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The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci,

Edward MacCurdy (editor)

3.94 · Rating details · 40,436 ratings · 192 reviews

This definitive translation of Leonardo's notebooks brings together into one volume the famous reflections and speculations of the greatest mind of the Renaissance. It is a result of a lifetime of study and research by the outstanding authority on the life and works of the great Florentine. Because of the unique and diverse character of Leonardo's achievements, the reissue ...more

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Hardcover, 1180 pages

Published January 1st 2002 by Konecky & Konecky (Olld Saybrook, CT) (first published 1519)

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Jun 20, 2014 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, science, 16th-century, arts, italian, literature, biography, non-fiction

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci‬‭, Leonardo da Vinci

The collection of writings and art in this magnificent book are drawn from his notebooks.

The book organizes his wide range of interests into subjects such as human figures, light and shade, perspective and visual perception, anatomy, botany and landscape, geography, the physical sciences and astronomy, architecture, sculpture, and inventions.

Nearly every piece of writing throughout the book is keyed to the piece of artwork it describes.

تار ...more

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Apr 04, 2014 Roy Lotz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: artsy-fartsy, history-of-science, medicine-and-disease, italophilia

The mind of a painter must resemble a mirror, which always takes the color of the object it reflects and is completely occupied by the images of as many objects are in front of it.

I picked up this book on a whim, and read it for the same reason. My edition is an attractively bound selection of Leonardo’s most interesting notes and drawings, arranged to give the reader an appreciation of the breadth of this quintessential Renaissance man’s interests, and the great scope of his imagination.

I must admit right off the bat that this book is often a bit of a bore to read through. Leonardo’s notes are typically terse and functional—more like grocery lists than diary entries. But the real treat, of course, is seeing Leonardo’s many drawings and studies, reproduced here in color photographs. Simply turning from page to page, taking note of whatever sketch caught your eye, would be enough to convince you that this man was a great genius.

We all knew this already; but determining the exact nature of Leonardo’s genius is, by contrast, a bit more difficult. Of course, he was a great painter, one of the very best; this alone would be enough to secure him lasting fame. But he also distinguished himself—though he wasn’t known for it at the time—for his interest in science and engineering. He did pioneering studies in human anatomy, making drawings so detailed that they could be used in Gray’s Anatomy. He sketched several ideas for inventions, many of them frighteningly futuristic, such as a flying machine and a tank. He made accurate maps and designed buildings and bridges. He even made careful studies of the workings of the eye and the behavior of light.

At first sight, all this seems almost impossible, like Isaac Newton and J.M.W. Turner rolled into one. But Leonardo’s mind wasn’t quite as flexible as the above paragraph might suggest. (Not to detract from his accomplishments, of course.) For example, Leonardo was not especially adept at performing feats of logic or reason; nor was he an experimenter, making careful and controlled tests of his ideas. Aside from his extraordinary creativity, Leonardo’s main asset was his extremely keen, almost supernatural, skill as a visual observer. He had the ability to make his mind a mirror of his environment, and then to accurately and attractively depict whatever phenomenon caught his fancy. Simple as this sounds, this can get you a long way. For instance, if you set yourself the task of drawing a bridge as accurately as possible, this will teach you something about the design of bridges, how they are constructed and bear weight. Do this with everything around you in your daily life, as Leonardo did, and it will force you to pay attention to the way things are put together and teach you how they work.

This is the main lesson Leonardo taught me about becoming a Renaissance man: master a certain medium, whether it be visual, verbal, mathematical, musical, or what have you, and then use this medium as a filter for your experiences. This will allow you to notice things that other people might not, and then to represent your observations in an engaging form. Of course, this strategy wasn’t Leonardo’s only asset; he was also a creative genius. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with a method for becoming a brilliant innovator. And perhaps, sad as it seems, a mechanism for turning average folks into world-class geniuses is something beyond even Leonardo’s powers.
...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Alex rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: rth-lifetime, 2011, reading-through-history, top-100, renaissance

Da Vinci was very specific.

On depicting a battle:
"The air must be full of arrows in every direction." (There follows several pages more of instructions, including bits like, "There must not be a level spot that is not trampled with gore.") (p. 26-28)

And his bits on anatomy are famous enough without me. The distance between the corner of your eye and your ear is the same as the height of your ear. Now you know.

But then, on the less specific side, there's this: "Of grotesque faces I need say nothi ...more

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Nov 25, 2018 Jerecho rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, art

This is so nice. Given the luxury of time I want to reread this one...

