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Leonardo da Vinci

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Contents
Articles
Introduction 1

Main article 2
Leonardo da Vinci 2

Supporting articles 24
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 24
List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci 32
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 39
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 57

References
Article Sources and Contributors 66
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 68

Article Licenses
License 71
Introduction 1

Introduction
Note. This book is based on the Wikipedia article, "Leonardo da Vinci." The supporting articles are those referenced
as major expansions of selected sections.
2

Main article

Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo

[1]
Self-portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515. Royal Library of Turin

Birth Leonardo di Ser Piero


name

Born April 15, 1452


Vinci, Florence, in present-day Italy

Died May 2, 1519 (aged 67)


Amboise, Touraine (in present-day Indre-et-Loire, France)

Nationality Italian

Field Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences

Movement High Renaissance

Works Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (, April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician,
engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. Leonardo has often been
described as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his
powers of invention.[2] He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most
diversely talented person ever to have lived.[3] According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his
interests were without precedent and "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious
and remote".[2]
Born the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, at Vinci in the region of
Florence, Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio. Much of his earlier
working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice
and spent his last years in France, at the home awarded him by Francis I.
Leonardo da Vinci 3

Leonardo was and is renowned[3] primarily as a painter. Two of his works, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are
the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time, respectively, their
fame approached only by Michelangelo's Creation of Adam.[2] Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also
regarded as a cultural icon,[4] being reproduced on everything from the Euro to text books to t-shirts. Perhaps fifteen
of his paintings survive, the small number due to his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new
techniques, and his chronic procrastination.[5] Nevertheless, these few works, together with his notebooks, which
contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise a contribution to later
generations of artists only rivalled by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo.
Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity.[3] He conceptualised a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar
power, a calculator, the double hull and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics.[6] Relatively few of his
designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime,[7] but some of his smaller inventions, such as an
automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing
unheralded.[8] As a scientist, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, civil engineering,
optics, and hydrodynamics.[9]

Life

Childhood, 1452–1466
Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, "at the third hour of the
night"[10] in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the
Arno River in the territory of Florence.[11] He was the illegitimate son
of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and
Caterina, a peasant.[12] [] [13] [14] Leonardo had no surname in the
modern sense, "da Vinci" simply meaning "of Vinci": his full birth
name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, (son)
of (Mes)ser Piero from Vinci".[11]
Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano.
Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five years
in the hamlet of Anchiano, then lived in the household of his father,
grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in the small town of Vinci. His
father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera, who loved
Leonardo but died young.[15] In later life, Leonardo only recorded two
childhood incidents. One, which he regarded as an omen, was when a
kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers
brushing his face.[15] The second occurred while exploring in the
mountains. He discovered a cave and was both terrified that some great
monster might lurk there, and driven by curiosity to find out what was Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno
inside.[15] Valley, (1473) - Uffizi

Leonardo's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture.[16]


Vasari, the 16th-century biographer of Renaissance painters tells of how a local peasant requested that Ser Piero ask
his talented son to paint a picture on a round plaque. Leonardo responded with a painting of snakes spitting fire
which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile,
having made a profit, Ser Piero bought a plaque decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow, which he gave to the
peasant.[17]
Leonardo da Vinci 4

Verrocchio's workshop, 1466–1476


In 1466, at the age of fourteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to
one of the most successful artists of his day, Andrea di Cione,
known as Verrocchio. Verrocchio's workshop was at the
centre of the intellectual currents of Florence, assuring the
young Leonardo of an education in the humanities. Other
famous painters apprenticed or associated with the workshop
include Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Botticelli, and Lorenzo di
Credi.[15] [18] Leonardo would have been exposed to a vast
range of technical skills and had the opportunity to learn
drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster
casting, leather working, mechanics and carpentry as well as
the artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting and
modelling.[19] [20] [21]

Much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was


The Baptism of Christ (1472–1475)—Uffizi, by Verrocchio done by his employees. According to Vasari, Leonardo
and Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his Baptism of Christ,
painting the young angel holding Jesus's robe in a manner that
was so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio put down his brush and never painted again.[17] This is probably
an exaggeration. On close examination, the painting reveals much that has been painted or touched up over the
tempera using the new technique of oil paint, the landscape, the rocks that can be seen through the brown mountain
stream and much of the figure of Jesus bearing witness to the hand of Leonardo.[13]

Leonardo himself may have been the model for two works by Verrocchio, including the bronze statue of David in
the Bargello, and the Archangel Michael in Tobias and the Angel.[13]
By 1472, at the age of twenty, Leonardo qualified as a master in the Guild of St Luke, the guild of artists and doctors
of medicine,[22] but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that
he continued to collaborate with him.[15] Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a drawing in pen and ink of the
Arno valley, drawn on August 5, 1473.[23] [18]
Leonardo da Vinci 5

Professional life, 1476–1513


Court records of 1476 show that Leonardo and three
other young men were charged with sodomy,[24] and
acquitted.[25] From that date until 1478 there is no
record of his work or even of his whereabouts,[26]
although it is assumed that Leonardo had his own
workshop in Florence between 1476 and 1481.[13] He
was commissioned to paint an altarpiece in 1478 for the
Chapel of St Bernard and The Adoration of the Magi in
1481 for the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. This
important commission was interrupted when Leonardo
went to Milan.

In 1482 Leonardo, who according to Vasari was a most


talented musician,[27] created a silver lyre in the shape
of a horse's head. Lorenzo de’ Medici sent Leonardo,
bearing the lyre as a gift, to Milan, to secure peace with
The Adoration of the Magi, (1481)—Uffizi.
Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan.[28] At this time
Leonardo wrote an often-quoted letter to Ludovico,
describing the many marvellous and diverse things that he could achieve in the field of engineering and informing
the Lord that he could also paint.[18] [29]

Leonardo continued work in Milan between 1482 and 1499. He was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks
for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle
Grazie.[15] While living in Milan between 1493 and 1495 Leonardo listed a woman called Caterina among his
dependents in his taxation documents. When she died in 1495, the list of funeral expenditure suggests that she was
his mother.[15] [30]
He worked on many different projects for Ludovico, including the preparation of floats and pageants for special
occasions, designs for a dome for Milan Cathedral and a model for a huge equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza,
Ludovico's predecessor. Seventy tons of bronze were set aside for casting it. The monument remained unfinished for
several years, which was not unusual for Leonardo. In 1492 the clay model of the horse was completed. It surpassed
in size the only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, Donatello's statue of Gattemelata in Padua and
Verrocchio's Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, and became known as the "Gran Cavallo".[18] [31]
Leonardo da Vinci 6

Leonardo began making detailed plans for its casting,[18] however, Michelangelo
rudely implied that Leonardo was unable to cast it.[15] In November 1494
Ludovico gave the bronze to be used for cannons to defend the city from
invasion by Charles VIII.[18]
At the start of the Second Italian War in 1499, the invading French troops used
the life-size clay model for the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. With Ludovico
Sforza overthrown, Leonardo, with his assistant Salai and friend, the
mathematician Luca Pacioli, fled Milan for Venice, where he was employed as a
military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval
attack.[13] [15]

On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the
Study of horse from Leonardo's
Servite monks at the monastery of Santissima Annunziata and were provided
journals – Royal Library, Windsor
Castle
with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the cartoon of
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist, a work that won
such admiration that "men and women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if
they were attending a great festival".[17] [32] In 1502 Leonardo entered the service of Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope
Alexander VI, acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron.[13] He
returned to Florence where he rejoined the Guild of St Luke on October 18, 1503, and spent two years designing and
painting a great mural of The Battle of Anghiari for the Signoria,[13] with Michelangelo designing its companion
piece, The Battle of Cascina.[33] In Florence in 1504, he was part of a committee formed to relocate, against the
artist's will, Michelangelo's statue of David.[34]

In 1506 he returned to Milan. Many of Leonardo's most prominent pupils or followers in painting either knew or
worked with him in Milan,[15] including Bernardino Luini, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio and Marco D'Oggione.[35]
However, he did not stay in Milan for long because his father had died in 1504, and in 1507 he was back in Florence
trying to sort out problems with his brothers over his father's estate. By 1508 he was back in Milan, living in his own
house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila.[13]

Old age, 1513-1519


From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living
in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where Raphael and
Michelangelo were both active at the time.[13] In October 1515, Francis
I of France recaptured Milan.[36] On December 19, Leonardo was
present at the meeting of Francis I and Pope Leo X, which took place
in Bologna.[15] [37] [38] It was for Francis that Leonardo was
commissioned to make a mechanical lion which could walk forward,
then open its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies.[17] [39] In 1516, he
entered François' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Clos Lucé in France, where Leonardo died in
[40] 1519
Lucé near the king's residence at the royal Chateau Amboise. It was
here that he spent the last three years of his life, accompanied by his
friend and apprentice, Count Francesco Melzi, supported by a pension totalling 10,000 scudi.[13]

Leonardo died at Clos Lucé, on May 2, 1519. Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari records that the King held
Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story, beloved by the French and portrayed in romantic
paintings by Ingres, Ménageot and other French artists, as well as by Angelica Kauffmann, may be legend rather
than fact.[41] [42] Vasari also tells us that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to
receive the Holy Sacrament.[17] In accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the
Leonardo da Vinci 7

Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the castle of Amboise. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving as well as
money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo also remembered his other long-time
pupil and companion, Salai and his servant Battista di Vilussis, who each received half of Leonardo's vineyards, his
brothers who received land, and his serving woman who received a black cloak "of good stuff" with a fur edge.[43]
Some twenty years after Leonardo's death, Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benevenuto Cellini as
saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about
painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher."[44]

Relationships and influences

Florence — Leonardo's artistic and social background


Leonardo commenced his apprenticeship with Verrocchio in 1466, the year that
Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor Donatello, died. The painter Uccello
whose early experiments with perspective were to influence the development of
landscape painting, was a very old man. The painters Piero della Francesca and
Fra Filippo Lippi, sculptor Luca della Robbia, and architect and writer Alberti
were in their sixties. The successful artists of the next generation were
Leonardo's teacher Verrocchio, Antonio Pollaiuolo and the portrait sculptor,
Mino da Fiesole whose lifelike busts give the most reliable likenesses of Lorenzo
Medici's father Piero and uncle Giovanni.[45] [46] [47]

Leonardo's youth was spent in a Florence that was ornamented by the works of
these artists and by Donatello's contemporaries, Masaccio whose figurative
Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise,
(1425-1452) were a source of
frescoes were imbued with realism and emotion and Ghiberti whose Gates of
communal pride. Many artists Paradise, gleaming with gold leaf, displayed the art of combining complex
assisted in their creation. figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. Piero della
Francesca had made a detailed study of perspective, and was the first painter to
make a scientific study of light. These studies and Alberti's Treatise were to have a profound effect on younger
artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks.[45] [46] [47]

Massaccio's depiction of the naked and distraught Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden created a powerfully
expressive image of the human form, cast into three dimensions by the use of light and shade which was to be
developed in the works of Leonardo in a way that was to be influential in the course of painting. The Humanist
influence of Donatello's David can be seen in Leonardo's late paintings, particularly John the Baptist.[45]
Leonardo da Vinci 8

A prevalent tradition in Florence was the small altarpiece of the Virgin and
Child. Many of these were created in tempera or glazed terracotta by the
workshops of Filippo Lippi, Verrocchio and the prolific della Robbia family.[45]
Leonardo's early Madonnas such as the The Madonna with a carnation and The
Benois Madonna followed this tradition while showing idiosyncratic departures,
particularly in the case of the Benois Madonna in which the Virgin is set at an
oblique angle to the picture space with the Christ Child at the opposite angle.
This compositional theme was to emerge in Leonardo's later paintings such as
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne.[15]

Leonardo was a contemporary of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino, who were


all slightly older than he was. He would have met them at the workshop of
Verrocchio, with whom they had associations, and at the Academy of the
Small devotional picture by
Medici.[15] Botticelli was a particular favourite of the Medici family and thus his Verrocchio, c. 1470
success as a painter was assured. Ghirlandaio and Perugino were both prolific
and ran large workshops. They competently delivered commissions to well-satisfied patrons who appreciated
Ghirlandaio's ability to portray the wealthy citizens of Florence within large religious frescoes, and Perugino's ability
to deliver a multitude of saints and angels of unfailing sweetness and innocence.[45]

These three were among those commissioned to paint the walls of the
Sistine Chapel, the work commencing with Perugino's employment in
1479. Leonardo was not part of this prestigious commission. His first
significant commission, The Adoration of the Magi for the Monks of
Scopeto, was never completed.[15]
In 1476, during the time of Leonardo's association with Verrocchio's
workshop, Hugo van der Goes arrived in Florence, bringing the
Portinari Altarpiece and the new painterly techniques from Northern
Europe which were to profoundly effect Leonardo, Ghirlandaio,
The Portinari Altarpiece, by Hugo van der Goes Perugino and others. In 1479, the Sicilian painter Antonello da
for a Florentine family Messina, who worked exclusively in oils, travelled north on his way to
Venice, where the leading painter, Giovanni Bellini adopted the
technique of oil painting, quickly making it the preferred method in Venice. Leonardo was also later to visit
Venice.[47]

Like the two contemporary architects, Bramante and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, Leonardo experimented with
designs for centrally planned churches, a number of which appear in his journals, as both plans and views, although
none was ever realised.[45] [48]
Leonardo da Vinci 9

Leonardo's political contemporaries were Lorenzo Medici (il Magnifico), who


was three years older, and his popular younger brother Giuliano who was slain in
the Pazzi Conspiracy in 1478. Ludovico il Moro who ruled Milan between
1479–1499 and to whom Leonardo was sent as ambassador from the Medici
court, was also of Leonardo's age.[45] [46]
With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to
know the older Humanist philosophers of whom Marsiglio Ficino, proponent of
Neo Platonism, Cristoforo Landino, writer of commentaries on Classical
writings, and John Argyropoulos, teacher of Greek and translator of Aristotle
were foremost. Also associated with the Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's Lorenzo de' Medici between Antonio
[47] Pucci and Francesco Sassetti, with
contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher Pico della Mirandola.
[49] Giulio de' Medici, fresco by
Leonardo later wrote in the margin of a journal "The Medici made me and Ghirlandaio
the Medici destroyed me." While it was through the action of Lorenzo that
Leonardo was to receive his important Milanese commissions, it is not known exactly what Leonardo meant by this
cryptic comment.[15]

Although usually named together as the three giants of the High Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael
were not of the same generation. Leonardo was twenty-three when Michelangelo was born and thirty-one when
Raphael was born. Raphael only lived until the age of 37 and died in 1520, the year after Leonardo, but
Michelangelo went on creating for another 45 years.[46] [47]

Personal life
Within Leonardo's lifetime, his extraordinary powers of invention, his
"outstanding physical beauty", "infinite grace", "great strength and generosity",
"regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind" as described by Vasari,[17] as well
as all other aspects of his life, attracted the curiosity of others. One such aspect is
his respect for life evidenced by his vegetarianism and his habit, described by
Vasari, of purchasing caged birds and releasing them.[17] [50]

Leonardo had many friends who are now renowned either in their fields or for
their historical significance. They included the mathematician Luca Pacioli,[51]
with whom he collaborated on a book in the 1490s, as well as Franchinus
Gaffurius and Isabella d'Este. Leonardo appears to have had no close
Study for a portrait of Isabella d'Este
relationships with women except for his friendship with Isabella d'Este. He drew
(1500) Louvre.
a portrait of her while on a journey which took him through Mantua, and which
appears to have been used to create a painted portrait now lost.[15]

Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. His sexuality has been the subject of satire, analysis, and
speculation. This trend began in the mid-16th century and was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably
by Sigmund Freud.[52]
Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salai and Melzi, Melzi describing Leonardo's
feelings for him as both loving and intensely passionate. It has been claimed since the 16th century that these
relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Since that date much has been written about his presumed
homosexuality and its role in his art, particularly in the androgyny and eroticism manifested in John the Baptist and
Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings.[53]
Leonardo da Vinci 10

Assistants and pupils


Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed Salai or Il Salaino ("The Little
Unclean One" i.e., the devil), entered Leonardo's household in 1490. After only a
year, Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar,
stubborn, and a glutton", after he had made off with money and valuables on at
least five occasions, and spent a fortune on clothes.[54] Nevertheless, Leonardo's
notebooks during their early years contain many drawings of the student, who
remained in Leonardo's household for the next thirty years.[13] Salai executed a
number of paintings under the name of Andrea Salai, but although Vasari claims
that Leonardo "taught him a great deal about painting",[17] his work is generally
considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils, such
as Marco d'Oggione and Boltraffio. In 1515, he painted a nude version of the Salai as John the Baptist
Mona Lisa, known as Monna Vanna.[55] Salai owned the Mona Lisa at the time (c. 1514)—Louvre

of his death in 1525, and in his will it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally
high valuation for a small panel portrait.[56]

In 1506, Leonardo took on another pupil, Count Francesco Melzi, the son of a Lombard aristocrat, who is considered
to have been his favourite student. He travelled to France with Leonardo, and remained with him until the latter's
death.[15] Upon Leonardo's death, Melzi inherited the artistic and scientific works, manuscripts, and collections of
Leonardo, and faithfully administered the estate.

Painting
Despite the recent awareness and
admiration of Leonardo as a scientist
and inventor, for the better part of four
hundred years his enormous fame
rested on his achievements as a painter
and on a handful of works, either
authenticated or attributed to him that
have been regarded as among the
supreme masterpieces ever created.[57]
Annunciation (1475–1480)—Uffizi, is thought to be Leonardo's earliest complete work
These paintings are famous for a
variety of qualities which have been
much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics. Among the qualities that make
Leonardo's work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of
anatomy, light, botany and geology, his interest in physiognomy and the way in which humans register emotion in
expression and gesture, his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition and his use of the subtle
gradation of tone. All these qualities come together in his most famous painted works, the Mona Lisa, the Last
Supper and the Virgin of the Rocks.[58]
Leonardo da Vinci 11

Early works
Leonardo's early works begin with the Baptism of Christ painted in conjunction
with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at the
workshop, both of which are Annunciations. One is small, 59 centimetres (23 in)
long and 14 centimetres (5.5 in) high. It is a "predella" to go at the base of a
larger composition, in this case a painting by Lorenzo di Credi from which it has
become separated. The other is a much larger work, 217 centimetres (85 in)
long.[13] In both these Annunciations, Leonardo has used a formal arrangement,
such as in Fra Angelico's two well known pictures of the same subject, of the
Virgin Mary sitting or kneeling to the right of the picture, approached from the
left by an angel in profile, with rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a
Unfinished painting of St. Jerome in lily. Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now almost
the Wilderness, (c. 1480), Vatican universally attributed to Leonardo.[59]

In the smaller picture Mary averts her eyes and folds her hands in a gesture that
symbolised submission to God's will. In the larger picture, however, Mary is not in the least submissive. The
beautiful girl, interrupted in her reading by this unexpected messenger, puts a finger in her bible to mark the place
and raises her hand in a formal gesture of greeting or surprise.[45] This calm young woman appears to accept her role
as the Mother of God not with resignation but with confidence. In this painting the young Leonardo presents the
Humanist face of the Virgin Mary, recognising humanity's role in God's incarnation.[60]

Paintings of the 1480s


In the 1480s Leonardo received two very important commissions, and
commenced another work which was also of ground-breaking
importance in terms of composition. Unfortunately two of the three
were never finished and the third took so long that it was subject to
lengthy negotiations over completion and payment. One of these
paintings is that of St. Jerome in the Wilderness. Bortolon associates
this picture with a difficult period of Leonardo's life, and the signs of
melancholy in his diary: "I thought I was learning to live; I was only
learning to die."[15]

Although the painting is barely begun the composition can be seen and
it is very unusual.[61] Jerome, as a penitent, occupies the middle of the
picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His
kneeling form takes on a trapezoid shape, with one arm stretched to the
outer edge of the painting and his gaze looking in the opposite
direction. J. Wasserman points out the link between this painting and
Leonardo's anatomical studies.[36] Across the foreground sprawls his
symbol, a great lion whose body and tail make a double spiral across
the base of the picture space. The other remarkable feature is the Virgin of the Rocks, Louvre, possibly 1505–1508,
sketchy landscape of craggy rocks against which the figure is demonstrates Leonardo's interest in nature.

silhouetted.

