Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci
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Contents
Articles
Main article
Leonardo da Vinci
Supporting articles
1
1
23
Leonardo da Vinci's personal life
23
List of works by Leonardo da Vinci
31
Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci
40
Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci
58
References
Article Sources and Contributors
68
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
69
Article Licenses
License
71
Main article
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
[1]
Self-portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515
Royal Library of Turin
Birth name
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
Born
April 15, 1452

Vinci, Italy, near Florence
Died
May 2, 1519 (aged67)

Amboise, 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 (pronunciation) (April 15, 1452 May 2, 1519, Old Style) was an Italian
Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist,
geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance
Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination".[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] Marco Rosci points out, however,
that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical rather than
mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time.[4]
Born out of wedlock to 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
Leonardo da Vinci
his last years in France, at the home awarded him by FrancisI.

Leonardo was and is renowned[3] primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and
most parodied portrait and The Last Supper the most reproduced religious painting of all time, with 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,[5] being reproduced on items as varied as the euro, textbooks, and 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.[6] Nevertheless, these few works, together with his notebooks, which
contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, compose a contribution to later
generations of artists only rivalled by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo.
Leonardo is revered[3] for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar
power, a calculator,[7] the double hull and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Relatively few of his
designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime,[8] 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.[9] He made important discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics, but he did
not publish his findings and they had no direct influence on later science.[10]
Life
Childhood, 14521466
Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452 (Old Style), "at the third hour of
the night"[11] in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of
the Arno River in the territory of the Medici-ruled Republic of
Florence.[12] He was the out-of-wedlock son of the wealthy Messer
Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and
Caterina, a peasant.[13] [14] [15] Leonardo had no surname in the modern
sense, da Vinci simply meaning of Vinci: his full birth name was
"Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, (son) of
(Mes)ser Piero from Vinci".[12] The inclusion of the title "ser"
indicated that Leonardo's father was a gentleman.
Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five years
in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother, then from 1457
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.[16] When
Leonardo was sixteen his father married again, to twenty-year-old
Francesca Lanfredini. It was not until his third and fourth marriages
that Ser Piero produced legitimate heirs.[17]
Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano
Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno

Valley (1473), Uffizi
Leonardo received an informal education in Latin, geometry and

mathematics. 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.[18] 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 inside.[16]
Leonardo's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture.[19] Vasari, the 16th-century biographer of
Renaissance painters tells of how a local peasant made himself a round shield and requested that Ser Piero have it
painted for him. Leonardo responded with a painting of a monster spitting fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero
Leonardo da Vinci
sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile, having made a profit, Ser Piero
bought a shield decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow, which he gave to the peasant.[20]
Verrocchio's workshop, 14661476

In 1466, at the age of fourteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to
the artist Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio, whose
workshop was "one of the finest in Florence".[21] Other
famous painters apprenticed or associated with the workshop
include Domenico Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Botticelli, and
Lorenzo di Credi.[16] [22] Leonardo would have been exposed
to both theoretical training and a vast range of technical
skills[23] including drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal
working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics and
carpentry as well as the artistic skills of drawing, painting,
sculpting and modelling.[24] [25]
Much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was
done by his employees. According to Vasari, Leonardo
collaborated with Verrocchio on his Baptism of Christ,
The Baptism of Christ (14721475)Uffizi, by Verrocchio
painting the young angel holding Jesus' robe in a manner that
and Leonardo
was so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio put down
his brush and never painted again.[26] On close examination,
the painting reveals much that has been painted or touched up over the tempera using the new technique of oil paint,
with 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.[27] Leonardo himself may have been the model for two existent works by
Verrocchio: the bronze statue of David in the Bargello, and the Archangel Raphael in Tobias and the Angel.[14]
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,[28] 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.[16] Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a drawing in pen and ink of the
Arno valley, drawn on August 5, 1473.[29] [22]
Leonardo da Vinci
Professional life, 14761513

Florentine court records of 1476 show that Leonardo
and three other young men were charged with sodomy,
and acquitted.[14] [30] From that date until 1478 there is
no record of his work or even of his whereabouts.[31] In
1478 he left Verroccio's studio and was no longer
resident at his father's house. One writer, the
"Anonimo" Gaddiano claims that in 1480 he was living
with the Medici and working in the Garden of the
Piazza San Marco in Florence, a Neo-Platonic academy
of artists, poets and philosophers that the Medici had
established.[14] In January 1478 he received his first
independent commission, to paint an altarpiece in 1478
for the Chapel of St Bernard in the Palazzo Vecchio
and The Adoration of the Magi in March 1481 for the
Monks of San Donato a Scopeto.[32] Neither important
commission was completed, the second being
interrupted when Leonardo went to Milan.
The Adoration of the Magi, (1481)Uffizi
In 1482 Leonardo, who according to Vasari was a most talented musician,[33] 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 Ludovico il
Moro, Duke of Milan.[34] 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.[22] [35]
Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 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.[36]
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 expenditures suggests that she was his mother.[37]
Leonardo was employed 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".[22] [38]
Leonardo da Vinci
5
Leonardo began making detailed plans for its casting,[22] however, Michelangelo
rudely implied that Leonardo was unable to cast it.[16] In November 1494
Ludovico gave the bronze to be used for cannons to defend the city from
invasion by Charles VIII.[22]
Study of horse from Leonardo's

journals Royal Library, Windsor
Castle
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,[39] where he was employed
as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from
naval attack.[16] On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were
guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of Santissima Annunziata and were
provided 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".[40] [41]
In Cesena, 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.[39] Leonardo created a map of Cesare Borgia's
stronghold, a town plan of Imola in order to win his patronage. Maps were extremely rare at the time and it would
have seemed like a new concept; upon seeing it, Cesare hired Leonardo as his chief military engineer and architect.
Later in the year, Leonardo produced another map for his patron, one of Chiana Valley, Tuscany so as to give his
patron a better overlay of the land and greater strategic position. He created this map in conjunction with his other
project of constructing a dam from the sea to Florence in order to allow a supply of water to sustain the canal during
all seasons.
Leonardo 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,[39] with
Michelangelo designing its companion piece, The Battle of Cascina.[42]
In Florence in 1504, he was part of a committee formed to relocate,
against the artist's will, Michelangelo's statue of David.[43]
In 1506 Leonardo returned to Milan. Many of his most prominent
pupils or followers in painting either knew or worked with him in
Milan,[16] including Bernardino Luini, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio
Leonardo da Vinci's very accurate map of Imola,
and Marco D'Oggione.[44] However, he did not stay in Milan for long
created for Cesare Borgia
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 Leonardo was back in Milan,
living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila.[45]
Old age, 15131519

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.[45] In October 1515, Francis I of France recaptured
Milan.[32] On December 19, Leonardo was present at the meeting of Francis I and Pope Leo X, which took place in
Bologna.[16] [46] [47] Leonardo was commissioned to make for Francis a mechanical lion which could walk forward,
then open its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies.[48] [49] In 1516, he entered Franois' service, being given the use of the
manor house Clos Luc[50] near the king's residence at the royal Chteau d'Amboise. It was here that he spent the last
three years of his life, accompanied by his friend and apprentice, Count Francesco Melzi, and supported by a pension
Leonardo da Vinci
totalling 10,000scudi.[45]
Leonardo died at Clos Luc, 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, Mnageot and other French
artists, as well as by Angelica Kauffmann, may be legend rather than
fact.[51] [52] Vasari also tells us that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a
priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament.[53] In
accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket.[54] He was
buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in Chteau d'Amboise. Melzi was
Clos Luc in France, where Leonardo died in
1519
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.[55] [56]
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."[57]
Relationships and influences

Florence Leonardo's artistic and social background
Florence, at the time of Leonardo's youth, was the centre of Christian Humanist
thought and culture.[58] 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 Leon Battista 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.[59] [60] [61] [62]
Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise,
(14251452) were a source of
communal pride. Many artists
assisted in their creation.
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
frescoes were imbued with realism and emotion and Ghiberti whose Gates of
Paradise, gleaming with gold leaf, displayed the art of combining complex
figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. Piero della Francesca had made a detailed study of
perspective,[63] and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and Alberti's Treatise[64]
were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks.[59]
[61] [62]
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.[59] [60]
Leonardo da Vinci
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.[59]
Leonardo's early Madonnas such as 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.[16]
Leonardo was a contemporary of Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and
Perugino, who were all slightly older than he was.[60] He would have met them at
the workshop of Verrocchio, with whom they had associations, and at the
Small devotional picture by
Academy of the Medici.[16] Botticelli was a particular favourite of the Medici
Verrocchio, c. 1470
family and thus his 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.[59]
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.[16]
In 1476, during the time of Leonardo's association with Verrocchio's
workshop, the Portinari Altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes arrived in
Florence, bringing new painterly techniques from Northern Europe
which were to profoundly effect Leonardo, Ghirlandaio, Perugino and
others.[60] In 1479, the Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina, who
The Portinari Altarpiece, by Hugo van der Goes
worked exclusively in oils, traveled north on his way to Venice, where
for a Florentine family
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.[60] [62]
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.[60] [65]
Leonardo da Vinci
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
14791499 and to whom Leonardo was sent as ambassador from the Medici
court, was also of Leonardo's age.[60]
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
Lorenzo de' Medici between Antonio
were foremost. Also associated with the Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's
[60]
Pucci and Francesco Sassetti, with
contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher Pico della Mirandola.
Giulio de' Medici, fresco by
[62] [66]
Leonardo later wrote in the margin of a journal "The Medici made me
Ghirlandaio
and 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.[16]
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.[60] 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.[61] [62]
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,[67] 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.[68] [69]
Study for a portrait of Isabella d'Este