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Jun 18, 2011 Lynde rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: parenting, kids, helping, self-growth, science-non-fiction, photography, art, ongoing-reading, newly-arrived, favorite

Yes, I just added a "homeschool" shelf. Why? Because I am supplementing a bit. Even private schools don't cut the mustard at this point. I have highly creative children--one of which is a constant stream of inventions. He spews out ideas with dry erase markers to windows, takes garbage from the recycling bin as if it is a golden treasure. He even CRIES because he thinks I am wasting a precious gem by recycling a cardboard box or an egg crate. Because "mom--can't you SEE that THIS is CLEARLY an A ...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Murugan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"Let no man who is not a Mathematician read the elements of my work" - a live testimony that analytical and creative abilities are not as simply polarised as the left-right brain theory. ...more

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Jul 13, 2010 Rob Lewis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Whenever I see the grammar police rear their ugly head, I'll remember LDV wrote backwards in an indecipherable scrawl and with an akward form of shorthand. ...more

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Jul 03, 2014 Lily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, non-fiction, classics, history, class-and-society, medieval-texts

Holy gods. Read this. READ IT. Da Vinci was a bloody genius.

Given that Leonardo never had much of a formal education, and that his intelligence was borne out of observation and imagination, what this book contains is truly astonishing. It blurs what modernity would consider the lines between the arts and the sciences, but I don't think that matters. What really matters is the hard evidence that a self-taught scientist figured out things that were taught to me in my science lessons at school. I'l ...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Fed rated it liked it · review of another edition

Leonardo's work is outstanding, this book is good, but the presentation could have been a bit more powerful ...more

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Sep 12, 2009 CJ Bowen rated it liked it · review of another edition

"Force arises from dearth or abundance; it is the child of physical motion, and the grandchild of spiritual motion, and the mother and origin of gravity." 186

"Science is the observation of things possible, whether present or past. Prescience is the knowledge of things which may come to pass, though but slowly." 252

"Wisdom is the daughter of experience." 288

"Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing tha ...more

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Feb 26, 2009 Barb rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: artists

Shelves: general-nonfiction, didn-t-finish

Such a look at the way da Vinci thought. Usually, we see his visual works. This book translates and organizes his written journals to provide us a look at his thoughts on art and the world around him. Very enjoyable to browse, though not necessarily a work to be read straight through.

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Sep 26, 2011 Sundeep Supertramp rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: goldeen

Review:

I never knew who da Vinci was. It was only after watching the movie, The Da Vinci Code, I came to understand that Leonardo da Vinci was a person who creates puzzles for his time pass. He also drew few paintings like Mona Lisa and The Last Supper (during that time, I didn't even know what was the significance of the painting).

Slowly, there after I came to learn Leonardo was no puzzler (person who creates puzzles), but an artist. It is only after I read this book, I came to understand the r Review:

I never knew who da Vinci was. It was only after watching the movie, The Da Vinci Code, I came to understand that Leonardo da Vinci was a person who creates puzzles for his time pass. He also drew few paintings like Mona Lisa and The Last Supper (during that time, I didn't even know what was the significance of the painting).

Slowly, there after I came to learn Leonardo was no puzzler (person who creates puzzles), but an artist. It is only after I read this book, I came to understand the reason behind his fame. The text in this book has literally swept me off my feet. Though the methods he exercised were bizarre and awkward to understate. (He got the general of the army to strip all this clothes and made him lie stark naked to draw some painting!!)

Description (From the jacket - hand typed):
For everyone who has read and enjoyed Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, here is an exceptional insight into da Vinci's inner world, in his own words and images.

The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci - a treasure house of unparalleled ingenuity, curiosity and creative energy - have inspired their readers for centuries. Fascinating and tantalizing their readers for centuries. Fascinating and tantalizing by turns, the individual pages of the notebooks, densely covered with da Vinci's sketches, jottings, calculations and detailed diagrams, are among the most prized possessions of the world's great art collectors.

Painters, sculptors, engineer; mathematician, philosopher, inventor; architect, anatomist and naturalist - da Vinci's talents are seemingly endless. This is new selection from the notebooks, bursting with imagination and quirkiness, sometimes cryptic or even incomprehensible, is the perfect introduction to the mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci. Those who know him as the celebrated painter of The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa will be astonished and intrigues by this sparkling testament to one of greatest minds of Western Civilization.

My take on the book:

I rated this book four. And I rate da Vinci the whole five!!

For me, before I read this book, painting was something way over my head. There are some painting I came across which are like a baby's puke of different colours on a canvas and that would price over a million rupees! Anyone can mix some colours and throw them on a canvas and call it a painting.

After reading this book, there are two................