The daring display of figure composition, the landscape elements and personal drama also appear in the great
unfinished masterpiece, the Adoration of the Magi, a commission from the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. It is a
very complex composition about 250 square centimetres. Leonardo did numerous drawings and preparatory studies,
Leonardo da Vinci 12

including a detailed one in linear perspective of the ruined classical architecture which makes part of the backdrop to
the scene. But in 1482 Leonardo went off to Milan at the behest of Lorenzo de’ Medici in order to win favour with
Ludovico il Moro and the painting was abandoned.[13] [59]
The third important work of this period is the Virgin of the Rocks which was commissioned in Milan for the
Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. The painting, to be done with the assistance of the de Predis brothers,
was to fill a large complex altarpiece, already constructed.[36] Leonardo chose to paint an apocryphal moment of the
infancy of Christ when the Infant John the Baptist, in protection of an angel, met the Holy Family on the road to
Egypt. In this scene, as painted by Leonardo, John recognizes and worships Jesus as the Christ. The painting
demonstrates an eerie beauty as the graceful figures kneel in adoration around the infant Christ in a wild landscape of
tumbling rock and whirling water.[62] While the painting is quite large, about 200 × 120 centimetres, it is not nearly
as complex as the painting ordered by the monks of St Donato, having only four figures rather than about fifty and a
rocky landscape rather than architectural details. The painting was eventually finished; in fact, two versions of the
painting were finished, one which remained at the chapel of the Confraternity and the other which Leonardo carried
away to France. But the Brothers did not get their painting, or the de Predis their payment, until the next century.[13]
[18]

Paintings of the 1490s


Leonardo's most famous painting of
the 1490s is The Last Supper, also
painted in Milan. The painting
represents the last meal shared by
Jesus with his disciples before his
capture and death. It shows specifically
the moment when Jesus has said "one
of you will betray me". Leonardo tells
the story of the consternation that this
statement caused to the twelve
The Last Supper (1498)—Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
followers of Jesus.[18]

The novelist Matteo Bandello observed Leonardo at work and wrote that some days he would paint from dawn till
dusk without stopping to eat, and then not paint for three or four days at a time.[36] This, according to Vasari, was
beyond the comprehension of the prior, who hounded him until Leonardo asked Ludovico to intervene. Vasari
describes how Leonardo, troubled over his ability to adequately depict the faces of Christ and the traitor Judas, told
the Duke that he might be obliged to use the prior as his model.[17]
When finished, the painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterisation,[17] but it deteriorated
rapidly, so that within a hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined".[13] Leonardo, instead
of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso, resulting in a
surface which was subject to mold and to flaking.[13] Despite this, the painting has remained one of the most
reproduced works of art, countless copies being made in every medium from carpets to cameos.
Leonardo da Vinci 13

Paintings of the 1500s


Among the works created by Leonardo in the 1500s is the small
portrait known as the Mona Lisa or "la Gioconda", the laughing one.
The painting is famous, in particular, for the elusive smile on the
woman's face, its mysterious quality brought about perhaps by the fact
that the artist has subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes so
that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined. The shadowy
quality for which the work is renowned came to be called "sfumato" or
Leonardo's smoke. Vasari, who is generally thought to have known the
painting only by repute, said that "the smile was so pleasing that it
seemed divine rather than human; and those who saw it were amazed
to find that it was as alive as the original".[17] [63]

Other characteristics found in this work are the unadorned dress, in


which the eyes and hands have no competition from other details, the
dramatic landscape background in which the world seems to be in a
state of flux, the subdued colouring and the extremely smooth nature of
the painterly technique, employing oils, but laid on much like tempera
and blended on the surface so that the brushstrokes are
indistinguishable.[64] Vasari expressed the opinion that the manner of Mona Lisa or La Gioconda
(1503–1505/1507)—Louvre, Paris, France
painting would make even "the most confident master ... despair and
lose heart."[17] The perfect state of preservation and the fact that there
is no sign of repair or overpainting is extremely rare in a panel painting of this date.[13]

In the Virgin and Child with St. Anne (see below [StAnne]) the composition again picks up the theme of figures in a
landscape which Wasserman describes as "breathtakingly beautiful"[36] and harks back to the St Jerome picture with
the figure set at an oblique angle. What makes this painting unusual is that there are two obliquely set figures
superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, St Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as
he plays roughly with a lamb, the sign of his own impending sacrifice.[18] This painting, which was copied many
times, was to influence Michelangelo, Raphael, and Andrea del Sarto,[13] and through them Pontormo and
Correggio. The trends in composition were adopted in particular by the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese.
Leonardo da Vinci 14

Drawings
Leonardo was not a prolific painter, but he was a most prolific
draftsman, keeping journals full of small sketches and detailed
drawings recording all manner of things that took his attention. As well
as the journals there exist many studies for paintings, some of which
can be identified as preparatory to particular works such as The
Adoration of the Magi, The Virgin of the Rocks and The Last
Supper.[65] His earliest dated drawing is a Landscape of the Arno
Valley, 1473, which shows the river, the mountains, Montelupo Castle
and the farmlands beyond it in great detail.[15] [65]

Among his famous drawings are the Vitruvian Man, a study of the
proportions of the human body, the Head of an Angel, for The Virgin of
the Rocks in the Louvre, a botanical study of Star of Bethlehem and a
large drawing (160×100 cm) in black chalk on coloured paper of the
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist in the
the Baptist (c. 1499–1500)—National Gallery,
National Gallery, London.[65] This drawing employs the subtle sfumato
London
technique of shading, in the manner of the Mona Lisa. It is thought that
Leonardo never made a painting from it, the closest similarity being to
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne in the Louvre.[13]

Other drawings of interest include numerous studies generally referred to as "caricatures" because, although
exaggerated, they appear to be based upon observation of live models. Vasari relates that if Leonardo saw a person
with an interesting face he would follow them around all day observing them.[17] There are numerous studies of
beautiful young men, often associated with Salai, with the rare and much admired facial feature, the so-called
"Grecian profile".[66] These faces are often contrasted with that of a warrior.[65] Salai is often depicted in fancy-dress
costume. Leonardo is known to have designed sets for pageants with which these may be associated. Other, often
meticulous, drawings show studies of drapery. A marked development in Leonardo's ability to draw drapery
occurred in his early works. Another often-reproduced drawing is a macabre sketch that was done by Leonardo in
Florence in 1479 showing the body of Bernardo Baroncelli, hanged in connection with the murder of Giuliano,
brother of Lorenzo de'Medici, in the Pazzi Conspiracy.[65] With dispassionate integrity Leonardo has registered in
neat mirror writing the colours of the robes that Baroncelli was wearing when he died.
Leonardo da Vinci 15

Leonardo as observer, scientist and inventor

Journals
Renaissance humanism saw no mutually exclusive polarities between
the sciences and the arts, and Leonardo's studies in science and
engineering are as impressive and innovative as his artistic work,
recorded in notebooks comprising some 13,000 pages of notes and
drawings, which fuse art and natural philosophy (the forerunner of
modern science). These notes were made and maintained daily
throughout Leonardo's life and travels, as he made continual
observations of the world around him.[18]

The journals are mostly written in mirror-image cursive. The reason


may have been more a practical expediency than for reasons of secrecy
as is often suggested. Since Leonardo wrote with his left hand, it is
probable that it was easier for him to write from right to left.[67]

The Vitruvian Man (c. 1485) Accademia, Venice

His notes and drawings display an enormous range of interests and


preoccupations, some as mundane as lists of groceries and people who
owed him money and some as intriguing as designs for wings and
shoes for walking on water. There are compositions for paintings,
studies of details and drapery, studies of faces and emotions, of
animals, babies, dissections, plant studies, rock formations, whirl
pools, war machines, helicopters and architecture.[18]

These notebooks—originally loose papers of different types and sizes,


distributed by friends after his death—have found their way into major
collections such as the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, the Louvre,
the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Victoria and Albert Museum,
the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan which holds the twelve-volume
Codex Atlanticus, and British Library in London which has put a
selection from its notebook BL Arundel MS 263 online.[68] The Codex
Leicester is the only major scientific work of Leonardo's in private
hands. It is owned by Bill Gates, and is displayed once a year in
A page from Leonardo's journal showing his different cities around the world.
study of a foetus in the womb (c. 1510) Royal
Library, Windsor Castle Leonardo's journals appear to have been intended for publication
because many of the sheets have a form and order that would facilitate
this. In many cases a single topic, for example, the heart or the human foetus, is covered in detail in both words and
pictures, on a single sheet.[69] [70] Why they were not published within Leonardo's lifetime is unknown.[18]
Leonardo da Vinci 16

Scientific studies
Leonardo's approach to science was an observational one: he tried to understand
a phenomenon by describing and depicting it in utmost detail, and did not
emphasize experiments or theoretical explanation. Since he lacked formal
education in Latin and mathematics, contemporary scholars mostly ignored
Leonardo the scientist, although he did teach himself Latin. In the 1490s he
studied mathematics under Luca Pacioli and prepared a series of drawings of
regular solids in a skeletal form to be engraved as plates for Pacioli's book De
Divina Proportione, published in 1509.[18]

It appears that from the content of his journals he was planning a series of
treatises to be published on a variety of subjects. A coherent treatise on anatomy Rhombicuboctahedron as published
in Pacioli's De Divina Proportione
was said to have been observed during a visit by Cardinal Louis D'Aragon's
secretary in 1517.[71] Aspects of his work on the studies of anatomy, light and the
landscape were assembled for publication by his pupil Francesco Melzi and eventually published as Treatise on
Painting by Leonardo da Vinci in France and Italy in 1651, and Germany in 1724, with engravings based upon
drawings by the Classical painter Nicholas Poussin.[13] According to Arasse, the treatise, which in France went into
sixty two editions in fifty years, caused Leonardo to be seen as "the precursor of French academic thought on art".[18]

A recent and exhaustive analysis of Leonardo as Scientist by Frtijof Capra [72] argues that Leonardo was a
fundamentally different kind of scientist from Galileo, Newton and other scientists who followed him. Leonardo's
experimentation followed clear scientific method approaches, and his theorising and hypothesising integrated the arts
and particularly painting, these, and Leonardo's unique integrated, holistic views of science make him a forerunner of
modern systems theory and complexity schools of thought.

Anatomy
Leonardo's formal training in the anatomy of the human body began
with his apprenticeship to Andrea del Verrocchio, his teacher insisting
that all his pupils learn anatomy. As an artist, he quickly became
master of topographic anatomy, drawing many studies of muscles,
tendons and other visible anatomical features.
As a successful artist, he was given permission to dissect human
corpses at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence and later at
hospitals in Milan and Rome. From 1510 to 1511 he collaborated in his
studies with the doctor Marcantonio della Torre and together they
prepared a theoretical work on anatomy for which Leonardo made
more than 200 drawings. It was published only in 1680 (161 years after
his death) under the heading Treatise on painting.[18] [65]

Leonardo drew many studies of the human skeleton and its parts, as
well as muscles and sinews, the heart and vascular system, the sex
Anatomical study of the arm, (c. 1510) organs, and other internal organs. He made one of the first scientific
drawings of a fetus in utero.[65] As an artist, Leonardo closely observed
and recorded the effects of age and of human emotion on the physiology, studying in particular the effects of rage.
He also drew many figures who had significant facial deformities or signs of illness.[18] [65]

He also studied and drew the anatomy of many other animals as well, dissecting cows, birds, monkeys, bears, and
frogs, and comparing in his drawings their anatomical structure with that of humans. He also made a number of
Leonardo da Vinci 17

studies of horses.

Engineering and inventions


During his lifetime Leonardo was valued as an engineer. In a letter to
Ludovico il Moro he claimed to be able to create all sorts of machines
both for the protection of a city and for siege. When he fled to Venice
in 1499 he found employment as an engineer and devised a system of
moveable barricades to protect the city from attack. He also had a
scheme for diverting the flow of the Arno River in order to flood Pisa.
His journals include a vast number of inventions, both practical and
impractical. They include musical instruments, hydraulic pumps,
reversible crank mechanisms, finned mortar shells, and a steam
cannon.[15] [18]
A design for a flying machine, (c. 1488) Institut
In 1502, Leonardo produced a drawing of a single span 720-foot (240 de France, Paris
m) bridge as part of a civil engineering project for Ottoman Sultan
Beyazid II of Istanbul. The bridge was intended to span an inlet at the mouth of the Bosporus known as the Golden
Horn. Beyazid did not pursue the project, because he believed that such a construction was impossible. Leonardo's
vision was resurrected in 2001 when a smaller bridge based on his design was constructed in Norway.[73] On May
17, 2006, the Turkish government decided to construct Leonardo's bridge to span the Golden Horn.[74]

For much of his life, Leonardo was fascinated by the phenomenon of flight, producing many studies of the flight of
birds, including his c. 1505 Codex on the Flight of Birds, as well as plans for several flying machines, including a
helicopter and a light hang glider.[18] Most were impractical, like his aerial screw helicopter design that could not
provide lift. However, the hang glider has been successfully constructed and demonstrated.[75]

Leonardo the legend


Within Leonardo's own lifetime his fame was such that the King of
France carried him away like a trophy, and was claimed to have
supported him in his old age and held him in his arms as he died.[76]
The interest in Leonardo has never slackened. The crowds still queue
to see his most famous artworks, T-shirts bear his most famous
drawing and writers, like Vasari, continue to marvel at his genius and
speculate about his private life and, particularly, about what one so
intelligent actually believed in.[18]

Giorgio Vasari, in the enlarged edition of Lives of the Artists, 1568,[17]


Francis I of France receiving the last breath of introduced his chapter on Leonardo da Vinci with the following words:
Leonardo da Vinci, by Ingres, 1818.
In the normal course of events many men and women are born
with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that
transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such
abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired and indeed everything he does
clearly comes from God rather than from human skill. Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo
da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty, who displayed infinite grace in everything that he did and
who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied he solved with ease.
—Giorgio Vasari
Leonardo da Vinci 18

The continued admiration that Leonardo commanded from painters, critics and
historians is reflected in many other written tributes. Baldassare Castiglione,
author of Il Cortegiano ("The Courtier"), wrote in 1528: "... Another of the
greatest painters in this world looks down on this art in which he is
unequalled ..."[77] while the biographer known as "Anonimo Gaddiano" wrote,
c. 1540: "His genius was so rare and universal that it can be said that nature
worked a miracle on his behalf ...".[78]

The 19th century brought a particular admiration for Leonardo's genius, causing
Henry Fuseli to write in 1801: "Such was the dawn of modern art, when
Leonardo da Vinci broke forth with a splendour that distanced former excellence:
made up of all the elements that constitute the essence of genius ..."[79] This is
echoed by A. E. Rio who wrote in 1861: "He towered above all other artists
through the strength and the nobility of his talents."[80]
Statue of Leonardo da Vinci at the
By the 19th century, the scope of Leonardo's notebooks was known, as well as
Uffizi, Florence
his paintings. Hippolyte Taine wrote in 1866: "There may not be in the world an
example of another genius so universal, so incapable of fulfilment, so full of
yearning for the infinite, so naturally refined, so far ahead of his own century and the following centuries."[81]
The famous art historian Bernard Berenson wrote in 1896: "Leonardo is the one artist of whom it may be said with
perfect literalness: Nothing that he touched but turned into a thing of eternal beauty. Whether it be the cross section
of a skull, the structure of a weed, or a study of muscles, he, with his feeling for line and for light and shade, forever
transmuted it into life-communicating values."[82]
The interest in Leonardo's genius has continued unabated; experts study and translate his writings, analyse his
paintings using scientific techniques, argue over attributions and search for works which have been recorded but
never found.[83] Liana Bortolon, writing in 1967, said: "Because of the multiplicity of interests that spurred him to
pursue every field of knowledge ... Leonardo can be considered, quite rightly, to have been the universal genius par
excellence, and with all the disquieting overtones inherent in that term. Man is as uncomfortable today, faced with a
genius, as he was in the 16th century. Five centuries have passed, yet we still view Leonardo with awe."[15]

See also

About Leonardo
• → Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci
• → Leonardo da Vinci's personal life
• → List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci
• → Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci

Related subjects
• Aerial perspective
• History of the internal combustion engine
• Italian Renaissance painting
• Leonardo Da Vinci: Flights of the Mind (book)
• Leonardo da Vinci Airport
• Leonardo da Vinci Art Institute
• List of Italian painters
• Medical Renaissance
Leonardo da Vinci 19

• Renaissance technology

Bibliography
• Daniel Arasse (1997). Leonardo da Vinci. Konecky & Konecky. ISBN 1 56852 1987.
• Fred Bérence (1965). Léonard de Vinci, L'homme et son oeuvre. Somogy. Dépot légal 4° trimestre 1965.
• Liana Bortolon (1967). The Life and Times of Leonardo. Paul Hamlyn, London.
• Hugh Brigstoke (2001). The Oxford Companion the Western Art. USA: Oxford University Press. ISBN
0198662033.
• Gene A. Brucker (1969). Renaissance Florence. Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0 471 11370 0.
• Angela Ottino della Chiesa (1967). The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. Penguin Classics of World Art
series. ISBN 0-14-00-8649-8.
• Simona Cremante (2005). Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor. Giunti. ISBN 88-09-03891-6 (hardback).
• Frederich Hartt (1970). A History of Italian Renaissance Art. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0500231362.
• Michael H. Hart (1992). The 100. Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8065-1350-0 (paperback).
• John N. Lupia. The Secret Revealed: How to Look at Italian Renaissance Painting. Medieval and Renaissance
Times, Vol. 1, no. 2 (Summer, 1994): 6–17. ISSN 1075-2110.
• Andrew Martindale (1972). The Rise of the Artist. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-5000-56006.
• Charles D. O'Malley and J. B. de C. M. Sounders (1952). Leonardo on the Human Body: The Anatomical,
Physiological, and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. With Translations, Emendations and a
Biographical Introduction. Henry Schuman, New York.
• Charles Nicholl (2005). Leonardo da Vinci, The Flights of the Mind. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-029681-6.
• Sherwin B. Nuland (2001). Leonardo Da Vinci. Phoenix Press. ISBN 0-7538-1269.
• A.E. Popham (1946). The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0 224 60462 7.
• Shana Priwer & Cynthia Phillips (2006). The Everything Da Vinci Book: Explore the Life and Times of the
Ultimate Renaissance Man. Adams Media. ISBN 1598691015.
• Ilan Rachum (1979). The Renaissance, an Illustrated Encyclopedia. Octopus. ISBN 0-7064-0857-8.
• Jean Paul Richter (1970). The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Dover. ISBN 0-486-22572-0 and ISBN
0-486-22573-9 (paperback). 2 volumes. A reprint of the original 1883 edition [84].
• Paolo Rossi (2001). The Birth of Modern Science. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0631227113.
• Bruno Santi (1990). Leonardo da Vinci. Scala / Riverside.
• Jack Wasserman (1975). Leonardo da Vinci. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-0262-1.
• Giorgio Vasari (1568). Lives of the Artists. Penguin Classics, trans. George Bull 1965. ISBN 0-14-044-164-6.
• Alessandro Vezzosi (1997 (English translation)). Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man. Thames & Hudson Ltd,
London. ISBN 0-500-30081-X.
• Frank Zollner (2003). Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Taschen. ISBN 3-8228-1734-1
(hardback). [The chapter "The Graphic Works" is by Frank Zollner & Johannes Nathan].
Leonardo da Vinci 20

External links
• "Leonardo da Vinci" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design (review) [85]
• Works by Leonardo da Vinci [86] at Project Gutenberg
• Leonardo da Vinci by Maurice Walter Brockwell [87] at Project Gutenberg
• Complete text & images of Richter's translation of the Notebooks [88]
• Vasari Life of Leonardo [89]: in Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.
• Web Gallery of Leonardo Paintings [90]
• Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci [91]
• Da Vinci Decoded [92] Article from The Guardian
• The true face of Leonardo Da Vinci? [93]
• Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism [94]
• The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci [95]
• Leonardo da Vinci [96] at Find a Grave
ckb:‫یچنیڤاد ۆدرانوێل‬

