Leonardo da Vinci was many things: artist, architect, engineer, inventor and — on occasion — scientist. But even though he made many detailed studies of the human form, his anatomical drawings languished unpublished for centuries. Here’s a glimpse into his archives.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is, arguably, the most famous painting in the world. But would it be devalued if it wasn’t the original? We might soon find out, because a very similar painting from the same period has surfaced — and it’s by a different artist.
Even the brilliant mind of Leonardo da Vinci needed to jot things down in a notebook so he could remember what he needed to do. The only difference, of course, is that da Vinci’s to-do list was much more complex than ours. I mean, who needs to calculate the measurement of Milan and its suburbs and learn how to repair a lock, canal and mill?
Salvator Mundi, or “Savior of the World” is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci that’s been lost for centuries. Art historians have confirmed that deeper in the painting, you can see the “miraculous softness” and the “delicate paint” of Leonardo.
Here’s a sampling of the most fascinating of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, culled from 7000 pages of original sketches and text, by H. Anna Suh.
At one time in history, even da Vinci himself had to pen a resume to explain why he was a qualified applicant. Here’s a translation of his letter to the Duke of Milan, delineating his many talents and abilities.