To read the whole review, click here... ...more

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Apr 22, 2019 Castles rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: art

I approached this book with great awe stricken respect and it took me a long time, years actually, to feel ready and worthy to read it. I love the Renaissance, the art and the history and of course, the main characters and artists that made that era so interesting.

I must honestly say that I was a bit disappointed. I'm not sure most of the parts of this book were meant to a reader other than da Vinci himself (though some definitely did). I've found some parts quite boring, detailing painting mat I approached this book with great awe stricken respect and it took me a long time, years actually, to feel ready and worthy to read it. I love the Renaissance, the art and the history and of course, the main characters and artists that made that era so interesting.

I must honestly say that I was a bit disappointed. I'm not sure most of the parts of this book were meant to a reader other than da Vinci himself (though some definitely did). I've found some parts quite boring, detailing painting materials, bills of scudi and florins, and scraps which weren't clear.

But of course, it's also a glimpse to one of the great minds of human history. While some of his notes look like things that a man writes to himself without the need to explain anything, without the context and the stream of thoughts, a lot of them nevertheless actually are in context and detail in dates and the natural order of making a claim. The first part of the book is especially coherent, with its scientific debates.

I also enjoyed his notes on art, his tips to a painter, and his touching essay about elephants.

being THE renaissance man, this book gives you an idea on why Leonardo da Vinci didn't paint as many paintings as we wish he had because he was so busy being fascinated with almost everything that caught his attention. Nature, physics, optics, geology, the study of water and astronomy… as Andrew Graham Dixon said, da Vinci is somewhat the first example of a conceptual artist, study first and taking days before approaching his painting, giving few brushstrokes and then stop to think again for a couple of days.

The fact he didn't finish so many projects strengthen this idea, that he liked studying better, and was always distracted by a new field of study.

This book is somewhat weird because I'm sure that academic scholars study the actual codex, this edited book is trying to put an order in things for the common reader but that common reader has to be very very interested in da Vinci, and might benefit more reading his biographies. You can't perfectly edit a book like this. A personal journal can't be all clear to any reader.

But after all that, it's still an important text, with priceless historical significance. ...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Devlin Scott rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Most of the original text and sketches have of course been lost either by time or by Leonardo's own design (he deliberately corrupted his own texts to keep his competitors from stealing his works). It is a true shame that this knowledge is lost.

Any free kindle edition is easily worth 4 stars. It is a rare treat to see Leonardo's mind at work. He was one of the most gifted intellects ever created and just watching how he 'pieced' the workings of life and the known universe together is worth the t ...more

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Apr 29, 2009 Heather Wednesday rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of the defining periods of my life was when I read Leonardo's notebooks. His awareness, curiosity, and maddening drive towards perfection of his understanding of reality is beautiful.

You really get a grasp of his personality from the notebooks. He suffered greatly from the thought that he'd die before I got it all figured out. ...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Brion O'quigley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Short punchy excerpts that provide insight into a genius making his way in the world over 500 years ago.

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Jan 25, 2012 Ecem Dilan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

touching the big papers is really exciting. He has a big brain so he has lots o thing about everything . amazing.

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Feb 09, 2013 Matthew Kowalski rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

On occasion I do as I am doing now which was choosing a book or a source close to the one I have read. So that I might have some reference to the work that has interested me. I read this work in two forms a little red book at my community college the other being on the project gutenberg website. I think it's one of the best website ever created it serves the commons and I hope the commons serves it. Right now their is a war over the domain of information and this is a concern, because their are On occasion I do as I am doing now which was choosing a book or a source close to the one I have read. So that I might have some reference to the work that has interested me. I read this work in two forms a little red book at my community college the other being on the project gutenberg website. I think it's one of the best website ever created it serves the commons and I hope the commons serves it. Right now their is a war over the domain of information and this is a concern, because their are so many things that we should not claim ownership or domain over, yet we do and often times we pay for these things in ways that we cannot see at the time. The unknown unknown always constantly chomping at us from above or below.

This book in any of it's forms is interesting though because the individual is interesting, though one might not be able to see the fellow as universally likable. Who is?

The things that constructed his life and his positions, where the whirlpools and the vortices that he would describe. Its not easy being a bastard at the time of his birth, or even now. Not having one or many parents can cause allot of problems in a persons life for a variety of reasons.

Having your father see that you have great talent though and then invest in you to get you training and help that you otherwise would not get is quite wonderful. That and his big break with the kings and the merchants was to all of our benefits unfortunately it was siege technology that had them interested not in his other skills.

I think to some degree he played the courts though by pushing out some things and not really bringing them into fruition, while otherwise entertaining the courts so that their could be much gaiety and joy.