References
[1] This drawing in red chalk is widely (though not universally) accepted as an original self-portrait. The main reason for hesitation in accepting
it as a portrait of Leonardo is that the subject is apparently of a greater age than Leonardo ever achieved. But it is possible that he drew this
picture of himself deliberately aged, specifically for Raphael's portrait of him in The School of Athens.
[2] Gardner, Helen (1970), Art through the Ages, Harcourt, Brace and World
[3] Vasari, Boltraffio, Castiglione, "Anonimo" Gaddiano, Berensen, Taine, Fuseli, Rio, Bortolon, etc. See specific quotations under heading
"Leonardo, the legend".
[4] Vitruvian Man is referred to as "iconic" at the following websites and many others: Vitruvian Man (http:/ / www. italian-renaissance-art. com/
Vitruvian-Man. html), Fine Art Classics (http:/ / artpassions. com/ art/ 1109-Fine-Art-Classics/
0000067329-Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Vitruvian-Man. html), Key Images in the History of Science (http:/ / www. timeshighereducation. co. uk/
story. asp?storyCode=403230& sectioncode=26); Curiosity and difference (http:/ / www. ingenious. org. uk/ read/ identity/ bodyimage/
Curiosityanddifference/ ); The Guardian: The Real da Vinci Code (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ artanddesign/ 2006/ aug/ 30/ art1)
[5] There are 15 significant artworks which are ascribed, either in whole or in large part, to Leonardo by most art historians. This number is made
up principally of paintings on panel but includes a mural, a large drawing on paper and two works which are in the early stages of preparation.
There are a number of other works that have also been variously attributed to Leonardo.
[6] Replica of Leonardo's Adding Machine (http:/ / mathsforeurope. digibel. be/ addi0000. htm)
[7] Modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the Renaissance.
[8] A number of Leonardo's most practical inventions are displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci.
[9] See expanded in article Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci
[97]
[10] The third hour of the night was 10:30 pm, three hours after the saying of the Ave Maria.
[11] His birth is recorded in the diary of his paternal grandfather Ser Antonio, as cited by della Chiesa
[12] It has been suggested that Caterina may have been a slave from the Middle East "or at least, from the Mediterranean". According to
Alessandro Vezzosi, Head of the Leonardo Museum in Vinci, there is evidence that Piero owned a Middle Eastern slave called Caterina. That
Leonardo had Middle Eastern blood is claimed to be supported by the reconstruction of a fingerprint as reported by Marta Falconi, Associated
Press Writer, " Experts Reconstruct Leonardo Fingerprint (http:/ / www. foxnews. com/ wires/ 2006Dec01/
0,4670,LeonardoapossFingerprint,00. html)" December 12, 2001" The evidence as stated in the article is that 60% of people of Middle Eastern
Origin share the pattern of whorls found on the reconstructed fingerprint. The article also states that the claim is refuted by Simon Cole,
associate professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California at Irvine. "You can't predict one person's race from these
kinds of incidences," he said, especially if looking at only one finger."
[13] della Chiesa, Angela Ottino (1967), The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Penguin, ISBN 0-1400-8649-8
[14] Experts Reconstruct Leonardo Fingerprint (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2006/ 12/ 01/
AR2006120100961_pf. html), The Associated Press, , retrieved 2007-12-14
[15] Bortolon, Liana (1967), The Life and Times of Leonardo, London: Paul Hamlyn
[16] Brigstoke, Hugh (2001). The Oxford Companion the Western Art. USA: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198662033.
[17] Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 1568; this edition Penguin Classics, trans. George Bull 1965, ISBN 0-14-044-164-6
[18] Arasse, Daniel (1997), Leonardo da Vinci, Konecky & Konecky, ISBN 1 56852 1987
[19] Martindale, Andrew, The Rise of the Artist, Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-5000-56006-4
Leonardo da Vinci 21

[20] Theophilus On Divers Arts, translators:J.G.Hawthorne and C.S. Smith, University of Chicago Press, 1963; reprinted New York: Dover
Publications 1979. This is a Medieval practical handbook of skills for the artisan, and includes a brief instruction for mixing oil paint.
[21] Cennino d’A. Cennini Il Libro dell’ Arte, ed. D. V. Thompson Jr. (1933) New Haven: Yale University Press. A practical handbook of
painting written in the early 15th century.
[22] That Leonardo joined the guild before this time is deduced from the record of payment made to the Compagnia di San Luca in the
[13]
company's register, Libro Rosso A, 1472-1520, Accademia di Belle Arti.
[23] This work is now in the collection of the Uffizi, Drawing No. 8P.
[24] Homosexual acts were illegal in Florence at the time.
[25] Abbott, Elizabeth (2001), A History of Celibacy, Da Capo Press, p. 340, ISBN 0306810417
[26] Priwer, Shana; Phillips, Cynthia (2006), The Everything Da Vinci Book: Explore the Life and Times of the Ultimate Renaissance Man,
Adams Media, pp. 245, ISBN 1598691015
[27] Leonardo da Vinci's Music (http:/ / library. thinkquest. org/ 13681/ data/ link3. htm),
[28] Rossi, Paolo (2001). The Birth of Modern Science. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 33. ISBN 0631227113.
[29] " Leonardo's Letter to Ludovico Sforza (http:/ / www. leonardo-history. com/ life. htm?Section=S5)". Leonardo-history. . Retrieved
2007-09-28.
[30] Codex II, 95 r, Victoria and Albert Museum, as cited by della Chiesa
[31] Verrocchio's statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni was not cast until 1488, after his death, and after Leonardo had already begun work on the statue
for Ludovico.
[32] In 2005, the studio was rediscovered during the restoration of part of a building occupied for 100 years by the Department of Military
[98]
Geography.
[99]
[33] Both works are lost. While the entire composition of Michelangelo's painting is known from a copy by Aristotole da Sangallo, 1542.
Leonardo's painting is only known from preparatory sketches and several copies of the centre section, of which the best known, and probably
[13]
least accurate is by Peter Paul Rubens.
[34] Gaetano Milanesi, Epistolario Buonarroti, Florence (1875), as cited by della Chiesa.
[35] D'Oggione is known in part for his contemporary copies of the Last Supper.
[36] Wasserman, Jack (1975), Leonardo da Vinci, Abrams, ISBN 0-8109-0262-1
[37] Georges Goyau, François I], Transcribed by Gerald Rossi. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VI. Published 1909. New York: Robert
Appleton Company. Retrieved on 2007-10-04
[38] Miranda, Salvador (1998-2007), The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Antoine du Prat (http:/ / www. fiu. edu/ ~mirandas/ bios1527-ii.
htm), , retrieved 2007-10-04
[39] It is unknown for what occasion the mechanical lion was made but it is believed to have greeted the King at his entry into Lyon and perhaps
was used for the peace talks between the French king and Pope Leo X in Bologna. A conjectural recreated of the lion has been made and is on
[100]
display in the Museum of Bologna.
[40] Clos Lucé, also called Cloux, is now a public museum.
[41] On the day of Leonardo's death, a royal edict was issued by the King at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a two-day journey from Clos Lucé. This has
been taken as evidence that King François cannot have been present at Leonardo's deathbed. However, White in Leonardo: The First Scientist
points out that the edict was not signed by the king himself.
[42] For such images, see Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci.
[43] " Leonardo's will (http:/ / www. leonardo-history. com/ life. htm?Section=S6)". Leonardo-history. . Retrieved 2007-09-28.
[44] Mario Lucertini, Ana Millan Gasca, Fernando Nicolo (2004). " Technological Concepts and Mathematical Models in the Evolution of
Modern Engineering Systems (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=YISIUycS4HgC& pg=PA13& lpg=PA13& dq=leonardo+ cellini+
francois+ philosopher)". Birkhauser. . Retrieved 2007-10-03.
[45] Hartt, Frederich (1970), A History of Italian Renaissance Art, Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0500231362
[46] Brucker, Gene A. (1969), Renaissance Florence, Wiley and Sons, ISBN 0-471-11370-0
[47] Rachum, Ilan (1979), The Renaissance, an Illustrated Encyclopedia, Octopus, ISBN 0-7064-0857-8
[48] Popham, A. E. (1975), The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, Jonathan Cape, ISBN 0-224-60462-7
[49] Williamson, Hugh Ross (1974), Lorenzo the Magnificent, Michael Joseph, ISBN 07181 12040
[50] Eugene Muntz, Leonardo da Vinci Artist, Thinker, and Man of Science (1898), quoted at Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism (http:/ /
www. ivu. org/ history/ davinci/ hurwitz. html)
[51] Bambach, Carmen (2003). " Leonardo, Left-Handed Draftsman and Writer (http:/ / www. metmuseum. org/ special/
Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/ draftsman_left_essay. asp)". New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. . Retrieved 2009-10-18.
[52] Sigmund Freud, Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci, (1910), as cited by Daniel Arasse in his prologue Leonardo and Freud,
Leonardo da Vinci.
[53] Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships epigraph, p. 148 & N120 p.298
[54] Leonardo, Codex C. 15v, Institut of France. Trans. Richter
[55] Gross, Tom. " Mona Lisa Goes Topless (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070403073656/ www. paintingsdirect. com/ content/ artnews/
032001/ artnews1. html)". Paintingsdirect.com. . Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[56] Rossiter, Nick (2003-07-04). " Could this be the secret of her smile? (http:/ / www. telegraph. co. uk/ arts/ main. jhtml?xml=/ arts/ 2003/ 04/
07/ banr. xml)". Telegraph.co.UK. . Retrieved 2007-10-03.
Leonardo da Vinci 22

[57] By the 1490s Leonardo had already been described as a "Divine" painter. His fame is discussed by Daniel Arasse in Leonardo da Vinci,
pp.11-15
[58] These qualities of Leonardo's works are discussed by Frederick Hartt in A History of Italian Renaissance Art, pp.387-411.
[59] Berti, Luciano (1971), The Uffizi, Scala
[60] Michael Baxandall lists 5 "laudable conditions" or reactions of Mary to the presence and announcement of the angel. These are: Disquiet,
[101]
Reflection, Inquiry, Submission and Merit. In this painting Mary's attitude does not comply with any of the accepted traditions.
[61] The painting, which in the 18th century belonged to Angelica Kauffmann, was later cut up. The two main sections were found in a junk shop
[36]
and cobbler's shop and were reunited. It is probable that outer parts of the composition are missing.
[62] " The Mysterious Virgin (http:/ / www. nationalgallery. org. uk/ collection/ features/ potm/ 2006/ may/ feature1. htm)". National Gallery,
London. . Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[63] Whether or not Vasari had seen the Mona Lisa is the subject of debate. The opinion that he had not seen the painting is based mainly on the
fact that he describes the Mona Lisa as having eyebrows. Daniel Arasse in Leonardo da Vinci discusses the possibility that Leonardo may
[18]
have painted the figure with eyebrows which were subsequently removed. (They were not fashionable in the mid 16th century.) The
analysis of high resolution scans made by Pascal Cotte has revealed that the Mona Lisa had eyebrows and eyelashes which have been
[102]
subsequently removed.
[36]
[64] Jack Wasserman writes of "the inimitable treatment of the surfaces" of this painting.
[65] Popham, A.E. (1946), The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, Jonathan Cape, ISBN 0 224 60462 7
[66] The "Grecian profile" has a continuous straight line from forehead to nose-tip, the bridge of the nose being exceptionally high. It is a feature
of many Classical Greek statues.
[67] Left-handed writers using a split nib or quill pen experience difficulty pushing the pen from left to right across the page.
[68] " Sketches by Leonardo (http:/ / www. bl. uk/ onlinegallery/ ttp/ ttpbooks. html)". Turning the Pages. British Library. . Retrieved
2007-09-27.
[69] Windsor Castle, Royal Library, sheets RL 19073v-19074v and RL 19102 respectively.
[70] This method of organisation minimises of loss of data in the case of pages being mixed up or destroyed.
[71] O'Malley; Saunders (1982), Leonardo on the Human Body, New York: Dover Publications
[72] Capra, Fritjof. The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind of the Genius of the Renaissance. (New York, Doubleday, 2007)
[73] The Leonardo Bridge Project (http:/ / www. vebjorn-sand. com/ thebridge. htm)
[74] Levy, Daniel S. (October 4, 1999). " Dream of the Master (http:/ / www. vebjorn-sand. com/ dreamsofthemaster. html)". Time magazine. .
Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[75] The U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), aired in October 2005, a television programme called "Leonardo's Dream Machines", about the
building and successful flight of a glider based on Leonardo's design.
[76] see reference to this in section "Old age".
[77] Castiglione, Baldassare (1528), Il Cortegiano
[78] "Anonimo Gaddiani", elaborating on Libro di Antonio Billi, 1537–1542
[79] Fuseli, Henry (1801), Lectures, II
[80] Rio, A.E. (1861), L'art chrétien
[81] Taine, Hippolyte (1866), Voyage en Italie
[82] Berenson, Bernard (1896), The Italian Painters of the Renaissance
[83] ArtNews article about current studies into Leonardo's life and works (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20060505165842/ http:/ / www.
artnewsonline. com/ currentarticle. cfm?art_id=1240),
[84] http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ etext/ 5000
[85] http:/ / www. studio-international. co. uk/ reports/ da_vinci. asp
[86] http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ author/ Leonardo_da_Vinci
[87] http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ etext/ 7785
[88] http:/ / www. sacred-texts. com/ aor/ dv/ index. htm
[89] http:/ / www. mnstate. edu/ gracyk/ courses/ web%20publishing/ Vasari_daVinci. htm
[90] http:/ / www. wga. hu/ frames-e. html?/ html/ l/ leonardo/
[91] http:/ / www. drawingsofleonardo. org
[92] http:/ / arts. guardian. co. uk/ features/ story/ 0,,1860869,00. html
[93] http:/ / www. ted. com/ index. php/ talks/ view/ id/ 235
[94] http:/ / www. ivu. org/ history/ davinci/ hurwitz. html
[95] http:/ / fulltextarchive. com/ pages/ The-Notebooks-of-Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Complete1. php
[96] http:/ / www. findagrave. com/ cgi-bin/ fg. cgi?page=gr& GRid=3673
[97] Vezzosi, Alessandro, Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man
[98] Owen, Richard (2005-01-12). " Found: the studio where Leonardo met Mona Lisa (http:/ / www. timesonline. co. uk/ tol/ news/ world/
article411195. ece)". The Times. . Retrieved 2008-02-22=2008-02-22.
[99] Goldscheider, Ludwig (1953), Michelangelo, Phaidon
[100] " Ancient automata- Leone (http:/ / www. ancientandautomata. com/ ita/ lavori/ leone. htm)" (in Italian). . Retrieved 2008-02-22.
[101] Baxandall, Michael (1974), Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0 19 881329 5
Leonardo da Vinci 23

[102] " The Mona Lisa had brows and lashes (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ entertainment/ 7056041. stm)". BBC News. October 22, 2007. .
Retrieved 2008-02-22.
24

Supporting articles

Leonardo da Vinci's personal life


Leonardo da Vinci

[1]
Portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515.
Birth Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci
name

Born April 15, 1452 Anchiano, Florence, Italy


Died May 2, 1519
Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, France

Nationality Italian

Field Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences

Movement High Renaissance

Works Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man

Description and analysis of Leonardo's character, personal desires and intimate behaviour has been based upon a
number of sources: records concerning him, his biographies, his own written journals, his paintings, his drawings, his
associates and commentaries that were made concerning him by contemporaries.

Childhood
Giorgio Vasari says of the young Leonardo "He would have been very
proficient in his early lessons, if he had not been so volatile and
flexible; for he was always setting himself to learn a multitude of
things, most of which were shortly abandoned. When he began the
study of arithmetic, he made, within a few months, such remarkable
progress that he could baffle his master with the questions and
problems that he raised....All the time, through all his other enterprises,
Leonardo never ceased drawing..."
Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano.
Leonardo's father, Ser Piero, realising that his son's talents were
extraordinary, took some of his drawings to show his friend, Andrea del Verrocchio, who ran one of the largest
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 25

artists' workshops in Florence. Leonardo was accepted for apprenticeship and "soon proved himself a first class
geometrician". Vasari says that during his youth Leonardo made a number of clay heads of smiling women and
children from which casts were still being made and sold by the workshop some 80 years later. Among his earliest
significant known paintings are an Annunciation in the Uffizi, the angel that he painted as a collaboration with
Verrocchio in the Baptism of Christ, and a small predella of the Annunciation to go beneath an altarpiece by Lorenzo
di Credi. The little predella picture is probably the earliest.

Character
Leonardo da Vinci was a man with great personal appeal, kindness and generosity and was generally well-loved by
his contemporaries.
According to Vasari "Leonardo's disposition was so lovable that he commanded everyone's affection". He was "a
sparkling conversationalist" who charmed Ludovico il Moro with his wit. Vasari sums him up by saying "In
appearance he was striking and handsome, and his magnificent presence brought comfort to the most troubled soul;
he was so persuasive that he could bend other people to his will. He was physically so strong that he could withstand
violence and with his right hand he could bend the ring of an iron door knocker or a horseshoe as if they were lead.
He was so generous that he fed all his friends, rich or poor.... Through his birth Florence received a very great gift,
and through his death it sustained an incalculable loss."
Some of Leonardo's personal wisdom is to be found in a series of fables that he wrote. A prevalent theme is the
mistake of placing too high esteem upon one's self, and the benefits to be gained through awareness, humility and
endeavour.

Left-handedness
It has been written that Leonardo "may be the most universally recognized left-handed artist of all time", a fact
documented by numerous Renaissance authors, and manifested conspicuously in his drawing and handwriting. In his
notebooks, he wrote in mirror image because of his left handedness (it was easier for him), and he was falsely
accused of trying to protect his work. [2] Early Italian connoisseurs were divided as to whether Leonardo also drew
with his right hand; more recently, Anglo-American art historians have for the most part discounted suggestions of
ambidexterity.[3]

Personal relationships
From what we know about his personal life he appears to have been secretive about his most intimate relationships.
However, evidence of Leonardo's personal relationships emerges both from historic records and from the writings of
his many biographers, whose willingness to discuss aspects of his sexual identity has varied according to
contemporary attitudes.[4] [5] His near-contemporary biographer Vasari described two beautiful young men as
'beloved' of Leonardo at various points in his life.[6] In the 20th century biographers made more explicit reference to
Leonardo's homosexuality[7] , though others concluded that for much of his life he was celibate[8] .
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 26

The most overt biographical detail concerning Leonardo's personal life


is a Florentine court record showing that in 1476, while in the
workshop of Verrocchio, Leonardo (along with two others) was
accused anonymously of sodomy with a male model and prostitute,
Jacopo Saltarelli. After two months he was acquitted due to a lack of
evidence.[9] Sodomy was theoretically an extremely serious offense,
carrying the death penalty, but its very seriousness made it equally
difficult to prove. It was also an offence for which punishment was
very seldom handed down in contemporary Florence, where
homosexuality was sufficiently widespread and tolerated to make the
word Florenzer (Florentine) a slangword for homosexual in
Germany.[10] False denunciations were quite common at that time
especially via anonymous reports by one's enemies. Such may have
been the case here. In his long career after leaving Florence, no further
such charges were laid against Leonardo.
Salai as John the Baptist 1513-1516
Elizabeth Abbott, in her History of Celibacy, contends that although
Leonardo was probably gay, the trauma of the sodomy case converted
[11]
him to celibacy for the rest of his life. A similar view of a homosexually oriented but chaste Leonardo appears in
a famous 1910 paper by Sigmund Freud, Leonardo Da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood, which analysed a
memory Leonardo described of having been attacked as a baby by a bird of prey that opened his mouth and "stuck
me with the tail inside my lips again and again." Freud claimed the symbolism was clearly phallic, but argued that
Leonardo's homosexuality was latent: that he did not act on his desires.[12] [13] Leonardo's writings and notebooks
show evidence of a struggle with sexuality: in a famous passage from the Notebooks Leonardo says: "The act of
procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there
were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions".[14] Freud's work, and other, more recent attempts to psychoanalyse
Leonardo, are discussed at length in Bradley Collins's book Leonardo, Psychoanalysis and Art History.[15]

The adult Leonardo had few close relationships with women and never married; his numerous anatomical sketches
include only two detailed works on female reproductive organs, one of them uncharacteristically distorted.[5] But
David M. Friedman argues that this is not evidence of a loss of sexuality, so much as a lack of interest in women. He
argues that Leonardo's notebooks show a preoccupation with men and with sexuality uninterrupted by the trial and
agrees with art historian Kenneth Clark that Leonardo never became sexless.[12] [16]
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 27

Serge Bramly too notes that "the fact that Leonardo warns against
lustfulness certainly need not mean that he himself was chaste."[5]
Michael White, in Leonardo: The First Scientist says it is likely that
the trial simply made Leonardo cautious and defensive about his
personal relationships and sexuality, but did not dissuade him from
intimate relationships with men: "there is little doubt that Leonardo
remained a practising homosexual."[17]

Records show that, after the trial, Leonardo had two long-lasting
associations with young men. These were his pupils Gian Giacomo
Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed Salai or Il Salaino ("The Little Unclean
One" i.e., the devil), who entered his household in 1490 at the age of
10,[18] [19] and Count Francesco Melzi, the son of a Milan aristocrat
who became apprenticed to Leonardo in 1506. Other relationships,
with an unknown man named Fioravante di Domenico and a young
falconer, Bernardo di Simone, are suggested in Michael White's
biography, but the Salai and Melzi relationships were the longest The Incarnate Angel, (charcoal drawing, c. 1515)
lasting. Vasari describes Salai as "a graceful and beautiful youth with is clearly related to the painting of John the
Baptist.
fine curly hair," and his name appears (crossed out) on the back of an
erotic drawing (ca. 1513) by the artist, The Incarnate Angel;
rediscovered in 1991 in a German collection, it is one of the number of erotic drawings of Salai (and others?) by
Leonardo once in the British Royal Collection, and is possibly a humorous take on his St. John the Baptist.[20] The
"Little Devil" lived up to his nickname: a year after his entering the household Leonardo made a list of the boy’s
misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton." But despite Salai's thievery and general
delinquency - he made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions, spent a fortune on apparel, including
twenty-four pairs of shoes, and eventually died in a duel - he remained Leonardo's companion, servant, and assistant
for thirty years, and at Leonardo's death he was bequeathed the Mona Lisa, a valuable piece even then, valued in
Salai's own will at the equivalent of £200,000.

