Born On This Day- April 15th... Renaissance Man Leonardo da Vinci

In his childhood, the Husband was so entranced by a book on the life of Leonardo da Vinci that he taught himself to write in "mirror", that can only be read by holding it up to a reflection, a skill practiced by the often secretive Leonardo. The Husband can still do the mirror writing to this day & is himself, a bit of a Renaissance man.

self portrait

Leonardo da Vinci was denied an education & a profession because he was born out of wedlock in 1452. One of the few professions for the son of a middle class notary & a peasant girl was art. Despite the stigma of being a bastard Leonardo mastered anatomy, architecture, botany, cartography,  engineering, mathematics, music, science, sculpture, sketching, & painting.



When he was 24, Leonardo  & 3 young companions were arrested on the charge of sodomy. No witnesses appeared against them & eventually the charges were dropped.  Although he was not convicted, the accusation may have tormented Leonardo throughout his life. It seems clear to me that Leonardo was homosexual. He kept his private life very private, but throughout his entire life, Leonardo surrounded himself with attractive men. His relationship with the beautiful curly haired Gian Giacomo de' Caprotti lasted 20 years. In the last 10 years of Leonardo's life, his companion was the much younger Francesco Melzi, who would later serve as the executor of Leonardo’s estate.


Leonardo possessed the greatest mind of the Italian Renaissance. He wanted to know the workings of what he saw in nature. his inventions & scientific studies were centuries ahead of his time. He was the first person to study scientifically study the flight of birds. Leonardo's contribution to art was even greater. He had a strong influence on other artists, especially Raphael & Michelangelo. Leonardo's balanced compositions became the standard for later Renaissance art. Painters tried to imitate Leonardo's perspective, knowledge of anatomy, & observations of nature. His inventiveness, versatility, & intellectual curiosity show Leonardo to be the epitome of the Renaissance spirit. 6 centuries later, the world is still in awe.