation of place and not a name
at all.  Calling him "da Vinci" is much like calling Tom who works at the
corner deli, "from the Deli."  However, because we live in a first
name/last name society, we project that practice onto those names that do
not quite correspond--and there is nothing wrong in doing so as long as we
all understand about whom we are speaking.  We call Rembrandt Hermanz. von
Rijn, just Rembrandt, not "von Rijn," but we call Pietro da Cortona, just
plain "da Cortona."
 
Recent research has shown, surprisingly, that during his last years,
Leonardo was called fondly by Francois Ier, just plain "Leo."  <g>