Twenty years later the count Melzi was a far more sedate, although perhaps less exciting, companion for the older
Leonardo. In a letter Melzi described the closeness of their relationship as sviscerato et ardentissimo amore ("deeply
felt and most ardent love"), and it was he, rather than Salai, who accompanied Leonardo in his final days in
France.[21] [22] Melzi subsequently played an important role as the guardian of Leonardo's notebooks, preparing them
for publication in the form enjoined by his master. Nevertheless, although it was Melzi who was with Leonardo at
his deathbed, one of the two paintings which Leonardo kept with him in his last days was the portrait of Salai as John
the Baptist, smiling enigmatically, one finger raised and pointing towards Heaven.
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 28

Patrons, friends and colleagues


Leonardo Da Vinci had a number of powerful patrons, including the King of France. He had, over the years, a large
number of followers and pupils. With two of these in particular, Salai and Melzi, he maintained close and passionate
relationships.
• His patrons included the Medici, Ludovico Sforza and Cesare
Borgia, in whose service he spent the years 1502 and 1503, and
King Francis I of France.
• He had working relations with two other notable scientists, Luca
Pacioli and Marcantonio della Torre, and was a close friend of
Niccolò Machiavelli.
• He had a close, long-lasting friendship with Isabella d'Este, a
renowned patroness of the arts, whose portrait he drew while on a
journey that took him through Mantua.
• The de Predis brothers and collaboration on Virgin of the Rocks. Francis I of France receiving the last breath of →
• Feud with Michelangelo Leonardo da Vinci, by Ingres, 1818.

Diverse interests
The diversity of Leonardo's interests, remarked on by Vasari as apparent in his early childhood, was to express itself
in his journals which record his scientific observations of nature, his meticulous dissection of corpses to understand
anatomy, his experiments with machines for flying, for generating power from water and for besieging cities, his
studies of geometry and his architectural plans, as well as personal memos and creative writing including fables.

Musical ability
It appears from Vasari's description that Leonardo first learnt to play the lyre as a child and that he was very talented
at improvisation. In about 1479 he created a lyre in the shape of a horse's head, which was made "mostly of silver",
and of "sonorous and resonant" tone. Lorenzo de'Medici saw this lyre and wishing to better his relationship with
Ludovico Sforza, the usurping Duke of Milan, he sent Leonardo to present this lyre to the Duke as a gift. Leonardo's
musical performances so far surpassed those of Ludovico's court musicians that the Duke was delighted. Sample[23]

Love of nature
Leonardo always loved nature. One of the reasons was because of his childhood environment. Near his childhood
house were mountains, trees, and rivers. There were also many animals. This environment gave him the perfect
chance to study the surrounding area; it also may have encouraged him to have interest in painting. Later in life he
recalls his exploration of an ominous cavern in the mountains as formative.

Vegetarianism
Leonardo's love of animals has been documented both in contemporary accounts as recorded in early biographies,
and in his Notebooks. Remarkably for the period, he even questioned the morality of eating animals when it was not
necessary for health, and consequently became a vegetarian.
Edward MacCurdy (one of the two translators and compilers of Leonardo's Notebooks into English) wrote:
…The mere idea of permitting the existence of unnecessary suffering, still more that of taking life, was abhorrent to
him. Vasari tells, as an instance of his love of animals, how when in Florence he passed places where birds were
sold he would frequently take them from their cages with his own hand, and having paid the sellers the price that
was asked would let them fly away in the air, thus giving them back their liberty.
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 29

That this horror of inflicting pain was such as to lead him to be a vegetarian is to be inferred from a reference which
occurs in a letter sent by Andrea Corsali to Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, in which, after telling him of an Indian
race called Gujerats [probably a reference to Hindus and Jains (see Jain vegetarianism, vegetarianism and religion)
living in Gujarat, a state in India along the Arabian Sea], who neither eat anything that contains blood nor permit
any injury to any living creature, he adds ‘like our Leonardo da Vinci.’ [24]
The Corsali passage in the original Italian is ‘Alcuni gentili chiamati Guzzarati non si cibano di cosa alcuna che
tenga sangue, né fra essi loro consentono che si noccia ad alcuna cosa animata, come il nostro Leonardo da
Vinci.’[25]
Leonardo wrote the following in his Notebooks, which were not deciphered and made available for reading until the
19th Century:
If you are as you have described yourself the king of the animals –– it would be better for you to call yourself king of
the beasts since you are the greatest of them all! –– why do you not help them so that they may presently be able to
give you their young in order to gratify your palate, for the sake of which you have tried to make yourself a tomb for
all the animals? Even more I might say if to speak the entire truth were permitted me. [26]
One might question Leonardo's concern for human life, given his weapon designs. Nothing came of his designs for
offensive weapons.[27] It is possible his mention of his capabilities of creating weapons helped him in his quest to
find powerful patrons, or perhaps he was fond of drawing them as he was of gargoyles. He did work on
fortifications, however. In his own words:
When besieged by ambitious tyrants I find a means of offence and defense in order to preserve the chief gift of
nature, which is liberty; and first I would speak of the position of the walls, and then of how the various peoples can
maintain their good and just lords. [26] He referred to war as pazzia bestialissima, the most bestial madness.[27]
And thou, man, who by these labours dost look upon the marvelous works of nature, if thou judgest it to be an
atrocious act to destroy the same, reflect that it is an infinitely atrocious act to take away the life of man. [26]

Physical characteristics
Descriptions and portraits of Leonardo combine to create an image of a
man who was tall, athletic and extremely handsome. Portraits indicate
that as an older man, he wore his hair long, at a time when most men
wore it cropped short, or reaching to the shoulders. While most men
were shaven or wore close-cropped beards, Leonardo's beard flowed
over his chest.
His clothing is described as being unusual in his choice of bright
colours, and at a time when most mature men wore long garments,
Leonardo's preferred outfit was the short tunic and hose generally worn
by younger men. This image of Leonardo has been recreated in the
statue of him that stands outside the Uffizi Gallery.

Vasari's descriptions
According to Vasari, "In the normal course of events many men and
women are born with various remarkable qualities and talents; but
occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is
marvellously endowed by heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such
abundance that he leaves other men far behind....Everyone A statue of Leonardo outside the Uffizi Gallery in
Florence, based upon contemporary descriptions.
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 30

acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty who displayed
infinite grace in everything he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied were
solved with ease. He possessed great strength and dexterity; he was a man of regal spirit and tremendous breadth of
mind..."[6]

Portraits
Leonardo's face is best known from a drawing in red chalk that appears to be a self portrait. However, there is some
controversy over the identity of the subject, because the man represented appears to be of a greater age than the 67
years lived by Leonardo. A solution which has been put forward is that Leonardo deliberately aged himself in the
drawing, as a modern forensic artist might do, in order to provide a model for Raphael's painting of him as Plato in
The School of Athens. A profile portrait in the Ambrosiana Gallery in Milan is generally accepted to be a portrait of
Leonardo, and also depicts him with flowing beard and long hair. This image was repeated in the woodcut designed
for the first edition of Vasari's Lives.[28]

Leonardo da Vinci fingerprint reconstructed


Anthropologists in Italy claim that they have pieced together a reconstruction of Leonardo da Vinci's left index
fingerprint. The reconstruction of the fingerprint is the result of three years of research and could also help attribute
disputed paintings or manuscripts, said Luigi Capasso, director of the Anthropology Research Institute at Chieti
University in central Italy. "It adds the first touch of humanity. We knew how Leonardo saw the world and the future
… but who was he? This biological information is about his being human, not being a genius," Mr Capasso said.
The discovery could help shed light on a wealth of information including the food the artist ate and whether his
mother was Arab. The research was based on photographs of about 200 fingerprints—most of them taken from about
52 papers handled by Leonardo in his life. The artist often ate while working and Mr Capasso and other experts said
his fingerprints could include traces of saliva, blood or the food he ate the night before—information that could help
clear up questions about his origins.
For instance, experts determined that the fingerprint suggested Leonardo's mother was of "oriental origin. "It's not
like every population has typical fingerprints, but they do have specific proportions among their signs. The one we
found in this fingertip applies to 60 per cent of the Arabic population, which suggests the possibility that his mother
was of Middle-Eastern origin," Mr Capasso said. [29] [30] The idea that Leonardo's mother could have been a slave
who came to Tuscany from Constantinople — now Istanbul, Turkey — is not new and has been the object of
separate research.[31]

See also
• → Leonardo da Vinci
• → Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci
• Leonardo da Vinci - scientist and inventor
• Bacchus (Leonardo)
• St. John the Baptist (Leonardo)
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 31

Additional reading
• Rachel Annand Taylor (1991). Leonardo The Florentine: A Study in Personality. Easton Press. (hardback).

External links
• "Leonardo da Vinci" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Leonardo da Vinci by Maurice Walter Brockwell [87] at Project Gutenberg
• Vasari Life of Leonardo [89]: in Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.
• Leonardo's Paintings and Drawings (flash format [32]
• Leonardo's Will [33]
• Leonardo da Vinci fingerprint reconstructed [34]
• Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism [94]

References
[1] This drawing in red chalk is widely (though not universally) accepted as an original self-portrait. The main reason for hesitation in accepting
it as a portrait of Leonardo is that the subject is apparently of a greater age than Leonardo ever achieved. But it is possible that he drew this
picture of himself deliberately aged, specifically for Raphael's portrait of him in the School of Athens.
[2] Bambach, Carmen C., Leonardo, Left-Handed Draftsman and Writer, Metropolitan Museum of Art. (https:/ / www. metmuseum. org/ special/
Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/ draftsman_left_essay. asp)
[3] Bambach. (https:/ / www. metmuseum. org/ special/ Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/ draftsman_left_essay. asp)
[4] White, Michael (2000). Leonardo, the first scientist (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=-OmWWh2BqYkC& dq). London: Little,
Brown. p. 137. ISBN 0316648469. . "(Leonardo's homosexuality has been)"a subject too sensitive to investigate candidly.""
[5] Bramly, Serge (1994). Leonardo: The Artist and the Man (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=uuMWROjcp7EC& q). Penguin. ISBN
0140231757. .
[6] [[Giorgio Vasari Vasari, Giorgio (2006). The Life of Leonardo Da Vinci. p. 26. ISBN 1428628800.
[7] White, Michael (2000). Leonardo, the first scientist (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=-OmWWh2BqYkC& dq). London: Little,
Brown. p. 7. ISBN 0316648469. . "(Leonardo was) "a homosexual vegetarian born out of wedlock.""
[8] Abbott, Elizabeth (2001). History of Celibacy (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=whs0eudAfJIC). James Clark & Co. p. 21. ISBN
0718830067. .
[9] Saslow, Ganymede in the Renaissance: Homosexuality in Art and Society, 1986, p.197
[10] White, Michael (2000). Leonardo, the first scientist (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=-OmWWh2BqYkC& dq). London: Little,
Brown. p. 70. ISBN 0316648469. .
[11] Abbott, Elizabeth (2001). History of Celibacy (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=whs0eudAfJIC). James Clark & Co. p. 341. ISBN
0718830067. . ""To minimize or deny his homosexual orientation, he probably opted for the safety device of chastity.""
[12] Friedman, David M (2003). A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/
books?id=LV0GAAAACAAJ). Penguin. p. 48. ISBN 0142002593. .
[13] Freud, Sigmund (1964). Leonardo Da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood. Norton. ISBN 0393001490.
[14] As quoted by Sigmund Freud, Gesammelte Werke, bd VIII, 1909–1913
[15] Collins, Bradley I. (1997). Leonardo, Psychoanalysis, and Art History. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. ISBN
0810114194.
[16] Clark, Kenneth (1988). Leonardo da Vinci. Viking. pp. 274. ""Those who wish, in the interests of morality, to reduce Leonardo, that
inexhausible source of creative power, to a neutral or sexless agency, have a strange idea of doing service to his reputation.""
[17] White, Michael (2000). Leonardo, the first scientist (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=-OmWWh2BqYkC& dq). London: Little,
Brown. p. 95. ISBN 0316648469. .
[18] White, Michael (2000). Leonardo, the first scientist (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=-OmWWh2BqYkC& dq). London: Little,
Brown. p. 133. ISBN 0316648469. .
[19] Oreno website (Italian) (http:/ / www. oreno. it)
[20] Sewell, Brian. Sunday Telegraph, April 5, 1992
[21] Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships epigraph, p. 148 & N120 p.298
[22] Crompton, Louis: Homosexuality and Civilization. NY, 2003. p.269
[23] A sample of Leonardo's music can be heard- Leonardo da Vinci's Music (http:/ / library. thinkquest. org/ 13681/ data/ link3. htm)
[24] Edward MacCurdy, The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci (1928)quoted at Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism (http:/ / www. ivu. org/
history/ davinci/ hurwitz. html)
[25] Jean Paul Richter, The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci (3rd Edition 1970, first published in 1883
[26] Edward MacCurdy, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1956, first published 1939)
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life 32

[27] Robert Payne, Leonardo (1978)


[28] Angela Otino della Chiesa, Leonardo da Vinci, Penguin, 1967, ISBN 0-14-00-8649-8
[29] Rossella Lorenzi, Da Vinci Fingerprint Reveals Arab Heritage? (http:/ / dsc. discovery. com/ news/ 2006/ 10/ 28/ leonardoprint_his_print.
html) Discovery News, Discovery Channel, October 28, 2006.
[30] Marta Falconi, Da Vinci's print may paint new picture of artist (http:/ / arts. guardian. co. uk/ news/ story/ 0,,1962373,00. html), Rome, The
Guardian, December 2, 2006.
[31] We've got Da Vinci's fingerprint (http:/ / news. uk. msn. com/ Article. aspx?cp-documentid=1358398) MSN News, Microsoft MSN
[32] http:/ / www. thedavincisite. com/
[33] http:/ / www. leonardo-history. com/ life. htm?Section=S6
[34] http:/ / news. aol. co. uk/ world-news/ leonardo-da-vinci-fingerprint-reconstructed/ article/ 20061201063609990001

List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci


This is a list of paintings attributed
to → Leonardo da Vinci, (baptised
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci) (),
(April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519), one of
the leading artists of the High
Renaissance. Fifteen works are
generally attributed either in whole or
in large part to him, most of them
paintings on panel but including a
mural, a large drawing on paper and
two works in the early stages of
preparation. A further six paintings are The Last Supper
disputed, there are four recently
attributed works, and two are copies of lost work. None of Leonardo's paintings are signed, and this list draws on the
opinions of various scholars.[1]

The small number of surviving paintings is due to Leonardo's constant and frequently disastrous experimentation
with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination. Nevertheless, these few works together with his notebooks,
which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise a contribution to
later generations of artists rivaled only by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo.

Major extant works

Image (sort by Details (sort by date) Attribution status


size) Location

The Baptism of Verrocchio and Leonardo


Christ
Painted by Andrea del Verrocchio, with the angel on the
1472–1475 [2]
left-hand side by Leonardo. It is generally considered
Oil on wood that Leonardo also painted much of the background
177 × 151 cm landscape and the torso of Christ. One of Leonardo's
earliest extant works. Vasari's statement that the angel
Uffizi, Florence
on the left is by Leonardo is confirmed by studies by
Bode, Seidlitz and Guthman, and accepted by McCurdy,
[1]
Wasserman and others.
List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci 33

Annunciation Almost universally accepted


c. 1472–1475 Generally thought to be the earliest extant work entirely
Oil on panel by Leonardo. The work was traditionally attributed to
98 × 217 cm Verrocchio until 1869. It is now almost universally
attributed to Leonardo. Attribution proposed by
Uffizi, Florence
Liphhart, accepted by Bode, Lubke, Muller-Walde,
[1]
Berenson, Clark, Goldscheider and others.
Ginevra de' Benci Dependent on attribution of Lady with an Ermine
c. 1476 The work was proposed as a Leonardo by Waagen in
Oil on wood 1866, and supported by Bode. Early 20th-century
38.8 × 36.7 cm, scholars were vociferous in their disagreement, but most
15.3 × 14.4 in current critics accept both the authorship and the
[1]
identity of the sitter.
National Gallery of
Art, Washington,
D.C.
Benois Madonna Generally accepted
1478 Most critics believe that it coincides with a Madonna
[1]
Oil on canvas mentioned by Leonardo in 1478.
49.5 × 33 cm
Hermitage
Museum, Saint
Petersburg
Madonna of the Generally accepted
Carnation
It is generally accepted as a Leonardo, but has some
1478–1480 overpainting possibly by a Flemish artist.
[1]

Oil on panel
62 × 47.5 cm
Alte Pinakothek,
Munich
St. Jerome in the Universally accepted
Wilderness
c. 1480
Tempera and oil on
panel
103 × 75 cm,
41 × 30 in
Apostolic Palace,
Vatican City
Unfinished
Adoration of the Universally accepted
Magi
1481
Underpainting on
panel
240 × 250 cm,
96 × 97 in
Uffizi, Florence
Unfinished
List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci 34

Virgin of the Rocks Universally accepted


1483–1486 Considered by most historians to be the earlier of two
Oil on panel versions
(transferred to
canvas)
199 × 122 cm,
78.3 × 48.0 in
Louvre, Paris
Lady with an Generally accepted
Ermine
This painting has been subject to continued
1485 disagreement since it was first published as a Leonardo
Oil on wood panel in 1889. The attribution of the "Ginevra de' Benci" has
[1]
54 × 39 cm supported the attribution of this painting. The subject
[3]
has been identified as Cecilia Gallerani.
Czartoryski
Museum, Kraków
Madonna Litta Disputed
c. 1490 Thought perhaps to be by Marco d'Oggiono
Oil on canvas
(transferred from
panel)
42 × 33 cm
Hermitage
Museum, Saint
Petersburg
Portrait of a Disputed
Musician
1490
Oil on wood panel
45 × 32 cm
Pinacoteca
Ambrosiana, Milan
La belle Disputed
ferronnière
1490–1496
Oil on wood
62 × 44 cm
Louvre, Paris

The Last Supper Universally accepted


1495–1498
tempera on gesso,
pitch and mastic
460 × 880 cm,
181 × 346 in
Convent of Sta.
Maria delle Grazie,
Milan
List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci 35

Virgin of the Rocks Leonardo and Ambrogio de Predis


1495–1508 Generally accepted as postdating the version in the
Oil on panel Louvre, with collaboration of de Predis and perhaps
189.5 × 120 cm, others. While the date is not universally agreed, the
[1]
74.6 × 47.25 in collaboration of Leonardo's workshop is.
National Gallery,
London

Sala delle Asse


ceiling frescoes
[4]
circa 1498–1499
Castello Sforzesco,
Milan

The Virgin and Universally accepted


Child with St. Anne
and St. John the
Baptist
c. 1499–1500
Charcoal, black
and white chalk on
tinted paper
142 × 105 cm,
55.7 × 41.2 in
National Gallery,
London
Madonna of the Disputed
Yarnwinder
Three versions exist, apparently by different hands,
c. 1501 perhaps copies of a lost work that is described by
Oil on canvas Leonardo. The best known, that belonging to the estate
50.2 × 36.4 cm of the Duke of Buccleuch, was stolen in 2003, and
[5]
recovered in 2007.
Private collection,
New York
Mona Lisa or La Universally accepted
Gioconda
c. 1503–1506
Oil on cottonwood
76.8 × 53.0 cm,
30.2 × 20.9 in
Louvre, Paris
The Virgin and Universally accepted
Child with St. Anne
c. 1510
Oil on panel
168 × 112 cm,
66.1 × 44.1 in
Louvre, Paris
List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci 36

Bacchus Disputed
1510–1515 Generally considered to be a workshop copy of a
[1]
Oil on walnut drawing.
panel transferred to
canvas
177 × 115 cm
Louvre, Paris
St. John the Baptist Generally accepted
1513–1516 "Anonimo Gaddiano" wrote that Leonardo painted a St.
Oil on walnut John. This is generally considered Leonardo's last
[1]
wood masterpiece.
69 × 57 cm,
27.2 × 22.4 in
Louvre, Paris

Lost works

Image Details Notes


Medusa A juvenile work described by Giorgio Vasari.
'Angel of the The painting is described by Vasari. A drawing survives
Annunciation among studies for the Battle of Anghiari (see below), and a
[6]
c. 1503 copy is in the Kunstmuseum Basel.
The Battle of The remains of Leonardo's fresco have been discovered in the
Anghiari Hall of the Five Hundred (Salone dei Cinquecento) in the
1505 Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
• Peter Paul Rubens, The Battle of Anghiari (pictured). Black
chalk, pen and ink heightened with lead white, over-painted
with watercolour, 54.2 x 63.7 cm. Musée du Louvre
Salvator Mundi The painting is described by Vasari.
1506–1513
Leda and the There are nine known copies of the painting, including:
Swan • Cesare Cesto, Leda and the Swan (pictured). Oil on wood, 69.5
1508 x 73.7 cm. Wilton House, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
• Anonymous, Leda and the Swan. Tempera on wood, 115 x 86
cm. Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy

Disputed or recent attributions


List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci 37

Image Details Attribution status


Location

Tobias and the Verrochio and workshop (including Leonardo?)