(1500) Louvre
Leonardo had many friends who are now renowned either in their fields or for
their historical significance. They included the mathematician Luca Pacioli,[70]
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
relationships with women except for his friendship with the two Este sisters,
Beatrice and Isabella.[71] He drew 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.[16]

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.[72] Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salai and Melzi. Melzi,
writing to inform Leonardo's brothers of his death, described Leonardo's feelings for his pupils as both loving and
passionate.
It has been claimed since the 16th century that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Court records of
1476, when he was aged twenty-four, show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with sodomy in
an incident involving a well-known male prostitute. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence, and there is
speculation that since one of the accused, Lionardo de Tornabuoni, was related to Lorenzo de' Medici, the family
exerted its influence to secure the dismissal.[73] Since that date much has been written about his presumed
Leonardo da Vinci
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.[74]
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.[75] Nevertheless, Leonardo
treated him with great indulgence and he remained in Leonardo's household for
the next thirty years.[76] Salai executed a number of paintings under the name of
Andrea Salai, but although Vasari claims that Leonardo "taught him a great deal
[48]
about painting",
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 Mona Lisa, known as Monna Vanna.[77]
Salai owned the Mona Lisa at the time of his death in 1525, and in his will it was
assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait.[78]
Salai as John the Baptist (c.

1514)Louvre.
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.[16] 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.[79]
Annunciation (14751480)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.[80]
Leonardo da Vinci
10
Early works
Unfinished painting of St. Jerome in

the Wilderness, (c.1480), Vatican.
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 (23in)
long and 14 centimetres (5.5in) 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 (85in)
long.[81] 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
lily. Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now almost
universally attributed to Leonardo.[82]
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.[59] 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.[83]
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."[16]
Although the painting is barely begun the composition can be seen and
it is very unusual.[84] 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.[] 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
sketchy landscape of craggy rocks against which the figure is
silhouetted.
Virgin of the Rocks, Louvre, demonstrates

Leonardo's interest in nature.
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, of about 250 x 250 centimetres. Leonardo did numerous drawings and preparatory
Leonardo da Vinci
11
studies, 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.[14] [82]
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.[85] 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.[86] 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.[22]
[39]
The Last Supper (1498)Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
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
followers of Jesus.[22]
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.[87] 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.[88]
When finished, the painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterisation,[89] but it deteriorated
rapidly, so that within a hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined".[90] 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.[91] 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
12

Among the works created by Leonardo in the 16th century is the small
portrait known as the Mona Lisa or "la Gioconda", the laughing one. In
the present era it is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Its
fame rests, in particular, on 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".[92] [93]
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
Mona Lisa or La Gioconda
(15031505/1507)Louvre,
Paris, France
and blended on the surface so that the brushstrokes are
[94]
indistinguishable.
Vasari expressed the opinion that the manner of
painting would make even "the most confident master... despair and lose heart."[95] 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.[96]
In the painting Virgin and Child with St. Anne the composition again picks up the theme of figures in a landscape
which Wasserman describes as "breathtakingly beautiful"[97] 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.[22] This painting, which was copied many times, was to
influence Michelangelo, Raphael, and Andrea del Sarto,[98] and through them Pontormo and Correggio. The trends
in composition were adopted in particular by the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese.
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, (c. 1510)-Louvre Museum
Leonardo da Vinci
13
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist (c.14991500)National Gallery, London
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.[99] 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.[16] [99]
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
(160100cm) in black chalk on coloured paper of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist in the
National Gallery, London.[99] This drawing employs the subtle sfumato 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.[100]
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.[101] 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".[102] These faces are often contrasted with that of a warrior.[99] 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.[99] 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
14
Leonardo as observer, scientist and inventor

Journals and notes
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.[22]
These studies were recorded in 13,000 pages of notes and drawings,
which fuse art and natural philosophy (the forerunner of modern
science), made and maintained daily throughout Leonardo's life and
travels, as he made continual observations of the world around him.[22]
Leonardo's writings are mostly 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.[103]
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.[22]
A page showing Leonardo's study of a foetus in

the womb (c.1510) Royal Library, Windsor
Castle
These notebooksoriginally loose papers of different types and sizes,

distributed by friends after his deathhave found their way into major
collections such as the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, the Louvre,
the Biblioteca Nacional de Espaa, 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.[104] 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
different cities around the world.
Leonardo's notes 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.[105] [106] Why they were not published within Leonardo's lifetime is unknown.[22]
Leonardo da Vinci
15
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.[22]
It appears that from the content of his journals he was planning a series of
Rhombicuboctahedron as published
treatises to be published on a variety of subjects. A coherent treatise on anatomy
in Pacioli's De Divina Proportione
was said to have been observed during a visit by Cardinal Louis 'D' Aragon's
secretary in 1517.[107] 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,[108] with engravings based upon
drawings by the Classical painter Nicholas Poussin. 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".[22]
A recent and exhaustive analysis of Leonardo as Scientist by Frtijof Capra[109] 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. Leonardo made over
200 pages of drawings and many pages of notes towards a treatise on
anatomy. These papers were left to his heir, Francesco Melzi, for
publication, a task of overwhelming difficulty because of its scope, and
Leonardo's highly idiosyncratic writing.[110] It was left incomplete at
the time of Melzi's death more than fifty years later, with only a small
amount of the material on anatomy included in Leonardo's Treatise on
Anatomical study of the arm, (c.1510)
painting, published in France in 1632.[22] [110] During the time that
Melzi was ordering the material into chapters for publication, they
were examined by a number of anatomists and artists, including Vasari, Cellini and Albrecht Drer who made a
number of drawings from them.[110]
Leonardo drew many studies of the human skeleton and its parts, as well as muscles and sinews. He studied the
mechanical functions of the skeleton and the muscular forces that are applied to it in a manner that prefigured the
Leonardo da Vinci
16
modern science of biomechanics.[111] He drew the heart and vascular system, the sex organs and other internal
organs, making one of the first scientific drawings of a fetus in utero.[99] 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.[22] [99]
Leonardo 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
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, a project on which
Niccol Machiavelli also worked.[112] [113] Leonardo's 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.[16] [22]
A design for a flying machine, (c.1488) Institut
In 1502, Leonardo produced a drawing of a single span 720-foot

de France, Paris
(220m) bridge as part of a civil engineering project for Ottoman
Sultan Beyazid II of Constantinople. 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.[114] On May 17, 2006, the Turkish government decided to construct Leonardo's bridge to span the Golden
Horn.[115]
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
light hang glider and a machine resembling a helicopter.[22] The British television station Channel Four
commissioned a documentary Leonardo's Dream Machines, for broadcast in 2003. Leonardo's machines were built
and tested according to his original designs.[116] Some of those designs proved a success, whilst others fared less
well when practically tested.
Leonardo da Vinci
17
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.[117]
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.[22]
Giorgio Vasari, in the enlarged edition of Lives of the Artists,
1568,[118] introduced his chapter on Leonardo da Vinci with the
following words:
Francis I of France receiving the last breath of

