Truly, Leonardo da Vinci was the epitome of renaissance. Indeed, he was not just A renaissance man, he was the ARCHTYPE of all renaissance men. But nevertheless, given the social and political context of his time, it’s not really hard to understand why we haven’t seen him showcasing his multifaceted geniuses.
Most evidences of his plethora of talents came up posthumously, because he never got the opportunities to fully realize many of his innovative designs and ideas during his lifetime. I believe he considered himself more as a scientist or inventor or, after all, a polymath than just a painter or sculptor, as could be seen in his letter to the then ruler of Milan, Duke Ludovico Sforza, in which he proposed himself as a military engineer, a civil engineer, an architect and, only lastly, an artist. It’s interesting that Ludovico only hired da Vinci as a military engineer upon seeing one of his artworks. However, it was not long before Ludovico fled Milan when the French invaded.
Things like that happened many times in Leonardo da Vinci’s life. And even when he served formally as an engineer for a certain administration, he rarely got the relevant assignments. Most of the time, he was doing his commissions as an artist. Throughout his life, his major source of income was still his artworks as he remained supported by his various patrons. That’s just how it was for an artist at his time, even though he was not just an artist.