Angel A painting by Verrocchio while Leonardo was in his
1470–80 workshop. Martin Kemp suggests that Leonardo may
Egg tempera on have painted some part of this work, most likely the
poplar fish. David Alan Brown, of the National Gallery in
Washington, attributes the painting of the dog to him as
83.6 × 66 cm
well.
National Gallery,
London
The Dreyfus Disputed
Madonna
Previously attributed to Verrocchio or Lorenzo di Credi.
c. 1475–1480 The anatomy of the Christ Child is so poor as to
Oil on panel discourage firm attribution by most critics while some
15.7 × 12.8 cm, believe that it is a work of Leonardo's youth. This
6.13 × 5 in attribution was made by Suida in 1929. Other art
historians such as Shearman and Morelli attribute the
National Gallery of [1]
work to Verrocchio. Daniel Arasse discusses this
Art, Washington,
painting as a youthful work in Leonardo da Vinci,
D.C. [7]
(1997).
The Holy Infants Several versions in private collections.
Embracing
c. 1486–1490

Christ Carrying the Previously attributed by Sotheby's to Gian-Francesco de


Cross Maineri.
[8] [9]
Attributed to Leonardo by its present
[8]
c. 1500 owner. Attribution based on the similarity of the
Oil on poplar tormentors of Christ to drawings made by Rubens of the
Battle of Anghiari. According to Forbes Magazine,
Private Collection,
Leonardo expert Carlo Pedretti said that he knew of
San Francisco
three similar paintings and that "All four paintings, he
believed, were likely the work of Leonardo's studio
[8]
assistants and perhaps even the master himself."
Madonna and Previously attributed to Fra Bartolomeo. After recent
Child with St cleaning, the Borghese Gallery sought attribution as a
Joseph or Adoration work of Leonardo's youth, based on the presence of a
of the Christ Child fingerprint similar to one that appears in The Lady with
[10]
Tempera on panel the Ermine. Result of investigation not available.
Diameter 87 cm
Galleria Borghese,
Rome, Italy
Mary Magdalene Recently attributed as a Leonardo by Carlo Pedretti.
Previously regarded as the work of Giampietrino who
[11]
painted a number of similar Magdalenes. Carlo
Pedretti's attribution of this painting is not accepted by
other scholars, eg Carlo Bertelli, (former director of the
Brera Art Gallery in Milan), who said this painting is
not by Leonardo and that the subject could be a Lucretia
[12]
with the knife removed.
List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci 38

Young Girl in Identified as a Leonardo using the evidence of a


Profile in fingerprint.
[13]
Renaissance Dress,
or Profile of a
Young Fiancée

References
[1] della Chiesa, Angela Ottino (1967), The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Penguin, ISBN 0-1400-8649-8
[2] Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 1568; this edition Penguin Classics, trans. George Bull 1965, ISBN 0-14-044-164-6
[3] M. Kemp, entry for The Lady with an Ermine in the exhibition Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (Washington-New Haven-London)
pp 271f, states "the identification of the sitter in this painting as Cecilia Gallerani is reasonably secure;" Janice Shell and Grazioso Sironi,
"Cecilia Gallerani: Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine" Artibus et Historiae 13 No. 25 (1992:47-66) discuss the career of this identification since
it was first suggested in 1900.
[4] Universal Leonardo: Leonardo da Vinci online › Trails › The Natural World (http:/ / www. universalleonardo. org/ trail. php?trail=346&
work=311)
[5] " Arrests after da Vinci work found (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ scotland/ south_of_scotland/ 7028557. stm)". 4 October 2007. .
Retrieved 2008-02-22.
[6] Shearman, John (1992), Only Connect...: Art and the Spectator in the Italian Renaissance, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 33
[7] Arasse, Daniel (1997), Leonardo da Vinci, Konecky & Konecky, ISBN 1 56852 1987
[8] Stephane Fitch DaVinci's Fingerprints, 12.22.03 (http:/ / www. forbes. com/ forbes/ 2003/ 1222/ 178. html) accessed 7 July 2009. Martin
Kemp, the expert on Leonardo's fingerprints, had not examined the painting when the article was written.
[9] A similar image, without the tormentors, is in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. (http:/ / www. hermitagemuseum. org/ fcgi-bin/
db2www/ descrPage. mac/ descrPage?selLang=English& indexClass=PICTURE_EN& Query_Exp=(WOA_AUTHOR+ ==+ "Maineri,+
Gian+ Francesco")& PID=GJ-286& numView=1& ID_NUM=1& thumbFile=/ tmplobs/ AGTZ6GNRYP1E73GT6. jpg& embViewVer=last&
comeFrom=browse& check=false& sorting=WOA_AUTHOR^WOA_NAME& thumbId=6& numResults=1& author=Maineri,& #32;Gian&
#32;Francesco)
[10] Arie, Sophie (16 February 2005). " Fingerprint puts Leonardo in the frame (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ italy/ story/ 0,12576,1415336,00.
html)". The Guardian. . Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[11] " A lost Leonardo? Top art historian says maybe (http:/ / www. universalleonardo. org/ news. php?item=398)". Universal Leonardo. .
Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[12] Bertelli, Carlo (November 19 2005). " Due allievi non fanno un Leonardo (http:/ / img204. imageshack. us/ img204/ 6291/
bertellileonardosr5. jpg)" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. . Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[13] Adams, James (October 13, 2009). " Montreal art expert identifies da Vinci drawing (http:/ / www. theglobeandmail. com/ news/ arts/
montreal-art-expert-identifies-da-vinci-drawing/ article1322211/ )". The Globe and Mail. . Retrieved 2009-10-14.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 39

Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci


Leonardo da Vinci

"The Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo is possibly the best known drawing in the world.
Birth Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci
name

Born April 15, 1452 Vinci, Italy


Died May 2, 1519 (aged 67)
Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, France

Nationality Italian

Field Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences

Movement High Renaissance

Works Paintings including Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Many scientific drawings including The Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was an Italian polymath, regarded as the epitome of the "Renaissance Man",
displaying skills in numerous diverse areas of study. Whilst most famous for his paintings such as the Mona Lisa and
the Last Supper, Leonardo is also renowned as a scientist, engineer and inventor. The areas of his scientific study
included aeronautics, anatomy, astronomy, botany, civil engineering, chemistry, geology, geometry, hydrodynamics,
mathematics, mechanical engineering, optics, physics, pyrotechnics and zoology.
Whilst the full extent of his scientific studies has only become recognized in the last 150 years, he was, during his
lifetime, employed for his engineering and skill of invention. Many of his designs, such as the movable dykes to
protect Venice from invasion, proved too costly or impractical. Some of his smaller inventions entered the world of
manufacturing unheralded. As an engineer, Leonardo conceived ideas vastly ahead of his own time, conceptually
inventing a helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate
tectonics and the double hull. In practice, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy,
astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of water (hydrodynamics).
Leonardo's most famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, is a study of the proportions of the human body, linking art and
science in a single work that has come to represent Renaissance Humanism.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 40

Condensed biography
This is a brief summary of Leonardo's early life and
journals with particular emphasis on his introduction
to science.
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May
2, 1519) was born the illegitimate son of Messer Piero,
a notary, and Caterina, a peasant woman. His early life
was spent in the region of Vinci, in the valley of the
Arno River in near Florence, firstly with his mother and
in later childhood in the household of his father,
grandfather and uncle Francesco.

His curiosity and interest in scientific observation were The Arno Valley

stimulated by his uncle Francesco, while his


grandfather's keeping of journals set an example which he was to follow for most of his life, diligently recording in
his own journals both the events of the day, his visual observations, his plans and his projects. The journals of
Leonardo contain matters as mundane as grocery lists and as remarkable as diagrams for the construction of a flying
machine.

In 1466, Leonardo was sent to Florence to the workshop of the artist Verrocchio, in order to learn the skills of an
artist. At the workshop, as well as painting and drawing, he learnt the study of topographical anatomy.[1] He was
also exposed to a very wide range of technical skills such as drafting, set construction, plasterworking, paint,
chemistry, and metallurgy.
Among the older artists whose work stimulated Leonardo's
scientific interest was Piero della Francesca, then a man in his
60s, who was one of the earliest artists to systematically
employ linear perspective in his paintings, and who had a
greater understanding of the science of light than any other
artist of his date. While Leonardo's teacher, Verrocchio,
largely ignored Piero's scientifically disciplined approach to
painting, Leonardo and Ghirlandaio, who also worked at
Verrocchio's workshop, did not. Two of Leonardo's earliest
paintings, both scenes of the Annunciation show his
From Leonardo's journals - studies of an old man and the competent understanding of the linear perspective.
action of water.
Leonardo was profoundly observant of nature, his curiosity
having been stimulated in early childhood by his discovery of a deep cave in the mountains and his intense desire to
know what lay inside. His earliest dated drawing, 1473, is of the valley of the Arno River, where he lived. It displays
some of the many scientific interests that were to obsess him all his life, in particular geology and hydrology.
References:Bortolon[2]
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 41

Approach to scientific investigation


During the Renaissance, the study of Art and Science was not
perceived as mutually exclusive; on the contrary, the one was seen as
informing upon the other. Although Leonardo's training was primarily
as an artist, it was largely through his scientific approach to the art of
painting, and his development of a style that coupled his scientific
knowledge with his unique ability to render what he saw that created
the outstanding masterpieces of art for which he is famous.

As a scientist, Leonardo had no formal education in Latin and


mathematics and did not attend a university. Because of these factors,
his scientific studies were largely ignored by other scholars. Leonardo's
approach to science was one of intense observation and detailed
recording, his tools of investigation being almost exclusively his eyes.
Studies of a foetus from Leonardo's journals
His journals give insight into his investigative processes.

Leonardo's journals
Leonardo kept a series of journals in which he wrote almost daily, as
well as separate notes and sheets of observations, comments and plans
which were left to various pupils and were later bound. Many of the
journals have survived to illustrate Leonardo's studies, discoveries and
inventions. Most of the journals were written backwards in mirror
script. His journals were later published, 165 years after his death.

Publication
Leonardo illustrated a book on mathematical proportion in art written
by his friend Luca Pacioli and called "De divina proportione",
published in 1509. He was also preparing a major treatise on his
scientific observations and mechanical inventions. It was to be divided
into a number of sections or "Books", Leonardo leaving some
instructions as to how they were to be ordered. Many sections for it
Investigating the motion of the arm. appear in his notebooks.

These pages deal with scientific subjects generally but also specifically
as they touch upon the creation of artworks. In relating to art, this is not science that is dependent upon
experimentation or the testing of theories. It deals with detailed observation, particularly the observation of the
natural world, and includes a great deal about the visual effects of light on different natural substances such as
foliage.[3]
Leonardo writes:

“ Begun at Florence, in the house of Piero di Braccio Martelli, on the 22nd day of March 1508. And this is to be a collection without order,
taken from many papers which I have copied here, hoping to arrange them later each in its place, according to the subjects of which they may
treat. But I believe that before I am at the end of this [task] I shall have to repeat the same things several times; for which, O reader! do not

blame me, for the subjects are many and memory cannot retain them [all] and say: ‘I will not write this because I wrote it before.’ And if I
wished to avoid falling into this fault, it would be necessary in every case when I wanted to copy [a passage] that, not to repeat myself, I
[3]
should read over all that had gone before; and all the more since the intervals are long between one time of writing and the next.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 42

Natural science

Study of the graduations of light and


shade on a sphere.

Light

“ The lights which may illuminate opaque bodies are of 4 kinds. These are: diffused light as that of the atmosphere... And Direct, as that of the
sun... The third is Reflected light; and there is a 4th which is that which passes through [translucent] bodies, as linen or paper or the like. ”
[3]

For an artist working in the 15th century, some study of the nature of light was
essential. It was by the effective painting of light falling on a surface that
modelling, or a three dimensional appearance was to be achieved in a
two-dimensional medium. It was also well understood by artists like Leonardo's
teacher, Verrocchio, that an appearance of space and distance could be achieved
in a background landscape by painting in tones that were less in contrast and
colours that were less bright than in the foreground of the painting. The effects of
light on solids were achieved by trial and error, few artists except Piero della
Francesca, having accurate scientific knowledge of the subject.

At the time when Leonardo commenced painting, it was unusual for figures to be
painted with extreme contrast of light and shade. Faces, in particular, were
The Lady with an Ermine shadowed in a manner that was bland and maintained all the features and
contours clearly visible. Leonardo broke with this. In the painting generally titled
The Lady with an Ermine (about 1483) he sets the figure diagonally to the picture space and turns her head so that
her face is almost parallel to her nearer shoulder. The back of her head and the further shoulder are deeply shadowed.
Around the ovoid solid of her head and across her breast and hand the light is diffused in such a way that the distance
and position of the light in relation to the figure can be calculated.

Leonardo's treatment of light in paintings such as The Virgin of the Rocks and the Mona Lisa was to change forever
the way in which artists perceived light and used it in their paintings. Of all Leonardo's scientific legacies, this is
probably the one that had the most immediate and noticeable effect.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 43

Human anatomy

“ ...to obtain a true and perfect knowledge [of the vascular system]... I have dissected more than ten human bodies, destroying all the other
members, and removing the very minutest particles of the flesh by which these veins are surrounded, ... and as one single body would not last
so long, since it was necessary to proceed with several bodies by degrees, until I came to an end and had a complete knowledge; this I

[3]
repeated twice, to learn the differences...

Topographic anatomy

Leonardo began the formal study of the topographical anatomy of the


human body when apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio. As a student
he would have been taught to draw the human body from life, to
memorise the muscles, tendons and visible subcutaneous structure and
to familiarise himself with the mechanics of the various parts of the
skeletal and muscular structure. It was common workshop practice to
have plaster casts of parts of the human anatomy available for students
to study and draw.
Study of the proportions of the head.

If, as is thought to be the case, Leonardo painted the torso and arms of Christ in
The Baptism of Christ on which he famously collaborated with his master
Verrocchio, then his understanding of topographical anatomy had surpassed that
of his master at an early age as can be seen by a comparison of the arms of Christ
with those of John the Baptist in the same painting.
In the 1490s he wrote about demonstrating muscles and sinews to students:

Two anatomical studies

“ Remember that to be certain of the point of origin of any muscle, you must pull the sinew from which the muscle springs in such a way as to
see that muscle move, and where it is attached to the ligaments of the bones.
[3]

His continued investigations in this field are demonstrated by many fine drawings in his journals. In conjunction
with studies of aspects of the body are drawings of faces displaying different emotions and many drawings of people
suffering facial deformity, either congenital or through illness. Some of these drawings, generally referred to as
"caricatures", on analysis of the skeletal proportions, appear to be based on anatomical studies.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 44

Dissection

As Leonardo became successful as an artist, he was given permission to dissect


human corpses at the hospital Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. Later he dissected
in Milan at the hospital Maggiore and in Rome at the hospital Santo Spirito (the
first mainland Italian hospital). From 1510 to 1511 he collaborated in his studies
with the doctor Marcantonio della Torre.

Dissection of the skull.

“ I have removed the skin from a man who was so shrunk by illness that the muscles were worn down and remained in a state like thin
membrane, in such a way that the sinews instead of merging in muscles ended in wide membrane; and where the bones were covered by the
skin they had very little over their natural size.
[3]

In 30 years, Leonardo dissected 30 male and female corpses of different ages. Together with Marcantonio, he
prepared to publish a theoretical work on anatomy and made more than 200 drawings. However, his book was
published only in 1680 (161 years after his death) under the heading Treatise on painting.
Among the detailed images that Leonardo drew are many studies of the human
skeleton. He was the first to describe the double S form of the backbone. He also
studied the inclination of pelvis and sacrum and stressed that sacrum was not
uniform, but composed of five fused vertebrae. He dissected and drew the human
skull and cross-sections of the brain, transversal, sagittal, and frontal.
Not only interested in structure but also in function, Leonardo was a physiologist
in addition to being an anatomist. He studied internal organs, being the first to
draw the human appendix and also drawing detailed images of the lungs,
mesentery, urinary tract, sex organs, the muscles of the cervix and a detailed
cross-section of coitus. Leonardo was one of the first to draw a scientific
The organs of a woman's body. representation of the fetus in the intrautero. He studied the vascular system and
drew a dissected heart in detail. He correctly worked out how heart valves ebb
the flow of blood yet he did not fully understand circulation as he believed that blood was pumped to the muscles
where it was consumed. Leonardo's drawing inspired a British heart surgeon to pioneer a new way to repair damaged
hearts in 2005.[4]

Leonardo's observational acumen, drawing skill, and the clarity of depiction of bone structures reveal him at his
finest as an anatomist. However, his depiction of the internal soft tissues of the body are incorrect in many ways,
showing that he maintained concepts of anatomy and functioning that were in some cases millennia old, and that his
investigations were probably hampered by the lack of preservation techniques available at the time. Leonardo's
detailed drawing of the internal organs of a woman (See left) reveal many traditional misconceptions.[5]
His study of human anatomy led also to the design of the first known robot in recorded history. The design, which
has come to be called Leonardo's robot, was probably made around the year 1495 but was rediscovered only in the
1950s. It is not known if an attempt was made to build the device.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 45

Comparative anatomy
Leonardo not only studied human anatomy, but the anatomy of many other
animals as well. He dissected cows, birds, monkeys and frogs, comparing in his
drawings their anatomical structure with that of humans. On one page of his
journal Leonardo drew five profile studies of a horse with its teeth bared in anger
and, for comparison, a snarling lion and a snarling man.

Comparison of the leg of a man and a


dog.

“ ”
I have found that in the composition of the human body as compared with the bodies of animals, the organs of sense are duller and coarser... I
have seen in the Lion tribe that the sense of smell is connected with part of the substance of the brain which comes down the nostrils, which
form a spacious receptacle for the sense of smell, which enters by a great number of cartilaginous vesicles with several passages leading up to
[3]
where the brain, as before said, comes down.

In the early 1490s Leonardo was commissioned to create a monument in honour of Francesco Sforza. In his
notebooks are a series of plans for an equestrian monument. There are also a large number of related anatomical
studies of horses. They include several diagrams of a standing horse with the angles and proportions annotated,
anatomical studies of horses' heads, a dozen detailed drawings of hooves and numerous studies and sketches of
horses rearing.
He studied the topographical anatomy of a bear in detail, making many drawings of its paws. There is also a drawing
of the muscles and tendons of the bear's hind feet. Other drawings of particular interest include the uterus of a
pregnant cow, the hindquarters of a decrepit mule and studies of the musculature of a little dog.

Botany

[3]

“ All the branches of a tree at every stage of its height when put together are equal in thickness to the trunk [below them].