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
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..."[119] 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...".[120]
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..."[121] 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."[122]
By the 19th century, the scope of Leonardo's notebooks was known, as
well as 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."[123] 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."[124]
Statue of Leonardo in Amboise
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.[125] Liana Bortolon, writing in 1967, said: "Because of the multiplicity of interests that spurred him to
Leonardo da Vinci
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."[16]
Footnotes
[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, to modern eyes, the subject appears to be of a greater age than Leonardo ever achieved. It is possible that
Leonardo 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. pp.450456.
[3] Vasari, Boltraffio, Castiglione, "Anonimo" Gaddiano, Berensen, Taine, Fuseli, Rio, Bortolon, etc. See specific quotations under heading
"Leonardo, the legend".
[4] Rosci, Marco (1977). Leonardo. p.8.
[5] 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)
[6] 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.
[7] "The Controversial Replica of Leonardo's Adding Machine" (http:/ / 192. 220. 96. 166/ leonardo/ leonardo. html). . Retrieved 2010-12-22.
[8] Modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the Renaissance.
[9] A number of Leonardo's most practical inventions are displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci.
[10] Capra, pp.56
[11] His birth is recorded in the diary of his paternal grandfather Ser Antonio, as cited by Angela Ottino della Chiesa in Leonardo da Vinci, and
Reynal & Co., Leonardo da Vinci (William Morrow and Company, 1956): "A grandson of mine was born April 15, Saturday, three hours into
the night". The date was recorded in the Julian calendar; as it was Florentine time and sunset was 6:40 pm, three hours after sunset would be
sometime around 9:40 pm which was still April 14 by modern reckoning. The conversion to the New Style calendar adds nine days; hence
Leonardo was born April 23 according to the modern calender.
[12] His birth is recorded in the diary of his paternal grandfather Ser Antonio, as cited by Angela Ottino della Chiesa in Leonardo da Vinci, p. 83
[13] Vezzosi, Alessandro (1997). Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man.
[14] della Chiesa, Angela Ottino (1967). The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. p.83.
[15] 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 Falconi, Marta (December
12, 2006), Experts Reconstruct Leonardo Fingerprint (http:/ / www. foxnews. com/ wires/ 2006Dec01/ 0,4670,LeonardoapossFingerprint,00.
html), USA: Fox, , retrieved 2010-01-06. The evidence, as stated in the article, is that 60% of people of Middle Eastern origin share the pattern
of whirls 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,
especially if looking at only one finger."
[16] Bortolon, Liana (1967). The Life and Times of Leonardo. London: Paul Hamlyn.
[17] Rosci, p. 20.
[18] Rosci, p. 21.
[19] Brigstoke, Hugh (2001). The Oxford Companion the Western Art. Oxford, ENG, UK.
[20] Vasari, Giorgio (1568). Lives of the Artists. Penguin Classics. pp.2589.
[21] Rosci, p.13
[22] Arasse, Daniel (1998). Leonardo da Vinci.
[23] Rosci, p.27
[24] Martindale, Andrew (1972). The Rise of the Artist.
[25] The "diverse arts" and technical skills of Medieval and Renaissance workshops are described in detail in the 12th century text On Divers
Arts by Theophilus Presbyter and in the early 15th century text Il Libro Dell'arte O Trattato Della Pittui by Cennino Cennini.
[26] Vasari, p.258
[27] della Chiesa, p.88
[28] That Leonardo joined the guild before this time is deduced from the record of payment made to the Compagnia di San Luca in the
company's register, Libro Rosso A, 14721520, Accademia di Belle Arti.
[29] This work is now in the collection of the Uffizi, Drawing No. 8P.
[30] Homosexual acts were illegal in Renaissance Florence.
18
Leonardo da Vinci
[31] Priwer, Shana; Phillips, Cynthia (2006). The Everything Da Vinci Book. p.245.
[32] Wasserman, Jack (1975). Leonardo da Vinci. pp.7778.
[33] Winternitz, Emanuel (1982). Leonardo Da Vinci As a Musician.
[34] Rossi, Paolo (2001). The Birth of Modern Science. p.33.
[35] "Leonardo's Letter to Ludovico Sforza" (http:/ / www. leonardo-history. com/ life. htm?Section=S5). Leonardo-History. . Retrieved
2010-01-05.
[36] Kemp, Martin (2004). Leonardo.
[37] Codex II, 95 r, Victoria and Albert Museum, as cited by della Chiesa p. 85
[38] 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.
[40] Vasari, p.256
[41] In 2005, the studio was rediscovered during the restoration of part of a building occupied for 100 years by the Department of Military
Geography.Owen, Richard (2005-01-12). "Found: the studio where Leonardo met Mona Lisa" (http:/ / www. timesonline. co. uk/ tol/ news/
world/ article411195. ece). London: The Times. . Retrieved 2010-01-05.
[42] Both works are lost. While the entire composition of Michelangelo's painting is known from a copy by Aristotole da Sangallo,
1542.Goldscheider, Ludwig (1967). Michelangelo: paintings, sculptures, architecture. Phaidon Press. ISBN9780714813141. Leonardo's
painting is only known from preparatory sketches and several copies of the centre section, of which the best known, and probably least
accurate is by Peter Paul Rubens.della Chiesa, pp.106107
[43] Gaetano Milanesi, Epistolario Buonarroti, Florence (1875), as cited by della Chiesa.
[44] D'Oggione is known in part for his contemporary copies of the Last Supper.
[46] Georges Goyau, Franois I, Transcribed by Gerald Rossi. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VI. Published 1909. New York: Robert
Appleton Company. Retrieved on 2007-10-04
[47] Miranda, Salvador (19982007). "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Antoine du Prat" (http:/ / www. fiu. edu/ ~mirandas/
bios1527-ii. htm). . Retrieved 2007-10-04.
[48] Vasari, p.265
[49] 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
display in the Museum of Bologna. "Reconstruction of Leonardo's walking lion" (http:/ / www. ancientandautomata. com/ ita/ lavori/ leone.
htm) (in Italian). . Retrieved 2010-01-05.
[50] Clos Luc, also called Cloux, is now a public museum.
[51] 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 Luc. This has
been taken as evidence that King Franois 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.
[52] For such images, see Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci.
[53] Vasari, p.270
[54] This was a charitable legacy as each of the sixty paupers would have been awarded an established mourner's fee in the terms of Leonardo's
will.
[55] The black cloak, of good quality material, was a ready-made item from a clothier, with the fur trim being an additional luxury. The
possession of this garment meant that Leonardo's house keeper could attend his funeral "respectably" attired at no expense to herself.
[56] "Leonardo's will" (http:/ / www. leonardo-history. com/ life. htm?Section=S6). Leonardo-history. . Retrieved 2007-09-28.
[57] Mario Lucertini, Ana Millan Gasca, Fernando Nicolo (2004). Technological Concepts and Mathematical Models in the Evolution of Modern
Engineering Systems (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=YISIUycS4HgC& pg=PA13& lpg=PA13& dq=leonardo+ cellini+ francois+
philosopher). Birkhuser. ISBN9783764369408. . Retrieved 2007-10-03.
[58] Rosci, p. 13
[59] Hartt, Frederich (1970). A History of Italian Renaissance Art. pp.127333.
[60] Rosci, Leonardo, chapter 1, the historical setting, pp.920
[61] Brucker, Gene A. (1969). Renaissance Florence.
[62] Rachum, Ilan (1979). The Renaissance, an Illustrated Encyclopedia.
[63] Piero della Francesca, On Perspective for Painting (De Prospectiva Pingendi)
[64] Leon Battista Alberti, De Pictura, 1435. On Painting, in English (http:/ / www. noteaccess. com/ Texts/ Alberti/ ), De Pictura, in Latin
(http:/ / www. liberliber. it/ biblioteca/ a/ alberti/ de_pictura/ html/ depictur. htm)
[65] Hartt, pp.3912
[66] Williamson, Hugh Ross (1974). Lorenzo the Magnificent.
[67] Vasari, p.253
[68] Vasari, p.257
[69] 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)
19
Leonardo da Vinci
[70] 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.
[71] Cartwright Ady, Julia. Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 14751497. Publisher: J.M. Dent, 1899; Cartwright Ady, Julia. Isabella D'Este,
Marchioness of Mantua, 14741539. Publisher; J.M. Dent, 1903.
[72] Sigmund Freud, Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci, (1910)
[73] How do we know Leonardo was gay?, website (http:/ / www. bnl. gov/ bera/ activities/ globe/ leonardo_da_vinci. htm)
[74] Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships epigraph, p. 148 & N120 p.298
[75] Leonardo, Codex C. 15v, Institut of France. Trans. Richter
[77] Gross, Tom. "Mona Lisa Goes Topless" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070403073656/ http:/ / www. paintingsdirect. com/ content/
artnews/ 032001/ artnews1. html). Paintingsdirect.com. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. paintingsdirect. com/ content/ artnews/
032001/ artnews1. html) on 2007-04-03. . Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[78] 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). London: Telegraph.co.UK. . Retrieved 2007-10-03.
[79] By the 1490s Leonardo had already been described as a "Divine" painter. His fame is discussed by Daniel Arasse in Leonardo da Vinci,
pp.1115
[80] These qualities of Leonardo's works are discussed by Frederick Hartt in A History of Italian Renaissance Art, pp.387411.
[81] della Chiesa, pp. 88, 90
[82] Berti, Luciano (1971). The Uffizi. pp.5962.
[83] Michael Baxandall lists 5 "laudable conditions" or reactions of Mary to the presence and announcement of the angel. These are: Disquiet,
Reflection, Inquiry, Submission and Merit. In this painting Mary's attitude does not comply with any of the accepted traditions.Baxandall,
Michael (1974). Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy. pp.4956.
[84] 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
and cobbler's shop and were reunited.Wasserman, pp.1046 It is probable that outer parts of the composition are missing.
[85] Wasserman, p.108
[86] "The Mysterious Virgin" (http:/ / www. nationalgallery. org. uk/ collection/ features/ potm/ 2006/ may/ feature1. htm). National Gallery,
London. . Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[88] Vasari, p.263
[89] Vasari, p.262
[92] Vasari, p.267
[93] 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
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 subsequently
removed. "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.
[94] Jack Wasserman writes of "the inimitable treatment of the surfaces" of this painting.Wasserman, p.144
[95] Vasari, p.266
[99] Popham, A.E. (1946). The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.
[101] Vasari, p.261
[102] 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.
[103] Left-handed writers using a split nib or quill pen experience difficulty pushing the pen from left to right across the page.
[104] "Sketches by Leonardo" (http:/ / www. bl. uk/ onlinegallery/ ttp/ ttpbooks. html). Turning the Pages. British Library. . Retrieved
2007-09-27.
[105] Windsor Castle, Royal Library, sheets RL 19073v-19074v and RL 19102 respectively.
[106] This method of organisation minimises of loss of data in the case of pages being mixed up or destroyed.
[107] O'Malley; Saunders (1982). Leonardo on the Human Body. New York: Dover Publications.
[109] Capra, Fritjof. The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind of the Genius of the Renaissance. (New York, Doubleday, 2007)
[110] Kenneth D. Keele, Leonardo da Vinci's Influence on Renaissance Anatomy, (1964) (http:/ / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pmc/ articles/
PMC1033412/ pdf/ medhist00157-0072. pdf)
20
Leonardo da Vinci
[111] Mason, MA, PhD, Stephen (1962). A History of the Sciences. New York, NY: Collier Books. p.550.
[112] Roger Masters (1996). Machiavelli, Leonardo and the Science of Power.
[113] Roger Masters (1998). Fortune is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccol Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of
Florentine History.
[114] The Leonardo Bridge Project (http:/ / www. vebjorn-sand. com/ )
[115] Levy, Daniel S. (October 4, 1999). "Dream of the Master" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070912033510/ http:/ / www. vebjorn-sand.
com/ dreamsofthemaster. html). Time magazine. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. vebjorn-sand. com/ dreamsofthemaster. html) on
2007-09-12. . Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[116] Leonardo's Dream Machines (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0365434/ )
[117] see reference to this in section "Old age".
[118] Vasari, p.255
[119] Castiglione, Baldassare (1528). Il Cortegiano.
[120] "Anonimo Gaddiani", elaborating on Libro di Antonio Billi, 15371542
[121] Fuseli, Henry (1801). Lectures. II.
[122] Rio, A.E. (1861). L'art chrtien.
[123] Taine, Hippolyte (1866). Voyage en Italie.
[124] Berenson, Bernard (1896). The Italian Painters of the Renaissance.
[125] Melinda Henneberger. "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). Art News Online. Archived from the original (http:/ /
www. artnewsonline. com/ currentarticle. cfm?art_id=1240) on 2006-05-05. . Retrieved 2010-01-10.
References
Bibliography
Daniel Arasse (1997). Leonardo da Vinci. Konecky & Konecky. ISBN1-56852-1987.
Michael Baxandall (1974). Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy. Oxford University Press.
ISBN0-19-881329-5.
Fred Brence (1965). Lonard de Vinci, L'homme et son oeuvre. Somogy. Dpot lgal 4 trimestre 1965.
Luciano Berti (1971). The Uffizi. Scala.
Liana Bortolon (1967). The Life and Times of Leonardo. Paul Hamlyn, London.
Hugh Brigstoke (2001). The Oxford Companion the Western Art. U.S.: Oxford University Press.
ISBN0198662033.
Gene A. Brucker (1969). Renaissance Florence. Wiley and Sons. ISBN0471113700.
Fritjof Capra (2007). The Science of Leonardo. U.S.: Doubleday. ISBN9780385513906.
Cennino Cennini (2009). Il Libro Dell'arte O Trattato Della Pittui. U.S.: BiblioBazaar. ISBN9781103390328.
Angela Ottino della Chiesa (1967). The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. Penguin Classics of World Art
series. ISBN0-14-00-8649-8.
Simona Cremante (2005). Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor. Giunti. ISBN88-09-03891-6 (hardback).
Frederich Hartt (1970). A History of Italian Renaissance Art. Thames and Hudson. ISBN0500231362.
Michael H. Hart (1992). The 100. Carol Publishing Group. ISBN0-8065-1350-0 (paperback).
Martin Kemp (2004). Leonardo. Oxford University Press. ISBN0192806440.
Mario Lucertini, Ana Millan Gasca, Fernando Nicolo (2004). Technological Concepts and Mathematical Models
in the Evolution of Modern Engineering Systems. Birkhauser. ISBN376436940X.
John N. Lupia. The Secret Revealed: How to Look at Italian Renaissance Painting. Medieval and Renaissance
Times, Vol. 1, no. 2 (Summer, 1994): 617. ISSN 1075-2110.
Andrew Martindale (1972). The Rise of the Artist. Thames and Hudson. ISBN0500560064.
Roger Masters (1996). Machiavelli, Leonardo and the Science of Power. University of Notre Dame Press.
ISBN0-268-01433-7.
Roger Masters (1998). Fortune is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccol Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to
Change the Course of Florentine History. Simon & Schuster. ISBN0-452-28090-7.
21
Leonardo da Vinci
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. ISBN0-14-029681-6.
Sherwin B. Nuland (2001). Leonardo Da Vinci. Phoenix Press. ISBN0-7538-1269X.
A.E. Popham (1946). The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. Jonathan Cape. ISBN0224604627.
Shana Priwer & Cynthia Phillips (2006). The Everything Da Vinci Book: Explore the Life and Times of the
Ultimate Renaissance Man. Adams Media. ISBN1598691015.
Ilan Rachum (1979). The Renaissance, an Illustrated Encyclopedia. Octopus. ISBN0-7064-0857-8.
Jean Paul Richter (1970). The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Dover. ISBN0-486-22572-0. volume 2: ISBN
0-486-22573-9. A reprint of the original 1883 edition (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5000).
Marco Rosci (1977). Leonardo. Bay Books Pty Ltd. ISBN0858351765.
Paolo Rossi (2001). The Birth of Modern Science. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN0631227113.
Bruno Santi (1990). Leonardo da Vinci. Scala / Riverside.
Theophilus (1963). On Divers Arts. U.S.: University of Chicago Press. ISBN9780226794822.
Jack Wasserman (1975). Leonardo da Vinci. Abrams. ISBN0-8109-0262-1.
Giorgio Vasari (1568). Lives of the Artists. Penguin Classics, trans. George Bull 1965. ISBN0-14-044-164-6.
Williamson, Hugh Ross (1974). Lorenzo the Magnificent. Michael Joseph. ISBN0718112040.
Emanuel Winternitz (1982). Leonardo Da Vinci As a Musician. U.S.: Yale University Press.
ISBN9780300026313.
Alessandro Vezzosi (1997 (English translation)). Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man. Thames & Hudson Ltd,
London. ISBN0-500-30081-X.
Frank Zollner (2003). Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Taschen. ISBN3-8228-1734-1
(hardback). [The chapter "The Graphic Works" is by Frank Zollner & Johannes Nathan].
External links
"Leonardo da Vinci" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.

Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design (review) (http://www.studio-international.co.uk/reports/
da_vinci.asp)
Works by Leonardo da Vinci (http://www.gutenberg.org/author/Leonardo_da_Vinci) at Project Gutenberg
Leonardo da Vinci by Maurice Walter Brockwell (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7785) at Project Gutenberg
Complete text & images of Richter's translation of the Notebooks (http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/dv/index.
htm)
Vasari Life of Leonardo (http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web publishing/Vasari_daVinci.htm): in
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.
Web Gallery of Leonardo Paintings (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/l/leonardo/)
Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci (http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/)
Da Vinci Decoded (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1860869,00.html) Article from The Guardian
The true face of Leonardo Da Vinci? (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/235)
Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism (http://www.ivu.org/history/davinci/hurwitz.html)
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (http://fulltextarchive.com/pages/
The-Notebooks-of-Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Complete1.php)
Leonardo da Vinci at BBC Science (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo)
22
23
Supporting articles
Leonardo da Vinci
[1]
Portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515.

Birth name Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci
Born
April 15, 1452

Anchiano, Florence, Italy
Died
May 2, 1519 (aged67)

Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, France
Nationality Italian
Field
Movement
High Renaissance
Works
The personal life of Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 May 2, 1519) has been a subject that has excited interest,
enquiry and speculation since within a few years of his death. Leonardo has long been regarded as the archetypal
Renaissance Man, described by the Renaissance biographer Giorgio Vasari as having qualities that "transcended
nature" and being "marvellously endowed with beauty, grace and talent in abundance".[2] Interest in and curiosity
about Leonardo has continued unabated for five hundred years.[3] Modern descriptions and analysis of Leonardo's
character, personal desires and intimate behavior have been based upon various 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.
24
Childhood
Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano.
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 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
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 described by his early biographers as a man with great personal appeal, kindness, and
generosity. He 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 philosophies can 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.[4] 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.[5]
25
Personal relationships
From what is known 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.[6] [7] His near-contemporary biographer Vasari described two beautiful young men as
"beloved" of Leonardo at various points in his life.[8] In the 20thcentury biographers made more explicit reference to
Leonardo's homosexuality,[9] though others concluded that for much of his life he was celibate.[10]
Salai as John the Baptist 151316
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 prostitute, Jacopo
Saltarelli. (Although Saltarelli has been described in recent times as a
"model" no such profession existed in his days.)[11] The charges were
dismissed for lack of evidence, and there is speculation that since one
of the accused, Lionardo de Tornabuoni, was related to Lorenzo de'
Medici, the family exerted its influence to secure the dismissal.[12] [13]
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.[14]
Elizabeth Abbott, in her History of Celibacy, contends that although

Leonardo was probably homosexual, the trauma of the sodomy case converted him to celibacy for the rest of his
life.[15] 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.[16] [17] 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".[18]
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.[19]
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.[7]
DavidM. 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.[16] [20]
26
Serge Bramly too notes that "the fact that Leonardo warns against
lustfulness certainly need not mean that he himself was chaste".[7]
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".[14] Other homosexual
relationships, with an unknown man named Fioravante di Domenico
and a young falconer, Bernardo di Simone, are suggested in Michael
White's biography.
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,[21] [22] and Count Francesco Melzi,
the son of a Milan aristocrat who became apprenticed to Leonardo in
1506, at the ageof14.
The Incarnate Angel, (charcoal drawing, c. 1515)
is clearly related to the painting of John the