He is interesting to me because he is interested in so many things curious completely and looking towards nature to answer his questions not people or authorities. Who needs a greater authority that which houses us all and we live within.

So if you are curious and you want to know about a mind and it's flights and fantasies this work is perfect. Though so many things that were personal were not shared. Only things about observations and discoveries.

Except for what I think the most tragic thing that I saw in his work when he was dying and he questioned the value of his life. Saying that it was worth nothing.

I say my dear friend from ages before, that your life was worth something it has helped so many of us who are curious or struggling thank you for your life. ...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Harry Allagree rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Editor H. Anna Suh has provided a wonderful glimpse of a genius & one of history's greatest artists, Leonardo da Vinci, through the medium of reproductions from his notebooks. Despite some drawbacks, I felt as though I were sitting with a venerable old expert who was personally sharing in snippets the fruit of a long life of observation & practical experience. For one who had no formal schooling -- "book learning" -- as so many of his colleagues had, the warmth & accuracy of his genius, not just Editor H. Anna Suh has provided a wonderful glimpse of a genius & one of history's greatest artists, Leonardo da Vinci, through the medium of reproductions from his notebooks. Despite some drawbacks, I felt as though I were sitting with a venerable old expert who was personally sharing in snippets the fruit of a long life of observation & practical experience. For one who had no formal schooling -- "book learning" -- as so many of his colleagues had, the warmth & accuracy of his genius, not just as an artist but as a human being, shine through. Had he lived in our century, he'd have been right up there with the likes of Steve Jobs & Bill Gates, to mention only two, & probably even further ahead of them!

The book is filled with reproductions of the original writing & drawings in the notebook which he carried with him. He was always observing, always comparing, always perfecting his art. His mind must have constantly clicked along at a 100 mph! He even alludes to "practicing" painting/drawing techniques mentally in the darkness before falling asleep. Leonardo somehow learned very early on that by establishing some very fundamental bases & principles, then by practicing over & over, & by experimenting, one equipped oneself with all that was needed to be "useful". In the last section, "Philosophy, Aphorisms, and Miscellaneous Writings", he says: "Movement will cease before we are weary of being useful. Movement will fail sooner than usefulness…In serving others I cannot do enough. No labor is sufficient to tire me. Hands into which ducats and precious stones fall like snow; they never become tired by serving, but this service is only for its utility and not for our own benefit. Naturally nature has so disposed me. I am never weary of being useful."

Unfortunately, most of what Leonardo writes in the notebooks is exceedingly technical & not always easy to understand. The reproductions & sketches are small & difficult to make out. But I don't know if or how one could improve on this, given this books parameters. ...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Amalie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: journals-diaries-essays, art-or-art-related, italy

If you ever wondered what the GREAT Leonardo thought, then this is the book to get. In here are the words written by Leonardo of his philisophical ideas, lives of where he lived and his surroundings, his theories on color, perspective, proportion, architecture, foliage, physiology and so many other things that the Great One was curious about.

One weakness though, the pictures were randomly arranged, sometimes I wondered why some were even there because it has no connection to the article on the p ...more

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Aug 19, 2013 Akshay Bade rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you ever wondered what the GREAT Leonardo thought, then this is the book to get. In here are the words written by Leonardo of his philosophical ideas, lives of where he lived and his surroundings, his theories on color, perspective, proportion, architecture, foliage, physiology and so many other things that the Great One was curious about.
Any free kindle edition is easily worth 4 stars. It is a rare treat to see Leonardo's mind at work. He was one of the most gifted intellects ever created a ...more

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May 14, 2013 Cynthia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reference, poetry-reading-list

I will add more on this later if I have time. Found the most complete collection published in the 1970s in a used bookstore in 2 volumes. This current edition might be unabridged - I did not check. The sections on art and painting are exquisite and the moral tales, as well. I did not read it cover to cover but scanned and read what seemed to be of interest to me. I use it as reference and source material.

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Aug 08, 2012 Mloy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow, this was an awesome collection of notes. Makes one appreciate Da Vinci's genius more. He had a lot of interesting insights not only on art but also in war and politics, human and animal behaviour as well as some fascinating and humorous anecdotes. His mind was simply amazing, his grasp on almost everything makes it seem he can almost predict the future. Totally worth reading.
...more

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Aug 19, 2014 Dave Brace rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A fine read for those interested in the great de Vinci. His penmanship is second to none and the drawings are true works of art.
The range of subjects covered by this book are fascinating from a historical and cultural point of view.
This makes an excellent coffee table book and I would quite happily hang many of the drawings on my walls.