The science of Botany was long established by Leonardo's time, a treatise on the subject having been written as early
as 300 BCE.[6] Leonardo's study of plants, resulting in many beautiful drawings in his notebooks, was not to record
in diagramatic form the parts of the plant, but rather, as an artist and observer to record the precise appearance of
plants, the manner of growth and the way that individual plants and flowers of a single variety differed from one
another.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 46

One such study shows a page with several species of flower of which ten
drawings are of wild violets. Along with a drawing of the growing plant and a
detail of a leaf, Leonardo has repeatedly drawn single flowers from different
angles, with their heads set different on the stem.
Apart from flowers the notebooks contain many drawings of crop plants
including several types of grain and a variety of berries including a detailed study
of bramble. There are also water plants such as irises, bullrushes and sedge. His
notebooks also direct the artist to observe how light reflects from foliage at
different distances and under different atmospheric conditions.
A number of the drawings have their equivalents in Leonardo's painting. An
Study of sedge
elegant study of a stem of lilies may have been for one of Leonardo's early
Annunciation paintings, carried in the hand of the Archangel Gabriel. In both the
Annunciation pictures the grass is dotted with blossoming plants.
The plants which appear in both the versions of The Virgin of the Rocks demonstrate the results of Leonardo's
studies in a meticulous realism that makes each plant readily identifiable to the botanist.

Geology
As an adult, Leonardo had only two childhood memories, one of which was the
finding of a cave in the Apennines. Although fearing that he might be attacked
by a wild beast, he ventured in driven "by the burning desire to see whether there
might be any marvelous thing within."
Leonardo's earliest dated drawing is a study of the Arno Valley, strongly
emphasizing its geological features. His note books contain landscapes with a
wealth of geological observation from the regions of both Florence and Milan,
often including atmospheric effects such as a heavy rainstorm pouring down on a A topographical map.

town at the foot of a mountain range.

It had been observed for many years that strata in mountains often contained bands of sea shells. Conservative
science said that these could be explained by the Great Flood described in the Bible. Leonardo's observations
convinced him that this could not possibly be the case.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 47

The Virgin of the Rocks

“ And a little beyond the sandstone conglomerate, a tufa has been formed, where it turned towards Castel Florentino; farther on, the mud was
deposited in which the shells lived, and which rose in layers according to the levels at which the turbid Arno flowed into that sea. And from ”
time to time the bottom of the sea was raised, depositing these shells in layers, as may be seen in the cutting at Colle Gonzoli, laid open by the
Arno which is wearing away the base of it; in which cutting the said layers of shells are very plainly to be seen in clay of a bluish colour, and
[3]
various marine objects are found there.

This quotation makes clear the breadth of Leonardo's understanding of Geology, including the action of water in
creating sedimentary rock, the tectonic action of the earth in raising the sea bed and the action of erosion in the
creation of geographical features.
In Leonardo's earliest paintings we see the remarkable attention given to the small landscapes of the background,
with lakes and water, swathed in a misty light. In the larger of the Annunciation paintings is a town on the edge of a
lake. Although distant, the mountains can be seen to be scored by vertical strata. This characteristic can be observed
in other paintings by Leonardo, and closely resembles the mountains around Lago di Garda and Lago d'Iseo in
Northern Italy. It is a particular feature of both the paintings of The Virgin of the Rocks, which also include caverns
of fractured, tumbled and water eroded limestone.[7]
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 48

Hydrodynamics

Studies of water.

[3]

“ All the branches of a water [course] at every stage of its course, if they are of equal rapidity, are equal to the body of the main stream.

Among Leonardo's drawings are many that are studies of the motion of water, in particular the forms taken by
fast-flowing water on striking different surfaces.
Many of these drawings depict the spiralling nature of water. The spiral form had been studied in the art of the
Classical era and strict mathematical proportion had been applied to its use in art and architecture. An awareness of
these rules of proportion had been revived in the early Renaissance. In Leonardo's drawings can be seen the
investigation of the spiral as it occurs in water.
There are several elaborate drawings of water curling over an object placed at a diagonal to its course. There are
several drawings of water dropping from a height and curling upwards in spiral forms. One such drawing, as well as
curling waves, shows splashes and details of spray and bubbles.
Leonardo's interest manifested itself in the drawing of streams and rivers, the action of water in eroding rocks, and
the cataclysmic action of water in floods and tidal waves. The knowledge that he gained from his studies was
employed in devising a range of projects, particularly in relation to the Arno River. None of the major works was
brought to completion.
See below

Astronomy

“ The earth is not in the centre of the Sun’s orbit nor at the centre of the universe, but in the centre of its companion elements, and united with
them. And any one standing on the moon, when it and the sun are both beneath us, would see this our earth and the element of water upon it
just as we see the moon, and the earth would light it as it lights us.
[3]

Alchemy
Claims have sometimes been made that Leonardo da Vinci was an alchemist. However, his scientific process was
based mainly upon observation. His practical experiments are also founded in observation rather than belief.
Leonardo, who questioned the order of the solar system and the deposit of fossils by the Great Flood, had little time
for the notion that lead could be turned into gold or that a potion could be created that gave eternal life.
Leonardo said about alchemists:-
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 49

“ The false interpreters of nature declare that quicksilver is the common seed of every metal, not remembering that nature varies the seed
according to the variety of the things she desires to produce in the world.
[3] [8]

[3]

“ And many have made a trade of delusions and false miracles, deceiving the stupid multitude.

However, he also believed that the alchemists "deserve unmeasured praise for the usefulness of things invented for
the use of men."[9] He sometimes attacked alchemists and sometimes praised them, and his mentor Andrea del
Verrocchio was a student of alchemy.[9] [10]

Mathematical studies

Perspective

[3]

“ The art of perspective is of such a nature as to make what is flat appear in relief and what is in relief flat.

During the early 15th century, both Brunelleschi and Alberti made studies of linear perspective. In 1436 Alberti
published "della Pittura" ("On Painting"), which includes his findings on linear perspective. Piero della Francesca
carried his work forward and by the 1470s a number of artists were able to produce works of art that demonstrated a
full understanding of the principles of linear perspective.
Leonardo studied linear perspective and
employed it in his earlier paintings. His use of
perspective in the two Annunciations is daring,
as he uses various features such as the corner of
a building, a walled garden and a path to contrast
enclosure and spaciousness.

The unfinished Adoration of the Magi was


intended to be a masterpiece revealing much of
Leonardo's knowledge of figure drawing and
perspective. There exists a number of studies Draft of the perspective of the Adoration of the Magi.
that he made, including a detailed study of the
perspective, showing the complex background of ruined Classical buildings that he planned for the left of the picture.
In addition, Leonardo is credited with the first use of anamorphosis, the use of a "perspective" to produce an image
that is intelligible only with a curved mirror or from a specific vantage point.[11]

Leonardo wrote:

“ Those who are in love with practice without knowledge are like the sailor who gets into a ship without rudder or compass and who never can
be certain whether he is going. Practice must always be founded on sound theory, and to this Perspective is the guide and the gateway; and
without this nothing can be done well in the matter of drawing.
[3]

Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 50

Geometry
While in Milan in 1496 Leonardo met a traveling monk and academic, Luca Pacioli.
Under him, Leonardo studied mathematics. Pacioli, who first codified and recorded
the double entry system of bookkeeping,[12] had already published a major treatise
on mathematical knowledge, collaborated with Leonardo in the production of a book
called "De divina proportione" about mathematical and artistic proportion. Leonardo
prepared a series of drawings of regular solids in a skeletal form to be engraved as
plates. "De divina proportione" was published in 1509.
The rhombicuboctahedron, as
published in De divina
proportione.

“ and the solid. The point is unique of its kind. And the point has neither height, breadth, length, nor depth, whence it is to be regarded as
indivisible and as having no dimensions in space.
[3]

All the problems of perspective are made clear by the five terms of mathematicians, which are:—the point, the line, the angle, the superficies

Engineering and invention


Vasari in Lives of the Artists says of Leonardo:


He made designs for mills, fulling machines and engines that could be driven by water-power... In addition he used to make models and plans
showing how to excavate and tunnel through mountains without difficulty, so as to pass from one level to another; and he demonstrated how
to lift and draw great weights by means of levers, hoists and winches, and ways of cleansing harbours and using pumps to suck up water from

great depths.

See:fulling

Practical inventions and projects


Leonardo was a master of mechanical principles. He utilized leverage and
cantilevering, pulleys, cranks, gears, including angle gears and rack and pinion
gears; parallel linkage, momentum, centripetal force and the aerofoil.
Because Leonardo's inventions date from an era before the issue of patents, it is
impossible to say with any certainty how many or even which of his inventions
passed into general and practical use, and thereby had impact over the lives of
many people. Among those inventions that are credited with passing into general
practical use are the strut bridge, the automated bobbin winder, the machine for
testing the tensile strength of wire and the lens-grinding machine pictured at right.

In the lens-grinding machine, the hand rotation of the grinding wheel operates an
angle-gear, which rotates a shaft, turning a geared dish in which sits the glass or
crystal to be ground. A single action rotates both surfaces at a fixed speed ratio A machine for grinding convex
determined by the gear. lenses.

As an inventor, Leonardo was not prepared to tell all that he knew:


Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 51

“ How by means of a certain machine many people may stay some time under water. How and why I do not describe my method of remaining
under water, or how long I can stay without eating; and I do not publish nor divulge these by reason of the evil nature of men who would use
them as means of destruction at the bottom of the sea, by sending ships to the bottom, and sinking them together with the men in them. And

although I will impart others, there is no danger in them; because the mouth of the tube, by which you breathe, is above the water supported on
[3]
bags of corks.

Bridges and hydraulics


Leonardo's study of the motion of water led him to design machinery
that utilised its force. Much of his work on hydraulics was for
Ludovico il Moro. Leonardo wrote to Ludovico describing his skills
and what he could build:

Various hydraulic machines.


... very light and strong bridges that can easily be carried, with which to pursue, and sometimes flee from, the enemy; and others safe and
indestructible by fire or assault, easy and convenient to transport and place into position.

Among his projects in Florence was one to divert the course of the Arno, in order to flood Pisa. Fortunately, this was
too costly to be carried out. He also surveyed Venice and came up with a plan to create a movable dyke for the city's
protection against invaders.
In 1502, Leonardo produced a drawing of a single span 240 m (720 ft) bridge as part of a civil engineering project
for Ottoman Sultan Beyazid II of Istanbul. The bridge was intended to span an inlet at the mouth of the Bosphorus
known as the Golden Horn. Beyazid did not pursue the project, because he believed that such a construction was
impossible. Leonardo's vision was resurrected in 2001 when a smaller bridge based on his design was constructed in
Norway. On 17 May 2006, the Turkish government decided to construct Leonardo's bridge to span the Golden
Horn.[13]
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 52

War machines
Leonardo's letter to Ludovico il Moro assured him:

An Arsenal.


When a place is besieged I know how to cut off water from the trenches and construct an infinite variety of bridges, mantlets and scaling


ladders, and other instruments pertaining to sieges. I also have types of mortars that are very convenient and easy to transport.... when a place
cannot be reduced by the method of bombardment either because of its height or its location, I have methods for destroying any fortress or
other stronghold, even if it be founded upon rock. ....If the engagement be at sea, I have many engines of a kind most efficient for offense and
defense, and ships that can resist cannons and powder.

In Leonardo's notebooks there is an array of war machines which includes a tank to be propelled by two men
powering crank shafts. Although the drawing itself looks quite finished, the mechanics were apparently not fully
developed because, if built as drawn, the tank, with a lot of effort, might be made to rotate on the spot, but would
never progress in a forward direction. In a BBC documentary, a military team built the machine and changed one of
the gears in order to make the machine work. It has been suggested that Leonardo deliberately left this error in the
design, in order to prevent it from being put to practice by unauthorized people.[14] Another machine, propelled by
horses with a pillion rider, carries in front of it four scythes mounted on a revolving gear, turned by a shaft driven by
the wheels of a cart behind the horses.
Leonardo's notebooks also show cannons which he claimed "to
hurl small stones like a storm with the smoke of these causing
great terror to the enemy, and great loss and confusion." He also
designed an enormous crossbow. Following his detailed drawing,
one was constructed by the British Army, but could not be made to
fire successfully. Leonardo was the first to sketch the wheel-lock
musket c. 1500 AD (the precedent of the flintlock musket which
first appeared in Europe by 1547), although as early as the 14th
Leonardo's Tank.
century the Chinese century had used a flintlock 'steel wheel' in
order to detonate land mines.[15]

While Leonardo was working in Venice, he drew a sketch for an early diving suit, to be used in the destruction of
enemy ships entering Venetian waters. A suit was constructed for a BBC documentary using pigskin treated with
fish oil to repel water. The head was covered by a helmet with two eye glasses at the front. A breathing tube of
bamboo with pigskin joints was attached to the back of the helmet and connected to a float of cork and wood. When
the scuba divers tested the suit, they found it to be a workable precursor to a modern diving suit, the cork float acting
as a compressed air chamber when submerged.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 53

Flight
In Leonardo's infancy a hawk had once hovered over his cradle. Recalling this incident,
Leonardo saw it as prophetic.

The flight of a bird.

“ An object offers as much resistance to the air as the air does to the object. You may see that the beating of its wings against the air supports a
heavy eagle in the highest and rarest atmosphere, close to the sphere of elemental fire. Again you may see the air in motion over the sea, fill
the swelling sails and drive heavily laden ships. From these instances, and the reasons given, a man with wings large enough and duly

[3]
connected might learn to overcome the resistance of the air, and by conquering it, succeed in subjugating it and rising above it.

The desire to fly is expressed in the many studies and


drawings. His later journals contain a detailed study of
the flight of birds and several different designs for
wings based in structure upon those of bats which he
described as being less heavy because of the
impenetrable nature of the membrane. There is a legend
that Leonardo tested the flying machine with one of his
apprentices, and that the apprentice fell and broke his
leg.[16] Experts Martin Kemp and Liana Bortolon agree
that there is no evidence of such a test, which
mentioned in his journals.

Design for a flying machine with wings based closely upon the One design that he produced shows a helicopter to be
structure of a bat's wings.
lifted by a rotor powered by four men. It would not
have worked since the body of the craft itself would
have rotated in the opposite direction to the rotor.[17]
While he designed a number of man powered flying machines with mechanical wings that flapped, he also designed
a parachute and a light hang glider which could have flown.[18]

Musical Instrument
The viola organista was an experimental musical instrument invented by → Leonardo da Vinci. It was the first
bowed keyboard instrument (of which any record has survived) ever to be devised.
Leonardo's original idea, as preserved in his notebooks of 1488–1489 and in the drawings in the Codex Atlanticus,
was to use one or more wheels, continuously rotating, each of which pulled a looping bow, rather like a fanbelt in an
automobile engine, and perpendicular to the instrument's strings.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 54

Leonardo's inventions made reality


In the late 20th century, interest in Leonardo's
inventions escalated. There have been many projects
which have sought to turn diagrams on paper into
working models. One of the factors is the awareness
that, although in the 15th and 16th centuries Leonardo
had available a limited range of materials, modern
technological advancements have made available a
number of robust materials of light-weight which might
turn Leonardo's dreams into reality. This is particularly
the case with his designs for flying machines.
A difficulty encountered in the creation of models is
that often Leonardo had not entirely thought through
the mechanics of a machine before he drew it, or else
he used a sort of graphic shorthand, simply not Model of a flying machine by Leonardo in the V&A museum.
bothering to draw a gear or a lever at a point where one
is absolutely essential in order to make a machine function. This lack of refinement of mechanical details can cause
considerable confusion. Thus many models that are created, such as some of those on display at Clos Luce,
Leonardo's home in France, do not work, but would work, with a little mechanical tweaking.

Exhibitions
• Models of Leonardo's designs are on permanent display at Clos Luce.
• The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, held an exhibition called "Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment
and Design" in 2006
• logitech museum
• "The Da Vinci Machines Exhibition" was held in a pavilion in the Cultural Forecourt, at South Bank, Brisbane,
Queensland, Australia in 2009. The exhibits shown were on loan from the Museum of Leonardo da Vinci in
Florence, Italy.

Television programs
• The U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), aired in October 2005, a television programme called Leonardo's
Dream Machines, about the building and successful flight of a glider based on Leonardo's design.
• The Discovery Channel began a series called Doing DaVinci in April 2009, in which a team of builders try to
construct various da Vinci inventions based on his designs.[19]

Leonardo's projects
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 55

A helicopter

A parabolic compass. Cannons.


Walking on water.

Models based on Leonardo's drawings

Model of a bridge.

Model of a tank by Leonardo

Model of a flywheel

Model of Leonardo's parachute.

See also
• → Leonardo da Vinci
• Luca Pacioli
• → Leonardo da Vinci's personal life
• → Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci

Reading
Moon, Francis C. (2007). The Machines of Leonardo Da Vinci and Franz Reuleaux, Kinematics of Machines from
the Renaissance to the 20th Century. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4020-5598-0.
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci 56

External links
• Complete text & images of Richter's translation of the Notebooks [88]
• Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design (review) [85]
• Some digitized notebook pages with explanations [20] from the British Library (Macromedia Shockwave format)
• Digital and animated compendium of anatomy notebook pages [21]
• BBC Leonardo homepage [22]
• Leonardo da Vinci: The Leicester Codex [23]
• Leonardo's Letter to Ludovico Sforza [24]
• Animations of anamorphosis of Leonardo and other artists [25]
• The Invention of the Parachute [26]
• [27]geological analysis of paintings by Ann C Pizzorusso

References
[1] Topographical anatomy is the anatomy that is visible on the surface of the body.
[2] Liana Bortolon, The Life and Times of Leonardo, Paul Hamlyn, 1967
[3] Jean Paul Richter editor 1880, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci Dover, 1970, ISBN 0-486-22572-0. (http:/ / www. fromoldbooks. org/
Richter-NotebooksOfLeonardo) (accessed 2007-02-04)
[4] Da Vinci clue for heart surgeon, BBC News (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ health/ 4289204. stm)
[5] Martin Kemp, Leonardo, Oxford University Press, (2004) ISBN 0192806440
[6] eg. 'Theophrastus, On the History of Plants.
[7] The London painting of the Virgin of the Rocks is denounced by the geologist Ann C. Pizzorusso, (http:/ / www. leonardosgeology. com) of
New York, as largely by the hand of someone other than Leonardo, because the rocks appear incongruous and the lake looks like a fjord.
Pizzorusso says "Fjords do not exist in Italy and it is highly unlikely the glacial lakes of the Lombard region would have such steep relief
surrounding them." In fact, the glacial lake, Garda, has just such steep geological formations. The sedimentary red limestone which appears in
the picture is also typical of Italy.
[8] "Quicksilver" is an old name for mercury.
[9] (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=lzodpIzjf0QC& pg=PA124& lpg=PA124& dq=leonardo+ da+ vinci+ alchemy& source=bl&
ots=lgta8SL_b9& sig=vWeoekMzIaKXMKVpSLqINYLPFZ8& hl=en& ei=9u5WSsLWOoH2sQPpi5n0AQ& sa=X& oi=book_result&
ct=result& resnum=1)
[10] (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=NsOfQthMbKYC& pg=PA37& lpg=PA37& dq=andrea+ del+ verrocchio+ alchemy& source=bl&
ots=7poAtWwwVF& sig=QBzKFCP8jH461Txa_zewbLaHtvw& hl=en& ei=OWFXSvWRLsu0lAfdu6njBA& sa=X& oi=book_result&
ct=result& resnum=1)
[11] Animations of anamorphosis of Leonardo and other artists (http:/ / www. illusionworks. com/ mod/ anamorph. htm#)
[12] L. Murphy Smith, Luca Pacioli: The Father of Accounting (http:/ / acct. tamu. edu/ smith/ ethics/ pacioli. htm), (2008), accessed 27 June
2009
[13] Daniel S. Levy, Dream of the Master (http:/ / www. vebjorn-sand. com/ dreamsofthemaster. html), Time Life, 4 October 1999
[14] Da Vinci war machines "designed to fail" - theage.com.au (http:/ / www. theage. com. au/ articles/ 2002/ 12/ 13/ 1039656218782. html)
[15] Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 199.
[16] Liana Bortolon, Leonardo, Paul Hamlyn, (1967)
[17] see Helicopter for detailed description of solutions and types of functional helicopter.
[18] U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Leonardo's Dream Machine, October 2005
[19] About Doing DaVinci : Doing DaVinci : Discovery Channel (http:/ / dsc. discovery. com/ tv/ doing-davinci/ about/ about. html)
[20] http:/ / www. bl. uk/ onlinegallery/ ttp/ ttpbooks. html
[21] http:/ / leonardodavinci. stanford. edu/ projects/ anatomy/ index. html
[22] http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ science/ leonardo
[23] http:/ / www. odranoel. de/ index. php?lang=eng& menu=start& area=0& page=0
[24] http:/ / www. leonardo-history. com/ life. htm?Section=S5
[25] http:/ / www. illusionworks. com/ mod/ anamorph. htm#
[26] http:/ / www. juliantrubin. com/ bigten/ davinciparachute. html
[27] http:/ / www. leonardosgeology. com
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 57

Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci


Leonardo da Vinci

Raphael's depiction of Plato is his famous fresco "The School of Athens" in the Vatican is believed to be an image of Leonardo da
Vinci.
Birth name Lionardo di Ser Piero da Vinci

Born April 15, 1452 Anchiano, Province of Florence, in modern-day


Italy

Died May 2, 1519


Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, in modern-day France

Nationality Italian

Field Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences

Movement High Renaissance

Works Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man

→ Leonardo da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian Renaissance painter and polymath who
achieved legendary fame and iconic status within his own lifetime. His renown primarily rests upon his brilliant
achievements as a painter, the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, being two of the most famous artworks ever created,
but also upon his diverse skills as a scientist and inventor. He became so highly valued during his lifetime that the
King of France bore him home like a trophy of war, supported him in his old age and, according to legend, cradled
his head as he died.
Leonardo's portrait was used, within his own lifetime, as the iconic image of Plato in Raphael's School of Athens.
His biography was written in superlative terms by Vasari. He has been repeatedly acclaimed the greatest genius to
have lived. His painting of the Mona Lisa has been the most imitated artwork of all time and his drawing of the
Vitruvian Man iconically represents the fusion of Art and Science.
Leonardo's biography has appeared in many forms, both scholarly and fictionalised. Every known aspect of his life
has been scrutinised and analysed. His paintings, drawings and notebooks have been studied, reproduced and
analysed for five centuries. The interest in and appreciation of the character of Leonardo and his talents has never
waned.
Leonardo has appeared in many fictional works, such as novels, television shows and movies, the first such fiction
dating from the 16th century. Various characters have been named after him.
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 58

In art

Self portrait
The well-known portrait that is generally accepted as being of Leonardo da Vinci is certainly by his hand, but is not
universally accepted as a self-portrait because the apparent age of the man depicted appears to be older than
Leonardo achieved. It has been suggested that it is Leonardo's portrait of his father or grandfather. On the other hand,
an explanation that has been put forward to explain the apparent advanced age of the individual is that Leonardo
deliberately drew himself as older than he really was, in order that Raphael might use it as the basis for his depiction
of Leonardo as Plato in the School of Athens.
The drawing has been the basis for other representations of Leonardo.