Vasari describes Salai as "a graceful and beautiful youth with fine
Baptist.
curly hair". The "Little Devil" lived up to his nickname: a year after his
entering the household Leonardo made a list of the boys
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. Salai's name appears (crossed out) on the back of an erotic
drawing (c.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 perhaps by Leonardo once in the British Royal Collection, and is possibly a
humorous take on his St. John the Baptist.[23]
It was Melzi rather than Salai who accompanied Leonardo in his final days in France.[24] [25] Melzi subsequently
played an important role as the guardian of Leonardo's notebooks, preparing them for publication in the form
directed 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. In Melzi's letter to Leonardo's brothers to inform them
of his death he described Leonardo's feelings for his students as "sviscerato et ardentissimo amore" ("deeply felt and
most ardent love").
27
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.
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
Niccol 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.
Feud with Michelangelo
Francis I of France receiving the last breath of

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.
Leonardo's rsum
Leonardo sent the following letter to Ludovico Sforza, the ruler of Milan, in 1482:
Most Illustrious Lord: Having now sufficiently seen and considered the proofs of all those who count
themselves masters and inventors in the instruments of war, and finding that their invention and use does not
differ in any respect from those in common practice, I am emboldened to put myself in communication with
your Excellency, in order to acquaint you with my secrets. I can construct bridges which are very light and
strong and very portable with which to pursue and defeat an enemy I can also make a kind of cannon, which
is light and easy of transport, with which to hurl small stones like hail I can noiselessly construct to any
prescribed point subterranean passages either straight or winding passing if necessary under trenches or
a river I can make armored wagons carrying artillery, which can break through the most serried ranks of the
enemy. In time of peace, I believe I can give you as complete satisfaction as anyone else in the construction of
buildings, both public and private, and in conducting water from one place to another. I can execute sculpture
in bronze, marble or clay. Also, in painting, I can do as much as anyone, whoever he may be. If any of the
aforesaid things should seem impossible or impractical to anyone, I offer myself as ready to make a trial of
them in your park or in whatever place shall please your Excellency, to whom I commend myself with all
possible humility.
Musical ability
It appears from Vasari's description that Leonardo first learned 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.
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.
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 who neither eat anything that contains blood nor permit any injury to any
living creature, he adds like our Leonardo da Vinci.[26] [27]
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.[28]
Weapons and war

One might question Leonardo's concern for human life, given his weapon designs. Nothing came of his designs for
offensive weapons.[29] 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."
[28]
He referred to war as pazzia bestialissima, the most bestial madness.[29]

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.
[28]
28
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
A statue of Leonardo outside the Uffizi Gallery in
abundance that he leaves other men far behind Everyone
Florence, based upon contemporary descriptions.
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"[8]
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.[30]
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 fingerprintsmost 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 beforeinformation that could help
clear up questions about his origins.
29

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.[31] [32] 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.[33]
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] Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists p. 254
[3] Bortolon, Liana (1967). The Life and Times of Leonardo. London: Paul Hamlyn.
[4] 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)
[5] Bambach. (https:/ / www. metmuseum. org/ special/ Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/ draftsman_left_essay. asp)
[6] White, Michael (2000). Leonardo, the first scientist (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=-OmWWh2BqYkC& dq). London: Little,
Brown. p.137. ISBN0316648469. . "(Leonardo's homosexuality has been) "a subject too sensitive to investigate candidly"".
[7] Bramly, Serge (1994). Leonardo: The Artist and the Man (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=uuMWROjcp7EC& q). Penguin.
ISBN0140231757. .
[8] Vasari, Giorgio (2006). The Life of Leonardo da Vinci. Kessinger Publishing. p.26. ISBN1428628800.
Brown. p.7. ISBN0316648469. . "(Leonardo was) "a homosexual vegetarian born out of wedlock"".
[10] Abbott, Elizabeth (2001). History of Celibacy (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=whs0eudAfJIC). James Clark & Co. p.21.
ISBN0718830067. .
[11] Caravaggio and his two cardinals Creighton Gilbert, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio; p.303N96.
[12] Saslow, Ganymede in the Renaissance: Homosexuality in Art and Society, 1986, p.197.
[13] Leonardo da Vinci How do we know Leonardo was gay?, website (http:/ / www. bnl. gov/ bera/ activities/ globe/ leonardo_da_vinci.
htm)
Brown. p.70. ISBN0316648469. .
[15] Abbott, Elizabeth (2001). History of Celibacy (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=whs0eudAfJIC). James Clark & Co. p.341.
ISBN0718830067. . "To minimize or deny his homosexual orientation, he probably opted for the safety device of chastity".
[16] Friedman, DavidM (2003). A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/
books?id=LV0GAAAACAAJ). Penguin. p.48. ISBN0142002593. .
[17] Freud, Sigmund (1964). Leonardo Da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood. Norton. ISBN0393001490.
[18] In Freud, Sigmund (190913) (in German), Gesammelte Werke, VIII
[19] Collins, BradleyI. (1997). Leonardo, Psychoanalysis, and Art History. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
ISBN0810114194.
[20] Clark, Kenneth (1988). Leonardo da Vinci. Viking. p.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."
Brown. p.133. ISBN0316648469. .
[22] (in Italian) Oreno (http:/ / www. oreno. it), IT, .
[23] Sewell, Brian. Sunday Telegraph, April5,1992.
[24] Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships epigraph, p.148, N120 p.298.
[25] Crompton, Louis: Homosexuality and Civilization. NY, 2003, p.269.
[26] Edward MacCurdy, The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci (1928) in Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism (http:/ / www. ivu. org/ history/
davinci/ hurwitz. html)
[27] Richter, Jean Paul (1970) [1883], The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci (3rd ed.), gives the passage in Italian as "Alcuni gentili chiamati
Guzzarati non si cibano di cosa alcuna che tenga sangue, n fra essi loro consentono che si noccia ad alcuna cosa animata, come il nostro
Leonardo da Vinci."
[28] MacCurdy, Edward (1956) [1939], The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci.
[29] Robert Payne, Leonardo (1978)
[30] Angela Otino della Chiesa, Leonardo da Vinci, Penguin, 1967, ISBN 0-14-00-8649-8
[31] 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

[32] 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.
[33] We've got Da Vinci's fingerprint (http:/ / news. uk. msn. com/ Article. aspx?cp-documentid=1358398) MSN News, Microsoft MSN
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 (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7785) at Project Gutenberg
Vasari Life of Leonardo (http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web publishing/Vasari_daVinci.htm): in
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.
Leonardo's Paintings and Drawings (flash format (http://www.thedavincisite.com/)
Leonardo's Will (http://www.leonardo-history.com/life.htm?Section=S6)
Leonardo da Vinci fingerprint reconstructed (http://news.aol.co.uk/world-news/
leonardo-da-vinci-fingerprint-reconstructed/article/20061201063609990001)
Leonardo da Vinci's Ethical Vegetarianism (http://www.ivu.org/history/davinci/hurwitz.html)

This is a list of paintings attributed
to Leonardo da Vinci, (baptised
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci)
(pronunciation), (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.
31
32
Major extant works

Image
(sort by size)
Details
(sort by date)
The Baptism of
Christ
Attribution status
Location
(sort by country)
Verrocchio and Leonardo
Uffizi
Painted by Andrea del Verrocchio,

with the angel on the left-hand side
[2]
by Leonardo. It is generally
considered that Leonardo also
painted much of the background
landscape and the torso of Christ.
One of Leonardo's earliest extant
works. Vasari's statement that the
angel on the left is by Leonardo is
confirmed by studies by Bode,
Seidlitz and Guthman, and
accepted by McCurdy, Wasserman
[1]
and others.
Florence
Annunciation
Almost universally accepted
Uffizi
c.14721475
Generally thought to be the earliest

extant work entirely by Leonardo.
The work was traditionally
attributed to Verrocchio until
1869. It is now almost universally
attributed to Leonardo. Attribution
proposed by Liphart, accepted by
Bode, Lubke, Muller-Walde,
Berenson, Clark, Goldscheider and
[1]
others.
Florence
Ginevra de'
Benci
Dependent on attribution of
Lady with an Ermine
c.1476
The work was proposed as a

Leonardo by Waagen in 1866, and
supported by Bode. Early
20th-century scholars were
vociferous in their disagreement,
but most current critics accept both
the authorship and the identity of
[1]
the sitter.
National
Gallery of
Art
14721475
Oil on wood
177 151 cm
Oil on panel
98217cm
Oil on wood
38.836.7cm,
15.314.4in
Benois Madonna
Generally accepted
1478
Most critics believe that it

coincides with a Madonna
[1]
mentioned by Leonardo in 1478.
Oil on canvas
49.533cm
Washington,
D.C.
Hermitage
Museum
Saint
Petersburg
33
Madonna of the
Carnation
14781480
Oil on panel
6247.5cm
St. Jerome in the