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Mar 30, 2008 Jen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Five stars for the illustrations and the genius of the author. I didn't understand all of the text -- a lot of it is technical instructions for painting, sculpture, and various inventions, but I understood enough to appreciate the the mind of Leonardo da Vinci was extraordinary. ...more

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Jun 22, 2018 Zav ♥azxlad00♥ the reader rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A complete human. One of the most illustrated man that has ever existed. A compilation of the greatest human that has ever existed.
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Oct 02, 2019 Alan Cook rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Many books have been written about Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks. I had a hard time finding this one on Goodreads. He filled many notebooks with his mirror writing and wrote on a lot of subjects. He spent a lot of time writing about painting, and reading this book is a course in perspective, light, getting proportions of people correct, color, and other subjects of interest to the artist. He was also an expert on anatomy and compared man with animals. There isn't much information on some of the ...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Clayton Chase rated it liked it · review of another edition

So much to say about Leonardo. Truly the quintessential renaissance man. Reading his complete notebooks made me realize that the breadth and depth of his curiosities and goings-on are much greater than is commonly known. Many of his writings were discovered after the inventions he wrote about were re-created by others, but this collection still puts any modern blogger to shame. Keep your journals, you never know who might be interested!

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Apr 14, 2018 Rick Sam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, architecture

A Masterpiece to learn and understand Renaissance Man. Although, I'm not a painter -- I got a glimpse of Leonardo's life through his journal entries.

"A Painter is not admirable if he is not universal." This seems to strike chords with thinkers of School of Salamanca, who viewed Knowledge holistically and didn't take positivist approach of segmenting branches of Knowledge.

--Deus Vult
Gottfried ...more

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Jul 16, 2013 Robin rated it liked it · review of another edition

I love his drawing in this book. He comments on his process of learning about the human body and a great deal of other stuff. Wish he could have lived in an age where he could have been recorded. Great for any art student and others as well. Three stars because I have a hard time reading and understanding some of his comments. Not a reflection of the great man himself.

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About Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

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It was on April 15, 1452, that Leonardo was born in the town of Vinci, Republic of Florence, in what is now in Italy, the illegitimate son of a notary and a barmaid. It is from his birthplace that he is known as Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo seemed to master every subject to which he turned his attention: he was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer, wrote poetry and stories: the p It was on April 15, 1452, that Leonardo was born in the town of Vinci, Republic of Florence, in what is now in Italy, the illegitimate son of a notary and a barmaid. It is from his birthplace that he is known as Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo seemed to master every subject to which he turned his attention: he was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer, wrote poetry and stories: the prototype Renaissance man!

His Last Supper (1495-97) and Mona Lisa (La Gioconda, 1503-06) are among the most popular paintings from the Renaissance. He and his rival Michelangelo did great service to the medical arts by accurate paintings of dissections, which were only occasionally allowed by the Church. Yet, his artistry appeared to be an afterthought, as he frequently left his works unfinished, and only about fifteen of his paintings survive. His notebooks reveal that he was centuries ahead of his time in mechanics and physic, fortifications, bridges, weapons, and river diversions to flood the enemy, which aided Italian city-states in their many wars.

Leonardo was an early evolutionist regarding fossils. Through his careful observations he noted that “if the shells had been carried by the muddy deluge they would have been mixed up, and separated from each other amidst the mud, and not in regular steps and layers — as we see them now in our time.” Leonardo reasoned that what is now dry land, where these aquatic fossils were found, must once have been covered by seawater.

He was for a short time accused of homosexuality: there is no evidence Leonardo had any sexual interest in women. As he wrote in his notebooks, “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.”

And what of his religion? It is significant that at the end of his life he felt he had much spiritual negligence to atone for. His first biographer, Giorgio Vasari, wrote in 1550:

"Finally, …feeling himself near to death, [he] asked to have himself diligently informed of the teaching of the Catholic faith, and of the good way and holy Christian religion; and then, with many moans, he confessed and was penitent; and … was pleased to take devoutly the most holy Sacrament, out of his bed. The King, who was wont often and lovingly to visit him, then came into the room; wherefore he, out of reverence … showed withal how much he had offended God and mankind in not having worked at his art as he should have done."

There was much skepticism in Renaissance Italy at the time, and Leonardo was an intellectual genius, not just an artistic genius. While there was great intellectual freedom during the Italian Renaissance, there were limits as long as the Dominicans, the “Hounds of the Lord,” were active. This semblance of a deathbed conversion, by so critical a thinker and so great a genius as Leonardo, who would have nothing to lose by professing piety all his life, can only mean that during his prime years he was a secret freethinker.

Leonardo died quietly on the 2 of May, 1519, a few weeks following his 67th birthday. ...more