Death of Leonardo
The story of Leonardo dying in the arms of the
French king Francis I, although apochryphal[1] ,
appealed to French history painters of the 18th and
19th centuries.

Ménageot's version

Ménageot painted The Death of Leonardo da Vinci


in the arms of Francis I in 1781, setting it in a
background of classical statuary. This included a
portrayal of the Borghese Gladiator (Ménageot
probably having seen it at the Villa Borghese
during his stay at the French Academy in Rome Ménageot's The Death of Leonardo da Vinci
from 1769 to 1774), although this was an
anachronism since Leonardo died in 1519, about ninety years before the statue was discovered.

Ingres' version

In 1818 the French painter Jean Auguste


Dominique Ingres depicted the scene of
Leonardo's death which is shown taking
place in the home "Clos Luce" provided for
him at Blois by King Francis I. The King is
shown supporting Leonardo's head as he
dies, as described by Vasari, watched by the
Dauphin who is comforted by a cardinal. A
distraught young man may represent
Leonardo's pupil Melzi.

The treatment of this subject by Ingres is


indicative of Leonardo's iconic status and
also specifically that he was of particular
The Death of Leonardo by Ingres, 1818.
significance to the school of French
Classicism. A number of his paintings had

passed into the Royal collection and certain elements of them were much imitated. Leonado's manner of soft shading
known as "sfumato" was particularly adapted by Ingres, Jacques Louis David and their followers. An influential
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 59

painting was Leda and the swan, now regarded as by a pupil of Leonardo but then generally accepted as the master's
work.

Biography and appraisal

In fiction

Novels and short stories


• The Second Mrs. Giaconda (1981) by E. L. Konigsburg is a story about why Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.
• Theodore Mathieson's short story Leonardo Da Vinci: Detective portrays him using his genius to solve a murder
during his time in France.
• The novel Pasquale's Angel by Paul J. McAuley, set in an alternate universe Florence, portrays Leonardo as "the
Great Engineer", creating a premature industrial revolution (see clockpunk).
• The novel The Memory Cathedral by Jack Dann is a fictional account of a "lost year" in the life of Leonardo.
Dann has his genius protagonist actually create his flying machine.
• The novel Pilgrim by Timothy Findley describes the encounters of an immortal named Pilgrim with Leonardo da
Vinci among others, as told to Carl Jung.
• Terry Pratchett's character Leonard of Quirm is a pastiche of Leonardo.
• Three novels by Martin Woodhouse and Robert Ross feature the adventures of Leonardo da Vinci in the guise of
a James Bond-type spy of the Italian Renaissance: The Medici Guns (1974); The Medici Emerald and The Medici
Hawks.
• The Secret Supper (2006) by Javier Sierra explores the symbology of Leonardo's Last Supper, and its threat to the
Catholic Church, as he is painting the fresco in 15th century Milan.
• Black Madonna (1996) by Carl Sargent and Marc Gascoigne, is set in the Shadowrun game universe and portrays
Leonardo as still living in the 21st century, blackmailing corporations to finance his inventions.
• The Medici Seal, a children's novel by Theresa Breslin (2006).
• In the Children of the Red King series, a Donatella Di Vinci married a Bertram Babbington-Bloor. Donatella was
the daughter of an Italian magician. No connection between Leonardo and Donatella has been stated since.
• In Robert Heinlen's The Door Into Summer, Dr. Twitchell recounts a tale of a student whom he displaced in time
by 500 years. While there was no way of knowing whether the student went to the past or the future, Dr.
Twitchell hints that he believes it was the past due to the student's name—Leonard Vincent.

The Da Vinci Code


This work of fiction has been the centre of controversy over the accuracy of its depictions of Christianity and of
Leonardo.
A bestselling 2003 novel by Dan Brown, adapted and released as a major motion picture in 2006, The Da Vinci Code
revolves around a conspiracy based on elements of Leonardo's Last Supper and other works. A preface to the novel
claims that depictions of artworks, secret societies and rites described within the novel are factual. For this reason
much of the content of the novel has been widely accepted by readers as authoritative. Because the theme involves a
conspiracy within the Church over the life of Jesus and the suggestion that the Church has hidden the facts of his
marriage, there has been a strong reaction against the novel and much material published examining and refuting its
claims.
Within the novel it is claimed that from 1510-1519, Leonardo was the Grand Master of a secret society, the Priory of
Sion. In reality this society existed only as a 20th century hoax, but author Dan Brown used as a source the 1982
pseudohistory book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. The writers of this book had based their research on forged
medieval documents that had been created as part of the Priory of Sion fraud. The mix of fact and fiction in the
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 60

documents made it difficult to discount immediately as a forgery. For example, it was claimed that the Grand Master
prior to Leonardo was Botticelli, who had indeed had an association with Leonardo, as they were both students at the
Florence workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio.
The Priory of Sion story and the veracity of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail was eventually debunked, and many
of those involved publicly recanted, although Dan Brown continued to assert that the facts as presented were true.
In portraying the Priory of Sion as "fact" The Da Vinci Code expanded on the claims in The Holy Blood and the Holy
Grail:
• That there were additional secrets hidden in Leonardo's paintings, such as an "M" letter in the painting of The
Last Supper, indicating the presence of Mary Magdalene and that the figure to the left of Jesus traditionally said
to represent John the Evangelist actually represents Mary Magdalene.
• That Leonardo's painting The Mona Lisa was actually a self-portrait.
• That among the differences in the two versions of the painting of the Virgin of the Rocks which hang in the
Louvre and London's National Gallery, is the fact that in the Louvre painting the baby to the left of the picture
depicts Jesus, and to the right John the Baptist, rather than the accepted view, which is the other way round.
• That Leonardo invented a cryptex for carrying secret messages.
The book also used a variation of Leonardo's backwards handwriting to hide a secret message on the American
bookjacket.
Among the many criticisms of Brown's writing is that he uses the name da Vinci (meaning "from Vinci") in the
manner that surnames are commonly used nowadays. Leonardo would never have been referred to simply as da
Vinci in his lifetime. Such designations were appended to common baptismal names in order to identify individuals.

Movies
Movies that are about the life of Leonardo or in which he appears as a character:
• The Life of Leonardo da Vinci (1971) starring Philippe Leroy as Leonardo da Vinci.
• Nothing Left to Do But Cry (1984) starring the academy award winner Roberto Benigni and the academy award
nominated Massimo Troisi
• Quest of the Delta Knights (1993) depicting a fictional version of the young Leonardo
• Leonardo Da Vinci [2] at the Internet Movie Database (1996) - Animated movie
• Ever After (1998) starring Drew Barrymore and Patrick Godfrey as Leonardo da Vinci
• Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry [3] at the Internet Movie Database (2000) starring Mattia Sbragia as Leonardo
da Vinci
Movies which refer to Leonardo's works or inventions:
• Hudson Hawk (1991) starring Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello revolves around Leonardo da Vinci's inventions
• The Da Vinci Code (2006) starring Tom Hanks
• The Da Vinci Treasure (2006) depicts Da Vinci's paintings as clues that lead to enlightenment
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 61

Theatre
• Peter Barnes's 1969 play Leonardo's Last Supper centres on Leonardo being "resurrected" in a filthy charnel
house after being prematurely declared dead.
• David Davalos's 2002 play Daedalus tells a fantasized story of Leonardo's time as a military engineer in the
service of Cesare Borgia.

Music
• Author Charles Anthony Silvestri and composer Eric Whitacre collaborated to create an "opera bréve" based on
text from da Vinci's journals and original text by Silvestri. This piece, Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine,
was modeled after da Vinci's conceptual flying machine. This piece was written on commission by the American
Choral Directors Association as the second piece in Whitacre's series of "Element Works," the first being
Cloudburst, written in 1992.

Television fiction
• In the anime OVA: 'Mask of Zeguy' Leonardo da Vinci was one of the antagonists who sought out the Crown of
Shamus in order to prevent Himiko from using her powers to open the Gate of Winds, because his inventions (i.e.
dangerous weapons) will become useless.
• In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! live-action segment "The Painting", the Mario Bros. find a painting which
happens to be Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper". They call up Howard Stevens (played by the
show's producer Andy Heyward), and he explains that it's the "second Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci
"Rooney". However, upon further examination, they discover that the painting is actually worthless because it
was painted by an impostor, Leonard da Vinci "Mahoney". Howard was able to identify it as Mahoney's painting
because one of the people in the painting is Mahoney's uncle, Roy Orbisoni Mahoney. The information dealing
with da Vinci in this episode is incorrect.
• In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Requiem for Methuselah", Leonardo da Vinci is revealed to be one
of many aliases to "Flint", an immortal man born in the year 3834 BC. Leonardo's abilities and knowledge are
thus attributed to centuries of scientific and artistic study. Leonardo appears again in the Star Trek universe, in the
series Star Trek: Voyager, where his workshop is created as a holographic simulation. Actor James Daly played
Flint/Leonardo in Star Trek: The Original Series, while John Rhys-Davies portrayed Leonardo in Star Trek:
Voyager. Also, in the S.C.E. (Starfleet Corps of Engineers) novellas, the main starship of the series is called the
U.S.S. da Vinci (NCC-81623), a Sabre-class vessel, named for the artist.
• The 1979 Doctor Who story City of Death features a theft of the Mona Lisa. The Doctor goes back in time to visit
Leonardo's workshop and claims to be an old acquaintance of the artist. Leonardo also appears as a character in
several Doctor Who novels.
• The cartoon The Tick features Leonardo in "Leonardo DaVinci and his Fightin' Genius Time Commandos!"
(Season 2, Episode 17, 1995) in which a number of famous inventors are brought to the present by an inventor
seeking to take credit for their work. (Other inventors include Ben Franklin, George Washington Carver, and the
neolithic inventor of the wheel, named Wheel.) Leonardo is portrayed as being able to create fantastic flying
devices out of rudimentary objects.
• The television show Alias features a character Milo Giacomo Rambaldi, a fictional character clearly based on
Leonardo.
• In the animated television series Dilbert episode "Art" has Leonardo as the secret ruler of the art world. He
reveals that he discovered immortality centuries ago through the invention of the fountain of youth.
• An episode of Histeria! focusing on the Renaissance featured a cartoon caricature of Leonardo as a host. Over the
course of the episode, he is criticized by World's Oldest Woman for wearing a dress, and also parodies the 1960s
Batman series as Renaissance Man, with Loud Kiddington as his sidekick.
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 62

• Featured on the History Channel's Man, Moment, Machine.


• On the American sitcom Seinfeld. Kramer attempts to sleep for 20 minutes every hour. A polyphasic sleep pattern
he claims is the way da Vinci slept during his lifetime.

Comics and Graphic Novels


• The comic strip, cartoon and movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle character Leonardo is named after Leonardo da
Vinci, by the comic's creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird who had studied art history.[4]
• The DC Comics Elseworlds story "Black Masterpiece", in Batman Annual #18, shows Leonardo's apprentice
becoming a Renaissance Batman, using the Master's devices in his war on Florentine crime.
• DC Comics's Vertigo division published a ten-issue miniseries about Leonardo and his apprentice Salai, entitled
Chiaroscuro: The Private Life of Leonardo da Vinci.
• In the mainstream DC Universe, according to Secret Origins #27, Leonardo is an ancestor of the famed
Freemason Cagliostro, as well as Zatara and Zatanna who are both magicians (in the Magic (illusion) and Magic
(paranormal) senses) and Superheroes. Also, in Final Night #2, it was revealed that Vandal Savage had
blackmailed Leonardo into painting the Mona Lisa.
• The Dargaud cartoon character Léonard by Turk and De Groot.
• Général Leonardo, a French-language graphic novel by Erik Svane [5] and Dan Greenberg [6] in two Paquet [7]
volumes (so far), In the Service of the Vatican [8] and Crusade To the Holy Land [9].
• The Daily Mirror comic strip character Garth saved Leonardo from the Black Death in the 1972 strip Orb of the
Trimandias, written by Jim Edgar and illustrated by Frank Bellamy.
• A Mickey Mouse comic book from 1986 includes a story titled The Return Of Limonardo where Huey, Dewey
and Louie meet Limonardo da Vimsi, based on Leonardo.[10]
• In 1979, the French weekly Journal de Mickey published a Mickey Mouse adventure based in Renaissance
Florence. Goofy is Leonardo, and Mickey gets him to paint the portrait of Mona Lisa, who is represented by
Clarabelle Cow.

Computer and video games


• The Secrets of Da Vinci: the Forbidden Manuscript – the first game about the life and work of Leonardo da
Vinci.[11]
• In Rise of Legends (2006), the Vinci faction uses steampunk technology inspired by Leonardo.
• In Soul Calibur Legends there is a character that bears a striking resemblance to Leonardo, and even has the same
Name .
• In Elite Beat Agents, one mission has the agents go back in time to help Leonardo paint the Mona Lisa. He is only
ever referred to as "Leo" or "Leonard".
• A young Leonardo appears in Assassin's Creed II; where he is depicted as an ally of the protagonist, Ezio
Auditore da Firenze, and assists him by deciphering coded documents and building various devices, as well as
providing an actual working flying machine as a means of gaining entry to a well-guarded fortress in order to
carry out an assassination.
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 63

Role-playing games
In Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, there is an equivalent to Leonardo named Leonardo de Miragliano.

Depictions of Leonardo's works

Pupils and followers


Leonardo's pupils and followers copied or
closely imitated many of his pictures.
Several of his important works exist only as
copies by his admirers. These include:
• His cartoon of The Virgin and Child with
St Anne and St John the Baptist copied as
an oil painting by Bernardo Luini.
• The Battle of Anghiari was copied
several times by unknown Florentine
artists as well by Peter Paul Rubens.
• Leda and the Swan exists only as copies
in the Louvre and Villa Borhgese.
Peter Paul Rubens' copy of the lost "Battle of Anghiari"
Other much much-copied works include:
• Mona Lisa for which Angela della Chiesa cites 14 examples of which 6 are bare-breasted. These include paintings
by Luini, Salai and Joos van Cleeve.
• John the Baptist for which there exist at least 5 versions by other hands including Salai.

Imitators and satirists


No painting has been more imitated and satirised than the Mona Lisa. Beginning possibly with a naked portrait of
Diane de Poitiers by Clouet, the pose and expression have been freely adapted to many female portraits.

Re-creation of lost works


"Il Gran Cavallo". This monumental bronze horse, 7 metres (24 feet) high, is a conjectural re-creation of a clay horse
that was created in Milan by Leonardo da Vinci for the Duke Ludovico il Moro and was intended to be cast in
bronze. Leonardo never finished the project because of war with France, and the clay horse was ruined. This
representation was based on a number of Leonardo's preparatory drawings. It was created in 1999 in New York and
given to the city of Milan.
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 64

Presentation of existing works


The Last Supper is to be the subject of an animation by British film-maker, Peter Greenaway, who plans to project
interpretative images onto its surface to enliven the scene in which the apostles all question Jesus' statement that one
of them will betray him.[12]

Products and advertising


• Mona Lisa postage stamp, Germany.

Galleries

Representations of Leonardo

Statue by Pietro Magni in piazza


della Scala, Milan.
Engraving from "The Swedish
Family Journal", 1864-87, artist
Evald Hansen. An engraved representation of
Leonardo

The statue of Leonardo outside


the Uffizi, Florence

Representations of Leonardo's works

The Last Supper carved in salt in


the Wieliczka Salt Mine

Leonardo's drawing of the


Stamp from Germany celebrating
Vitruvian Man is used in many
the 500th birthday of Leonardo
contexts, including T-shirts.
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci 65

See also
• → Leonardo da Vinci
• Leonardo da Vinci - scientist and inventor
• → Leonardo da Vinci's personal life
• Leonard of Quirm

External links
• Leonardo da Vinci (Character) [13] at the Internet Movie Database
• LOGO by Leonardo da Vinci to download and print (poster, t-shirt) [14]

References
[1] King Francis cannot have been present because the day after Leonardo's death, a royal edict was issued by the King at
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a two day journey distant from Clos Luce.
[2] http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0956176/
[3] http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0213561/
[4] How it all Began! (http:/ / www. ninjaturtles. com/ comics/ origin. htm)
[5] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ auteur. php?id=185
[6] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ auteur. php?id=186
[7] http:/ / www. paquet. li/
[8] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ album. php?id=286
[9] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ album. php?id=344
[10] The Return Of Limonardo (http:/ / coa. inducks. org/ story. php?c=D+ + 8242)
[11] http:/ / www. trisynergy. com/ products/ title_davinci. shtml
[12] http:/ / arts. guardian. co. uk/ art/ news/ story/ 0,,2256943,00. html Robert Booth, Greenaway prepares to create Da Vinci coda, The
Guardian, 15 February 2008
[13] http:/ / www. imdb. com/ character/ ch0029220/
[14] http:/ / www. logospi. com/ davinci4. htm
Article Sources and Contributors 66

Article Sources and Contributors


Introduction  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=284274162  Contributors: RichardF

Leonardo da Vinci  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=327445793  Contributors: (jarbarf), -Marcus-, .anaconda, 041744, 129.128.164.xxx, 151.24.145.xxx, A-giau, A. di M.,
A455bcd9, AArz, ABShippee, AKGhetto, Abeg92, Acalamari, Across.The.Synapse, Adam Bishop, AdamDobay, Adambro, Adolphus79, Aeolian Angel, Aericanwizard, Ahoerstemeier,
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Arnfjörð Bjarmason, Александър, Саша Стефановић, రవిచంద్ర, 3010 anonymous edits
Article Sources and Contributors 67