Wilderness
Generally accepted
It is generally accepted as a
Leonardo, but has some
overpainting possibly by a Flemish
[1]
artist.
Alte
Pinakothek
Munich
Universally accepted
Vatican
Museums
Uffizi
c.1480
Tempera and oil
on panel
10375cm,
4130in
Unfinished
Adoration of the
Magi
Florence
1481
Underpainting
on panel
240250cm,
9697in
Unfinished
Virgin of the
Rocks, Paris
version
Louvre
Considered by most historians to

be the earlier of two versions
Paris
Generally accepted
Czartoryski
Museum
14831486
Oil on panel
(transferred to
canvas)
199122cm,
78.348.0in
Lady with an
Ermine
1485
Oil on wood
panel
5439cm
This painting has been subject to

continued disagreement since it
was first published as a Leonardo
in 1889. The attribution of the
"Ginevra de' Benci" has supported
[1]
the attribution of this painting.
The subject has been identified as
[3]
Cecilia Gallerani.
Krakw
34
Madonna Litta
Disputed
c.1490
Thought perhaps to be by Marco

d'Oggiono
Oil on canvas
(transferred from
panel)
Hermitage
Museum
Saint
Petersburg
4233cm
Portrait of a
Musician
Disputed
1490
Pinacoteca
Ambrosiana
Milan
Oil on wood
panel
4532cm
La belle
ferronnire
Disputed
Louvre
Paris
14901496
Oil on wood
6244cm
The Last Supper
14951498
tempera on
gesso, pitch and
mastic
Convent of
Santa Maria
delle Grazie
Milan
460880cm,
181346in
Virgin of the
Rocks, London
version
14951508
Oil on panel
189.5 120 cm,
74.6 47.25 in
National Gallery,
London
Leonardo and Ambrogio de

Predis
National
Gallery
Generally accepted as postdating

the version in the Louvre, with
collaboration of the de Predis' and
perhaps others. While the date is
not universally agreed, the
collaboration of Leonardo's
[1]
workshop is.
London
35
Sala delle Asse

ceiling frescoes
Castello
Sforzesco
circa 14981499
Milan
[4]
The Virgin and

Child with St.
Anne and St.
John the Baptist
National
Gallery
London
c.14991500
Charcoal, black
and white chalk
on tinted paper
142105cm,
55.741.2in
Madonna of the
Yarnwinder
c.1501
Oil on canvas
50.236.4cm
Mona Lisa or La
Gioconda
Disputed
[5]
Two versions exist, apparently

by different hands, perhaps copies
of a lost work that is described by
Leonardo. The best known, that
belonging to the estate of the Duke
of Buccleuch, was stolen in 2003,
[6]
and recovered in 2007.
Private
collection
Private
collection
Louvre
Paris
c.15031506
Oil on
cottonwood
76.853.0cm,
30.220.9in
Female Head or
La Scapigliata
c.1508
Earth, amber and
white lead on
panel
24.721 cm
Galleria
Nazionale
Parma
36
The Virgin and
Child with St.
Anne
Louvre
Paris
c.1510
Oil on panel
168112cm,
66.144.1in
Bacchus
Disputed
Louvre
15101515
Generally considered to be a
[1]
workshop copy of a drawing.
Paris
Generally accepted
Louvre
"Anonimo Gaddiano" wrote that

Leonardo painted a St. John. This
is generally considered Leonardo's
[1]
last masterpiece.
Paris
Oil on walnut
panel transferred
to canvas
177115cm
St. John the

Baptist
15131516
Oil on walnut
wood
6957cm,
27.222.4in
Lost works
Image
Details
Notes
Medusa
A juvenile work described by Giorgio Vasari.
'Angel of the
Annunciation
The painting is described by Vasari. A drawing survives

among studies for the Battle of Anghiari (see below), and a
[7]
copy is in the Kunstmuseum Basel.
c. 1503
The Battle of
Anghiari
The remains of Leonardo's fresco have been discovered in the

Hall of the Five Hundred (Salone dei Cinquecento) in the
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
1505
Salvator Mundi
15061513
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. Muse du Louvre
[8]
The painting is described by Vasari. Rediscovered in 2011.
37
There are nine known copies of the painting, including:
Leda and the

Swan
Cesare da Sesto, Leda and the Swan (pictured). Oil on wood,

69.5 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
1508
Disputed or recent attributions

Image
Details
Tobias and the
Angel
147080
Egg tempera on
poplar
83.6 66 cm
The Dreyfus
Madonna
c.14751480
Oil on panel
15.712.8cm,
6.135in
The Holy Infants

Embracing
Notes
Location
A painting by Verrocchio while Leonardo was

in his workshop. Martin Kemp suggests that
Leonardo may have painted some part of this
work, most likely the fish. David Alan Brown,
of the National Gallery in Washington,
attributes the painting of the dog to him as
well.
National
Gallery
Previously attributed to Verrocchio or Lorenzo

di Credi. The anatomy of the Christ Child is so
poor as to discourage firm attribution by most
critics while some believe that it is a work of
Leonardo's youth. This attribution was made
by Suida in 1929. Other art historians such as
Shearman and Morelli attribute the work to
[1]
Verrocchio. Daniel Arasse discusses this
painting as a youthful work in Leonardo da
[9]
Vinci, (1997).
National
Gallery of
Art
London
Washington,
D.C.
Several versions in private collections.
c.14861490
Christ Carrying
the Cross
c. 1500
Oil on poplar
Madonna and
Child with St
Joseph or
Adoration of the
Christ Child
Tempera on panel
Diameter 87 cm
Previously attributed by Sotheby's to

[10] [11]
Gian-Francesco de Maineri.
Attributed
[10]
to Leonardo by its present owner.
Attribution based on the similarity of the
tormentors of Christ to drawings made by
Rubens of the Battle of Anghiari. According to
Forbes Magazine, Leonardo expert Carlo
Pedretti said that he knew of three similar
paintings and that "All four paintings, he
believed, were likely the work of Leonardo's
studio assistants and perhaps even the master
[10]
himself."
Private
collection
Previously attributed to Fra Bartolomeo. After

recent cleaning, the Borghese Gallery sought
attribution as a work of Leonardo's youth,
based on the presence of a fingerprint similar
to one that appears in The Lady with the
Ermine. Result of investigation not
[12]
available.
Galleria
Borghese
San
Francisco
Rome
38
Mary Magdalene
Recently attributed as a Leonardo by Carlo

Pedretti. Previously regarded as the work of
Giampietrino who painted a number of similar
[13]
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
[14]
Lucretia with the knife removed.
Private
collection
Young Girl in
Profile in
Renaissance
Dress, or Profile
of a Young
Fiance
bodycolour (pastel) on vellum; identified as a

Leonardo by Martin Kemp and confirmed
[15]
using the evidence of a fingerprint.
Other
experts have not agreed with this attribution.
As of 2010 the methods used to analyse the
[16]
fingerprint have come into question.
Private
collection
Lucan Portrait of
Leonardo
Discovered in 2008 in a private collection and

identified as a self-portrait by Peter Hohenstatt
and others. A date in the late 15th or 16th
century has been confirmed by scientific
testing. Fingerprints match those found on the
Lady with the Ermine. Alternately attributed to
[17]
Cristofano dell'Altissimo.
Manuscripts
Title
Dates
Pages
Codex Atlanticus
14781519 1,119
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
Codex Arundel
14801518 283
British Library, London
Codex Trivulzianus
c. 148790 55 (originally 62)
Codex on the Flight of

Birds
c. 1505
Codex Leicester
15061510 72
18
Notes Location
Biblioteca Trivulziana, Castello Sforzesco,

Milan
Biblioteca Reale, Turin
Private collection
References
[1] della Chiesa, Angela Ottino (1967), The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Penguin, ISBN0-1400-8649-8
[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] Madonna of the Yarnwinder (The Lansdowne Madonna) (http:/ / www. universalleonardo. org/ work. php?id=313). Universal Leonardo.
Retrieved 5 October 2010
[6] "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.
[7] Shearman, John (1992), Only Connect...: Art and the Spectator in the Italian Renaissance, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.33
[8] Esterow, Milton. "ARTnews" (http:/ / artnews. com/ issues/ article. asp?art_id=3345). ARTnews. . Retrieved 2011-06-30.

[9] Arasse, Daniel (1997), Leonardo da Vinci, Konecky & Konecky, ISBN1 56852 1987
[10] 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.
[11] 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)
[12] 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.
[13] "A lost Leonardo? Top art historian says maybe" (http:/ / www. universalleonardo. org/ news. php?item=398). Universal Leonardo. .
Retrieved 2007-09-27.
[14] 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.
[15] 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.
[16] "The Mark of a Masterpiece" (http:/ / www. newyorker. com/ reporting/ 2010/ 07/ 12/ 100712fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all) by David
Grann, The New Yorker, vol. LXXXVI, no. 20, July 12 & 19, 2010, ISSN0028792X
[17] Self-portrait of Leonardo (http:/ / en. surrentum. com/ 2010/ 08/ self-portrait-of-leonardo/ ), Surrentum Online, accessed 2010-11-06
39
40

Leonardo da Vinci
"The Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo is possibly the best known drawing in the world.
Birth name Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci
Born
April 15, 1452 Vinci, Italy
Died
May 2, 1519 (aged67)

Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, France
Nationality Italian
Field
polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer,
botanist and writer
Movement
High Renaissance
Works
Paintings including Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Many scientific drawings including The Vitruvian Man
Leonardo da Vinci (14521519) 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, cartography, civil engineering, chemistry, geology, geometry,
hydrodynamics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, optics, physics, pyrotechnics and zoology.
While 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 dikes 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.
41
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 near Florence, firstly with his mother and in
later childhood in the household of his father,
grandfather and uncle Francesco.
The Arno Valley
His curiosity and interest in scientific observation were
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.
From Leonardo's journals - studies of an old man and the

action of water.
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 Domenico Ghirlandaio, who also
worked at Verrocchio's workshop, did not. Two of Leonardo's
earliest paintings, both scenes of the Annunciation show his
competent understanding of the linear perspective.
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. [2]
42
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.
His journals give insight into his investigative processes.
Studies of a ftus from Leonardo's journals
A recent and exhaustive analysis of Leonardo as a scientist by Frtijof Capra [3] 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 theorizing and hypothesizing 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.
Leonardo's notes and 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 at
the time of his death mainly to his pupil Melzi and were later bound. Much has
survived to illustrate Leonardo's studies, discoveries and inventions. Most of
Leonardo's writing is in mirror script making it difficult to read. Some of his
work was 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
Investigating the motion of the arm.
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 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.[4]
Leonardo writes: The template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
43
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
[4]
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.
Natural science
Light
The template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
Study of the graduations of light and

shade on a sphere.
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
[4]
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.
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, since few artists except Piero
della Francesca actually had 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
shadowed in a manner that was bland and maintained all the features and
The Lady with an Ermine
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.
44
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
[4]
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
memorize 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:
The
template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
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
[4]
see that muscle move, and where it is attached to the ligaments of the bones.
His continued investigations in this field occupied many pages of notes, each dealing systematically with a particular
aspect of anatomy. It appears that the notes were intended for publication, a task entrusted on his death to his pupil
Melzi.
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.
45
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. The template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
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
[4]
skin they had very little over their natural size.
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.
The organs of a woman's body.
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. He was one of the first to draw a scientific representation
of the fetus in the intrautero.
Leonardo 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. In 2005 a UK heart surgeon, Francis Wells,
from Papworth Hospital Cambridge, pioneered repair to damaged hearts, using Leonardo's depiction of the opening
phase of the mitral valve to operate without changing its diameter allowing an individual to recover more quickly.
Wells said "Leonardo had a depth of appreciation of the anatomy and physiology of the body - its structure and
function - that perhaps has been overlooked by some."[5]
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.[6]
Leonardo's 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.
46
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. The template Cquote is being considered for
deletion.
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
[4]
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
[4]
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.[7] 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.
47
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 differently 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 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
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.
Study of sedge
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
town at the foot of a mountain range.
A topographical map.
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.
48
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
[4]
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.[8]
49
Cartography
In the early 16th century maps were rare and often inaccurate.
Leonardo produced several extremely accurate maps such as the town
plan of Imola created in 1502 in order to win the patronage of Cesare
Borgia. Borgia was so impressed that he hired him as a military
engineer and architect. Leonardo also produced a map of Chiana
Valley in Tuscany, which he surveyed, without the benefit of modern
equipment, by pacing the distances. In 1515, Leonardo produced a map
of the Roman Southern Coast which is linked to his work for the
Vatican and relates to his plans to drain the marshland.
Leonardo's accurate map of Imola for Cesare
Borgia.
Hydrodynamics
Studies of water.
[4]
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.
50
Astronomy
The earth is not in the centre of the Suns 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
[4] [9]
just as we see the moon, and the earth would light it as it lights us.
Alchemy
Claims are sometimes been made that Leonardo da Vinci was an alchemist. He was trained in the workshop of
Verrocchio, who according to Vasari, was an able alchemist. Leonardo was a chemist in so much as that he
experimented with different media for suspending paint pigment. In the painting of murals, his experiments resulted
in notorious failures with the Last Supper deteriorating within a century, and the Battle of Anghiari running off the
wall. In Leonardo's many pages of notes about artistic processes, there are some that pertain to the use of silver and
gold in artworks, information he would have learnt as a student.[10]
Leonardo's 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 alchemical quests to turn lead into gold or create a potion that gave eternal
life.
Leonardo said about alchemists:- The template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
The false interpreters of nature declare that quicksilver is the common seed of every metal, not remembering that nature varies the seed
[4] [11]
according to the variety of the things she desires to produce in the world.
Old alchemists... have never either by chance or by experiment succeeded in creating the smallest element that can be created by nature;
however [they] deserve unmeasured praise for the usefulness of things invented for the use of men, and would deserve it even more if they
[12]
had not been the inventors of noxious things like poisons and other similar things which destroy life or mind.
[4]
And many have made a trade of delusions and false miracles, deceiving the stupid multitude.
Mathematical studies
Perspective
[4]
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.
51
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.[13]
Leonardo wrote: The template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
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
[4]
without this nothing can be done well in the matter of drawing.
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,[14] 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 template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
The rhombicuboctahedron, as
published in De divina
proportione.
All the problems of perspective are made clear by the five terms of mathematicians, which are:the point, the line, the angle, the superficies
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
[4]
indivisible and as having no dimensions in space.
Engineering and invention

Vasari in Lives of the Artists says of Leonardo: The template Cquote is being considered for deletion.
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
52
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.
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
determined by the gear.
A machine for grinding convex

lenses.
As an inventor, Leonardo was not prepared to tell all that he knew: The template Cquote is being
considered for deletion.
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
[4]
bags of corks.
Bridges and hydraulics

Leonardo's study of the motion of water led him to design machinery that utilized
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: The template Cquote is being
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 240m (720ft) 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
53
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.[15]
War machines
Leonardo's letter to Ludovico il Moro assured him:
The template Cquote is being
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 offence and
defence, 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.[16] 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 'Tank'.
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
century the Chinese had used a flintlock 'steel wheel' in order to
detonate land mines.[17]
54
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.[18]
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
[4]
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.[19] 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
structure of a bat's wings.
One design that he produced shows a helicopter to be

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.[20]

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.[21]
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 14881489 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.
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 designs 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 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,
Florence, Italy.
55
56
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.[22]
Leonardo's projects
A parabolic compass.
Leonardo's "Aerial Screw",

considered as an early helicopter.
Cannons.
Walking on water.
Model of a tank by
Leonardo
Model of a flywheel
Models based on Leonardo's drawings
Model of
Leonardo's
parachute.
Model after Leonardo's design

for the Golden Horn Bridge.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
Topographical anatomy is the anatomy that is visible on the surface of the body.
Liana Bortolon, The Life and Times of Leonardo, Paul Hamlyn, 1967
Capra, Fritjof. The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind of the Genius of the Renaissance. (New York, Doubleday, 2007)
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)
http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ go/ pr/ fr/ -/ 2/ hi/ health/ 4289204. stm published by BBC 2005/09/28
Martin Kemp, Leonardo, Oxford University Press, (2004) ISBN 0-19-280644-0
eg. 'Theophrastus, On the History of Plants.
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.
See Da Vinci's notebooks (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=4AK9996_-Y8C& lpg=PA135& pg=RA1-PA135#v=onepage& q=&
f=false) on astronomy.
[10] Bruce T. Moran, Distilling Knowledge, Chemistry, Alchemy and the Scientific Revolution, (2005) ISBN 0-674-01495-2
[11] "Quicksilver" is an old name for mercury.
[12] Irma Ann Richter and Teresa Wells, Leonardo da Vinci - Notebooks, Oxford University Press (2008) ISBN 978-0-19-929902-7
[13] Animations of anamorphosis of Leonardo and other artists (http:/ / www. illusionworks. com/ mod/ anamorph. htm#)
[14] L. Murphy Smith, Luca Pacioli: The Father of Accounting (http:/ / acct. tamu. edu/ smith/ ethics/ pacioli. htm), (2008), accessed 27 June
2009

[15] Daniel S. Levy, Dream of the Master (http:/ / www. vebjorn-sand. com/ dreamsofthemaster. html), Time Life, 4 October 1999
[16] "Da Vinci war machines "designed to fail"" (http:/ / www. theage. com. au/ articles/ 2002/ 12/ 13/ 1039656218782. html). The Age
(Melbourne). December 14, 2002. .
[17] Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 199.
[18] "Youtube Video of the BBC documentary" (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=AzglSdu120c& feature=BF&
list=PLC219B9E53A3E82D5& index=8). .
[19] Liana Bortolon, Leonardo, Paul Hamlyn, (1967)
[20] see Helicopter for detailed description of solutions and types of functional helicopter.
[21] U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Leonardo's Dream Machine, October 2005
[22] About Doing DaVinci : Doing DaVinci : Discovery Channel (http:/ / dsc. discovery. com/ tv/ doing-davinci/ about/ about. html)
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. ISBN978-1-4020-5598-0.
Capra, Fritjof. The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind of the Genius of the Renaissance. (New York, Doubleday,
2007)
External links
Complete text & images of Richter's translation of the Notebooks (http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/dv/index.
htm)
Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design (review) (http://www.studio-international.co.uk/reports/
da_vinci.asp)
Some digitized notebook pages with explanations (http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html) from
the British Library (Macromedia Shockwave format)
Digital and animated compendium of anatomy notebook pages (http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/projects/
anatomy/index.html)
BBC Leonardo homepage (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo)
Leonardo da Vinci: The Leicester Codex (http://www.odranoel.de/index.php?lang=eng&menu=start&
area=0&page=0)
Leonardo's Letter to Ludovico Sforza (http://www.leonardo-history.com/life.htm?Section=S5)
Animations of anamorphosis of Leonardo and other artists (http://www.illusionworks.com/mod/anamorph.
htm#)
The Invention of the Parachute (http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/davinciparachute.html)
Da Vinci - The Genius: A comprehensive traveling exhibition about Leonardo da Vinci (http://www.
davincithegenius.com)
The technical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci - a high resolution gallery (http://www.hpic.net/gallery1.htm)
57
58