Leonardo da Vinci's personal life  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=326706365  Contributors: Aaron Brenneman, Acroterion, Aleenf1, Amandajm, Apparition11, Ash,
Attilios, Avs5221, Belgiantowne, Blackcat52, Bobo192, Bongwarrior, Bouazizi, BuckwikiPDa535, CanadianLinuxUser, Canthusus, Celsiana, Cnilep, Cody moose, Cometstyles, Cplakidas,
Crotalus horridus, DeadEyeArrow, DerHexer, Docboat, Dr. Bobbie Fox, Engleham, Epbr123, Euchiasmus, ExplorerMMVIII, Fishwristwatch, Fram, Fuhrerswine, Gmchambless1, Gonzonoir,
Haiduc, Ham, Hu12, Ipigott, Isocephaly, J.R. Hercules, J.delanoy, J04n, JNW, JSpung, James086, Jamesooders, Jennifer Brooks, Jimi 66, Jmx, Jossi, Katharineamy, Kingpin13, Laseryery,
Lizziebabes90, Lovelac7, Lviatour, MG1968, Malendras, Maloseri, Melancholia i, Merlion444, Nandesuka, Nihil novi, NuclearWarfare, Oxymoron83, Per Honor et Gloria, Phantomsteve, PiCo,
Poliparis, Profdan, Puchiko, Remember, Risker, Rjwilmsi, Sceptre, SchfiftyThree, Schlier22, Scientizzle, Sdfsdfd, ShakataGaNai, Sin-man, Slakr, Stepshep, Stwalkerster, Tabletop, The Thing
That Should Not Be, TheTrojanHought, Tide rolls, TomKeating, VMS Mosaic, VegitaU, Virani89, Walton One, Wiki Roxor, Wikianon, Woohookitty, Zepher1003, Zythe, 180 anonymous edits

List of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=320474436  Contributors: Amandajm, CultureDrone, Ham, Johnbod, Kasper2006, Mattis,
Montrealais, Musamies, Overkill82, Papa November, Phil5329, PiCo, Postdlf, Rjwilmsi, 46 anonymous edits

Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=326720700  Contributors: Akuyume, Alansohn, Amandajm, Antandrus, As instructed,
Attilios, Auntof6, BD2412, Bassbonerocks, Bleh999, Bobo192, Capricorn42, Caricaturechild, Cbdorsett, Cimon Avaro, Closedmouth, CommonsDelinker, Conti, Crei0, Crowsnest, Ctjf83, Cuma,
Davehi1, DerHexer, Dl2000, Doniago, Elockid, Engineering1, Env laser, Epbr123, Euchiasmus, Faradayplank, Felyza, Figaro, Flyguy649, Fortinbras, Fram, Gaius Cornelius, Gerbrant, Glenn W,
Golbez, Goodnightmush, Hannah vernon, Igoldste, Iridescent, Ixfd64, J.delanoy, Jeepday, Jeodesic, Juliancolton, Jushi, KaiserMonkey, Kasper2006, Kicka, Kingpin13, KnowledgeOfSelf,
Laaa200, Lights, Lviatour, MBisanz, Mausy5043, Michael Daly, Mild Bill Hiccup, Montgomery '39, Netkinetic, Nielspeterqm, ObfuscatePenguin, OlEnglish, Omcnew, Outriggr,
PericlesofAthens, Polenth, Polimerek, Quentonamos, RSStockdale, Rbakker99, Remember, Rich Farmbrough, Rick Block, Roastytoast, Rocket000, Rosemaryamey, Rubioblanca, Scott McNay,
Shield2, Shlishke, SnoozingInTheLemonGrove, Somedude101, SpaceFlight89, Speed8ump, Spencer, Staffwaterboy, Ste1n, Stepshep, Teh roflmaoer, The Evil Spartan, The Thing That Should
Not Be, Thefixed, Tide rolls, Titanium Dragon, Trevor MacInnis, Vary, WJBscribe, Ynhockey, Zoeb, 237 anonymous edits

Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=327357203  Contributors: A Nobody, Altenmann, Amandajm, Amazins490, Ande B.,
Andrewrox424, Asteriks, Attilios, Azazell0, BD2412, Bobet, Bobo192, Brianthebrain, CSWarren, Canglesea, Cfitzart, Clever curmudgeon, Codejkoolguy, CommonsDelinker, Crito2161,
Crystalattice, CyberGhostface, Daibhid C, DeSpotte, Dogman15, Durova, Eilu, Elonka, Emperor, Euchiasmus, Flightace1992, Fplay, Fram, FrankCostanza, FreplySpang, Frymaster, Fulcher,
Halbared, Ham, Iridescent, J 1982, J.delanoy, JGXenite, JaGa, Kasper2006, Kevinalewis, Killerman2, Kitty Davis, Kyle1278, LeaHazel, Marktreut, Matthead, Mbell, Melarish, Mervyn, Mets501,
Misterkillboy, Mr.kay 1, MrSomeone, Murgh, Mütze, NawlinWiki, Neddyseagoon, Nintendo Maximus, NobbiP, Nydas, Orville Eastland, Outriggr, Paperfaye, Paranomia, Paul Barlow, Peter
morrell, Piquan, Pirandot, Psiphiorg, Rbarreira, Remember, Rje, Robertsteadman, Rutke421, Salavat, SchuminWeb, Shadoman, SteinbDJ, Stepshep, Svetovid, T-borg, Tellyaddict, Tim!,
Tkerekes13, Tkon04, Van helsing, Wetman, Xiao Li, YankeeDoodle14, Yyyyyyyyyyy, 92 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 68

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors


Image:Leonardo_self.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_self.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci
Image:Vinci casa Leonardo.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vinci_casa_Leonardo.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Lucarelli
Image:Study of a Tuscan Landscape.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Study_of_a_Tuscan_Landscape.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Dspark76,
Hekerui, OldakQuill, Papa November, 1 anonymous edits
Image:Andrea del Verrocchio 002.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Andrea_del_Verrocchio_002.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndreasPraefcke,
Czarnoglowa, Jastrow, Mac9, Mattes, Papa November, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, 1 anonymous edits
Image:Leonardo da Vinci Adoration of the Magi.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_Adoration_of_the_Magi.jpg  License: Public Domain
 Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Fredrik, Goldfritha, Infrogmation, Jastrow, Nagy, OldakQuill, Papa November, 2 anonymous edits
Image:Study of horse.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Study_of_horse.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Giorgiomonteforti, Man vyi,
OsamaK, Papa November, Sturmbringer
Image:Leonardo Da Vinci's house.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_Da_Vinci's_house.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Erin Silversmith
Image:Gylleneportarna.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gylleneportarna.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Domeij on sv.wikipedia
Image:Andrea del Verrocchio 001.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Andrea_del_Verrocchio_001.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: G.dallorto, Jastrow,
Michel BUZE, Papa November, Shakko, Urban, Wst, 2 anonymous edits
Image:Hugo van der Goes 006.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hugo_van_der_Goes_006.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Jastrow,
Kaldari, Mac9, Mattis, Papa November, Salix, Shakko, Stomme
Image:Ghirlandaio a-pucci-lorenzo-de-medici-f-sassetti 1.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ghirlandaio_a-pucci-lorenzo-de-medici-f-sassetti_1.jpg  License: Public
Domain  Contributors: FordPrefect42, G.dallorto, Gabor, Gwern, Luestling, Mac9, Mattes, Papa November, Pymouss, Sailko, Sparkit, TTaylor, 3 anonymous edits
Image:Isabella d'este.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Isabella_d'este.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Emmeu, G.dallorto, Jastrow, Papa
November, Shakko, Warburg
Image:Leonardo da Vinci 025.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_025.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: ABrocke, AndreasPraefcke,
Czarnoglowa, EDUCA33E, Miniwark, Schaengel89, Shakko, Sidhekin, 1 anonymous edits
Image:Leonardo da Vinci Annunciation.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_Annunciation.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: AndreasPraefcke,
Czarnoglowa, Fredrik, OldakQuill, Ranveig, 1 anonymous edits
Image:Leonardo da Vinci 008.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_008.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Czarnoglowa,
EDUCA33E, Jastrow, Mattes
File:Virgin of the Rocks.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Virgin_of_the_Rocks.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Mattes, 不寐听江, 1 anonymous edits
File:Última Cena - Da Vinci 5.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Última_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: User:Platonides
Image:Mona Lisa.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mona_Lisa.jpeg  License: unknown  Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Avatar, AzaToth, Bjankuloski06en,
Blurpeace, Czarnoglowa, Dbenbenn, Diligent, Eusebius, Herbythyme, Imagechanger, Mikael Häggström, Miniwark, Movieevery, OldakQuill, Paris 16, PhilFree, Schaengel89, Ustas, Wst,
Wutsje, Yann, 11 anonymous edits
File:Leonardo - St. Anne cartoon-alternative-downsampled.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_-_St._Anne_cartoon-alternative-downsampled.jpg  License:
unknown  Contributors: Leonardo Da Vinci
Image:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Original drawing:
Photograpy:
Image:Da Vinci Studies of Embryos Luc Viatour.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Da_Vinci_Studies_of_Embryos_Luc_Viatour.jpg  License: Public Domain
 Contributors: user:Lviatour
Image:Leonardo polyhedra.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_polyhedra.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndrewKepert, Czarnoglowa,
G.dallorto, Jossifresco, LealandA, Mattes, Mdd, Str4nd, 11 anonymous edits
Image:Studies of the Arm showing the Movements made by the Biceps.jpg  Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Studies_of_the_Arm_showing_the_Movements_made_by_the_Biceps.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, EncycloPetey,
Kelson, Mattes, Mentifisto, OldakQuill, 4 anonymous edits
Image:Design for a Flying Machine.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Design_for_a_Flying_Machine.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:Francois I recoit les derniers soupirs de Leonard de Vinci by Ingres.jpg  Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Francois_I_recoit_les_derniers_soupirs_de_Leonard_de_Vinci_by_Ingres.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:PHGCOM
Image:Leonardo da Vinci01.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci01.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: G.dallorto, JoJan, Sailko, 3
anonymous edits
Image:wikisource-logo.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikisource-logo.svg  License: logo  Contributors: Nicholas Moreau
File:Flag of Italy.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Italy.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: see below
Image:Leonardo da Vinci - Jacopo Saltarelli.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_Jacopo_Saltarelli.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:
Leonardo da Vinci
Image:Última Cena - Da Vinci 5.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Última_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: User:Platonides
Image:Leonardo da Vinci 052.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_052.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Czarnoglowa,
EDUCA33E, Jastrow, Mac9, Shakko
Image:Ginevra de Benci.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ginevra_de_Benci.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Dino, 2 anonymous edits
File:Flag of the United States.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Dbenbenn,
User:Indolences, User:Jacobolus, User:Technion, User:Zscout370
Image:Madonna Benois.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Madonna_Benois.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Original uploader was Pankajv at en.wikipedia
File:Flag of Russia.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Russia.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndriusG, Davepape, Dmitry Strotsev, Enbéká, Fred
J, Gleb Borisov, Herbythyme, Homo lupus, Kiensvay, Klemen Kocjancic, Kwj2772, Mattes, Maximaximax, Miyokan, Nightstallion, Ondřej Žváček, Pianist, Pumbaa80, Putnik, R-41, Radziun,
Rainman, Reisio, Rfc1394, Rkt2312, Sasa Stefanovic, SeNeKa, SkyBon, Srtxg, Stianbh, Westermarck, Wikiborg, Winterheart, Zscout370, Zyido, ОйЛ, 34 anonymous edits
Image:Madonna of the carnation EUR.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Madonna_of_the_carnation_EUR.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Drewwiki,
Mindmatrix, 1 anonymous edits
File:Flag of Germany.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Germany.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Pumbaa80
File:Flag of the Vatican City.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Vatican_City.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: user:F l a n k e r
Image:Vierge.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vierge.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Paul Barlow
File:Flag of France.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_France.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:SKopp, User:SKopp, User:SKopp, User:SKopp,
User:SKopp, User:SKopp
Image:The Lady with an Ermine.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_Lady_with_an_Ermine.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Gryffindor,
Kilom691, Mattes, Pko, Salix, Ultrogothe, ¡0-8-15!, 1 anonymous edits
File:Flag of Poland.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Poland.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Mareklug, User:Wanted
Image:Madonna Litta.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Madonna_Litta.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: G.dallorto, Kaganer, Kaldari, Mattes, Mattis,
OldakQuill, Olpl, Ranveig, Shakko, Snotty, Wst, Yann
Image:Leonardo da Vinci 051.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_051.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, EDUCA33E,
Emijrp, G.dallorto, Mattes, Oxxo, PKM, Wst
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 69

Image:Leonardo da Vinci 050.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_050.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, EDUCA33E,
G.dallorto, Nolanus, Thuresson, Wst
Image:Leonardo da Vinci 027.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_027.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, EDUCA33E,
Miniwark, Papa November, Thuresson, 1 anonymous edits
File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Zscout370
File:Leonardo Sala delle Asse detail.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_Sala_delle_Asse_detail.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Web Gallery of Art;
Leonardo da Vinci
Image:Leonardo - St. Anne cartoon-alternative-downsampled.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_-_St._Anne_cartoon-alternative-downsampled.jpg
 License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo Da Vinci
Image:Madonna of the Yarnwinder.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Madonna_of_the_Yarnwinder.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: pl: szkoła Leonarda da
Vinci en: school of Leonarda da Vinci
Image:Mona Lisa.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mona_Lisa.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: AguaitantPV, Alejandrogf, AndreasPraefcke, Avatar, Blurpeace,
Cantus, Czarnoglowa, Dbenbenn, Durova, Fred J, Haukurth, Hekerui, Jackaranga, Kameraad Pjotr, Kanonkas, Liberal Freemason, Mikael Häggström, Miniwark, Mormegil, OldakQuill, Olpl,
Patrol110, Phrood, Polarlys, Rtc, Schaengel89, Shizhao, Sparkit, Ssolbergj, Thuresson, Xavigivax, Yann, Yuval Y, Zirland, 9 anonymous edits
Image:Leonardo da Vinci 020.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_020.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Czarnoglowa,
EDUCA33E, Emijrp, Mats Halldin, Mattes, Miniwark, Papa November, Schaengel89, Wst, 1 anonymous edits
Image:Bacchus (painting).jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bacchus_(painting).jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci (Workshop)
Image:Arezzo anghiari Battle standard leonardo da vinci paint.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Arezzo_anghiari_Battle_standard_leonardo_da_vinci_paint.jpg
 License: Public Domain  Contributors: Original uploader was Boggie at en.wikipedia
Image:Leda and the Swan 1505-1510.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leda_and_the_Swan_1505-1510.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Amux, BrokenSphere,
Butko, Czarnoglowa, Dodo, Emmeu, Fabos, Goldfritha, Kilom691, Mattes, PxMa, Schaengel89, Smartneddy, 5 anonymous edits
Image:Verrocchio Tobias.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Verrocchio_Tobias.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Alexbrewer, Attilios
Image:Lorenzo di Credi - Madonna Dreyfus.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lorenzo_di_Credi_-_Madonna_Dreyfus.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Lorenzo
di Credi
Image:Holy-infs.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Holy-infs.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:Christ Carrying the Cross (cropped).jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Christ_Carrying_the_Cross_(cropped).jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: User:Dgump,
User:Papa November
Image:Fra Bartolomeo 001.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fra_Bartolomeo_001.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Diomede, EDUCA33E, Roomba, Wst
File:Giampetrino-Leonardo.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Giampetrino-Leonardo.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Michelangelo
File:Flag of Switzerland.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Switzerland.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:-xfi-, User:Marc Mongenet,
User:Zscout370
File:Profile of a Young Fiancee - da Vinci.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Profile_of_a_Young_Fiancee_-_da_Vinci.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors:
BorgQueen, Mattes, Postdlf
File:Study of a Tuscan Landscape.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Study_of_a_Tuscan_Landscape.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Dspark76,
Hekerui, OldakQuill, Papa November, 1 anonymous edits
File:Old Man with Water Studies.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Old_Man_with_Water_Studies.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Bender235, Czarnoglowa,
G.dallorto, OldakQuill
File:Views of a Foetus in the Womb.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Views_of_a_Foetus_in_the_Womb.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa,
Kyd, Makthorpe, Mutter Erde, OldakQuill
File:Studies of the Arm showing the Movements made by the Biceps.jpg  Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Studies_of_the_Arm_showing_the_Movements_made_by_the_Biceps.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, EncycloPetey,
Kelson, Mattes, Mentifisto, OldakQuill, 4 anonymous edits
File:Study of the Graduations of Shadows on Spheres.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Study_of_the_Graduations_of_Shadows_on_Spheres.jpg  License: unknown
 Contributors: Bender235, Czarnoglowa, Man vyi, Mdd, OldakQuill, Warburg
File:The Lady with an Ermine.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_Lady_with_an_Ermine.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Gryffindor,
Kilom691, Mattes, Pko, Salix, Ultrogothe, ¡0-8-15!, 1 anonymous edits
File:Proportions of the Head.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Proportions_of_the_Head.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, GreyCat, OldakQuill,
Ranveig
File:Anatomy of a Male Nude.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Anatomy_of_a_Male_Nude.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Flominator,
G.dallorto, OldakQuill, Patrick, Ranveig, Warburg
File:View of a Skull III.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:View_of_a_Skull_III.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Liftarn, Lipothymia,
OldakQuill, Ranveig, Salix
File:The Principle Organs and Vascular and Urino-Genital Systems of a Woman.jpg  Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_Principle_Organs_and_Vascular_and_Urino-Genital_Systems_of_a_Woman.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa,
Lennert B, Mattes, OldakQuill, Ranveig, 3 anonymous edits
File:Leonardo anatomy of dog and man.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_anatomy_of_dog_and_man.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da
Vinci
File:Sedge.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sedge.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Bender235, Czarnoglowa, OldakQuill
File:Leonardo topographical map.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_topographical_map.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:Studies of Water passing Obstacles and falling.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Studies_of_Water_passing_Obstacles_and_falling.jpg  License: unknown
 Contributors: Czarnoglowa, OldakQuill, Ranveig, Valentinian, Wst
File:Leonardo study AdorationofMagi.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_study_AdorationofMagi.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da
Vinci
File:Leonardo polyhedra.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_polyhedra.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AndrewKepert, Czarnoglowa, G.dallorto,
Jossifresco, LealandA, Mattes, Mdd, Str4nd, 11 anonymous edits
File:Leonardo machine for grinding convex lenses.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_machine_for_grinding_convex_lenses.JPG  License: unknown
 Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:Leonardo machines.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_machines.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:An Artillery Park.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:An_Artillery_Park.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, OldakQuill, Timichal
File:Leonardo tank.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_tank.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:Leonardo flight of bird.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_flight_of_bird.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:Leonardo Design for a Flying Machine, c. 1488.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_Design_for_a_Flying_Machine,_c._1488.jpg  License: unknown
 Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
File:Leonardo flying machine.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_flying_machine.JPG  License: Public Domain  Contributors: TTaylor
Image:Leonardo parabolic compass.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_parabolic_compass.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
Image:Leonardo da Vinci helicopter.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_helicopter.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
Image:Leonardo cannons.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_cannons.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
Image:Leonardo walking on water.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_walking_on_water.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 70

Image:Leonardo_da_Vinci_parachute_04659a.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_parachute_04659a.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Nevit


Dilmen
Image:Da vinci bridge.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Da_vinci_bridge.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: User:Flominator
Image:DaVinciTankAtAmboise.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DaVinciTankAtAmboise.jpeg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: BenAveling, Bukvoed,
Czarnoglowa, G.dallorto, Jamin, KTo288, Matilda, Olivier2, Sir Gawain
Image:Leonardo-Flywheel-screenshot.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo-Flywheel-screenshot.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Eloquence
Image:Plato-raphael.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plato-raphael.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Bibi Saint-Pol, Chris 73, Maarten van Vliet, Mattes,
Tomisti, 3 anonymous edits
Image:DeathOfLeonardo.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DeathOfLeonardo.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Neddyseagoon
Image:IngresDeathOfDaVinci.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:IngresDeathOfDaVinci.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Image:Peter Paul Ruben's copy of the lost Battle of Anghiari.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Peter_Paul_Ruben's_copy_of_the_lost_Battle_of_Anghiari.jpg
 License: Public Domain  Contributors: Czarnoglowa, Kilom691, OldakQuill, Shakko, Wolfmann, 2 anonymous edits
Image:Leonardo da Vinci (ur Svenska Familj-Journalen).png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_(ur_Svenska_Familj-Journalen).png  License:
Public Domain  Contributors: Den fjättrade ankan, G.dallorto
Image:Statue of Leonardo da Vinci.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Statue_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors:
FlickrLickr, FlickreviewR, G.dallorto, Geofrog, Mac9, 1 anonymous edits
Image:Leonardo da Vinci.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci.jpeg  License: unknown  Contributors: Anne97432, Czarnoglowa, G.dallorto,
Grenavitar, OldakQuill, Ranveig, Schaengel89, Semnoz, TTaylor, Wikiborg, Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, 1 anonymous edits
Image:T-shirt man.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:T-shirt_man.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Leonardo
Image:DBP 1952 148 Mona Lisa.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DBP_1952_148_Mona_Lisa.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:NobbiP
Image:Wieliczka-daVinci.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wieliczka-daVinci.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: User:Akumiszcza
Image:Gioconda.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gioconda.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: ARTE, Czarnoglowa, R0s
License 71

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/

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