Leonardo da Vinci
Raphael's depiction of Plato in 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
Movement
High Renaissance
Works
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.
59
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 man depicted appears to be older than Leonardo was at his death.
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 apocryphal,[1]
appealed to the self-image of later French kings
and to French history painters of the 18th and 19th
centuries.
Apparently on commission from Louis XVI,[2]
Mnageot painted The Death of Leonardo da Vinci
in the arms of Francis I in 1781, setting it in a
background of classical statuary. Thie painting,
which was the triumph of the Salon of 1781,
included a portrayal of the Borghese Gladiator
Mnageot's The Death of Leonardo da Vinci
(Mnageot probably having seen it at the Villa
Borghese during his stay at the French Academy in
Rome from 1769 to 1774), although this was an anachronism since Leonardo died in 1519, about ninety years before
the statue was discovered.
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 Luc provided for
him at Amboise 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 Death of Leonardo by Ingres, 1818.
The treatment of this subject by Ingres is

indicative of Leonardo's iconic status and
also specifically that he was of particular
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 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 Romance of Leonardo da Vinci (1901) by Dmitry Merezhkovsky.
The Second Mrs. Giaconda (1975) by E. L. Konigsburg is a children's novel about why Leonardo painted the
Mona Lisa.
Leonardo Da Vinci: Detective a short story by Theodore Mathieson, portrays him using his genius to solve a
murder during his time in France.
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 nameLeonard Vincent.
The Ground is Burning [3] by Samuel Black explores the intersection of Leonardo's life with those of Niccol
Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia.
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.
60

Within the novel it is claimed that from 15101519, 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
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:
Leonardo Da Vinci [4] at the Internet Movie Database (1919), film mute
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 [5] 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 [6] at the Internet Movie Database (2000) starring Mattia Sbragia as Leonardo
da Vinci
Leonardo [7] at the Internet Movie Database (2003), TV movie starring Mark Rylance 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
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 brve" 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.
Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie performed as Leonardo in the progressive metal album 'Leonardo: The
Absolute Man', an album which itself explored his life and works through the milieu of music.
In the Red Hot Chili Peppers video for Californication, a cartoon John Frusciante can be seen riding Leonardo's
helicopter.
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 he and his workshop are 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.
62

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.
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.
The anime Time Quest features Professor Leonardo as inventor of the kettle-shaped time machine, who is
revealed to be Leonardo da Vinci in the final episodes.
In Blackadder: Back & Forth, Baldrick builds a time machine to Leonardo's exact design specifications and it
actually works.
The Futurama episode "The Duh-Vinci Code" reveals Leonardo to be an alien from Planet Vinci, which is
inhabited by brilliant intellectuals of human appearance. However, he is considered to be the least intelligent of
the planet's inhabitants and is bullied by everyone else for it. He came to Earth as a means of escape, but returned
after being disillusioned by how much more unintelligent the people of Earth were compared to him. He builds a
new machine designed to kill his tormentors, but it is sabotaged by Philip J. Fry, and Leonardo is killed instead
when he pulls a lever on the machine that drops a giant cog on him, crushing him.
In The Borgias, Leonardo is given a passing reference as the artist who doesn't finish.
The Family Guy episode "The Big Bang Theory" follows Stewie and Brian on a quest to stop Bertram from
killing Leonardo, which would permanently erase Stewie from the universe.
In the Ironside Season 2 episode "The Prophecy," a fictional Leonardo painting called "The Seraglio" is stolen
from a museum. A psychic friend of Ironside's tells Mark Sanger he will catch "a lovely black girl all in silver and
emeralds with golden rings around her ankles," and it is Mark who saves the painting--which features a bejeweled
black woman dancing in a seraglio--from rolling into the sea toward the end of the episode.
Advertising
Benetton's 1988 "United Superstars of Benetton" print and billboard campaign, paired with Julius Caesar [8]
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.[9]
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 Lonard by Turk and De Groot.
Gnral Leonardo, a French-language graphic novel by Erik Svane [10] and Dan Greenberg [11] in two Paquet [12]
volumes (so far), In the Service of the Vatican [13] and Crusade To the Holy Land [14].
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.[15]
63

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.
Leonardo appeared as a character in the now defunct Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics mini series The Light
and Darkness War.
Leonardo Da Vinci appears in the current Marvel S.H.I.E.L.D. series (Which is now a series of mini series) by
Jonathan Hickman. Leonardo is dipicted as a leader of the a sacred order called the Brotherhood of the Shield and
has been shown to time travel to the story's "present" set in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Computer and video games

The Secrets of Da Vinci: the Forbidden Manuscript the first game about the life and work of Leonardo da
Vinci.[16]
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 a friend of the protagonist, Ezio
Auditore da Firenze. Leonardo assists him by deciphering Codex pages and building various devices, inventions
and weapons.
An older Leonardo appears in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood aiding Ezio Auditore da Firenze against Cesare
Borgia and Rodrigo Borgia.
The DLC The Da Vinci Disappearance for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood includes new single player missions
which revolve around Ezio Auditore da Firenze searching for Leonardo, who has been kidnapped by
Hermeticists, members of the Cult of Hermes. The DLC also includes Leonardo's pupil, Sala.
Role-playing games
In Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, there is an equivalent to Leonardo named Leonardo de Miragliano.
Depictions of Leonardo's works
64
65
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.
Other much much-copied works include:
Peter Paul Rubens' copy of the lost Battle of Anghiari.
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 (24feet) 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.
66
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.[17]
Products and advertising

Mona Lisa postage stamp, Germany.
Galleries
Representations of Leonardo
Engraving from "The

Swedish Family
Journal", 1864-87, artist
Evald Hansen.
Statue by Pietro Magni in piazza

della Scala, Milan.
An engraved
representation of
Leonardo
Statue of Leonardo in Amboise
Representations of Leonardo's works
Leonardo's
drawing of the
Vitruvian Man is
used in many
contexts, including
T-shirts.
Stamp from
Germany
celebrating the
500th birthday of
Leonardo
The Last Supper carved in salt in

the Wieliczka Salt Mine
The statue of
Leonardo
outside the
Uffizi, Florence
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] According to Franois-Charles Joullain fils, Rflexions sur la peinture et la gravure 1786:2.
[3] http:/ / www. amazon. co. uk/ Ground-Burning-Samuel-Black/ dp/ 0571269400/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8& qid=1294618115& sr=8-1
[4] http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0345566/
[8] "Benetton Group: Evolution of Communication Strategy" scribd.com (http:/ / www. scribd. com/ doc/ 6390605/ Benetton-Group) Accessed
21 February 2010
[9] How it all Began! (http:/ / www. ninjaturtles. com/ comics/ origin. htm)
[10] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ auteur. php?id=185
[11] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ auteur. php?id=186
[12] http:/ / www. paquet. li/
[13] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ album. php?id=286
[14] http:/ / www. paquet. li/ paquet/ album. php?id=344
[15] The Return Of Limonardo (http:/ / coa. inducks. org/ story. php?c=D+ + 8242)
[16] http:/ / www. trisynergy. com/ products/ title_davinci. shtml
[17] 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
External links
Leonardo da Vinci (Character) (http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0029220/) at the Internet Movie Database
LOGO by Leonardo da Vinci to download and print (poster, t-shirt) (http://www.logospi.com/davinci4.htm)
67

Leonardo da Vinci Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=450639809 Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci's personal life Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=450611576 Contributors: List of works by Leonardo da Vinci Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=450450396 Contributors: Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=450965459 Contributors: Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=450168606 Contributors: -
68

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Da Vinci

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Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci's personal life

List of works by Leonardo da Vinci

Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci

Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Self-portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515

Royal Library of Turin

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

April 15, 1452

May 2, 1519 (aged67)

Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences

Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man

his last years in France, at the home awarded him by FrancisI.

Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano

Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno

Leonardo received an informal education in Latin, geometry and

Verrocchio's workshop, 14661476

Professional life, 14761513

The Adoration of the Magi, (1481)Uffizi

Study of horse from Leonardo's

Old age, 15131519

Relationships and influences

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

Study for a portrait of Isabella d'Este

portrait now lost.[16]

Assistants and pupils

Salai as John the Baptist (c.

Unfinished painting of St. Jerome in

Paintings of the 1480s

Virgin of the Rocks, Louvre, demonstrates

Paintings of the 1490s

Leonardo's most famous painting of

Paintings of the 1500s

Leonardo as observer, scientist and inventor

The Vitruvian Man (c.1485) Accademia, Venice

His notes and drawings display an enormous range of interests and

A page showing Leonardo's study of a foetus in

These notebooksoriginally loose papers of different types and sizes,

Leonardo's notes appear to have been intended for publication because

Engineering and inventions

In 1502, Leonardo produced a drawing of a single span 720-foot

Leonardo the legend

Francis I of France receiving the last breath of

Statue of Leonardo in Amboise

"Leonardo da Vinci" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.

Portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515.

April 15, 1452

May 2, 1519 (aged67)

Many and diverse fields of arts and sciences

Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci's personal life

Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano.

Leonardo da Vinci's personal life

Salai as John the Baptist 151316

The most overt biographical detail concerning Leonardo's personal life

Elizabeth Abbott, in her History of Celibacy, contends that although

Leonardo da Vinci's personal life

The Incarnate Angel, (charcoal drawing, c. 1515)

is clearly related to the painting of John the

Leonardo da Vinci's personal life

Patrons, friends and colleagues

Francis I of France receiving the last breath of