June 17, 2025 • 29 mins
Leonardo da Vinci is often remembered for the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper—but he was so much more than a painter. In this episode, we uncover the Renaissance icon’s groundbreaking work in engineering, anatomy, and invention, as well as explore the quieter truths of his personal identity.
We ask a powerful question: What might the world look like if everyone—regardless of gender or sexuality—could live and create as freely as Leonardo did, without fear of judgment?
Join us as we journey through Leonardo’s notebooks, his unconventional relationships, and the brilliance he left behind—not just in paint, but in thought.
THREE KEY TAKE-AWAYS
How Leonardo’s engineering and scientific contributions shaped modern innovations—from anatomy to flight.
Insight into Leonardo’s personal life, including his relationships with Salaì and Melzi, and what modern historians believe about his sexuality.
A broader question of what happens when people are allowed to live and create authentically—without fear of shame or suppression.
Resources & References
Walter Isaacson’s biography of Leonardo da Vinci:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Walter-Isaacson/9781501139154
Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks (Codex Atlanticus):
https://www.leonardodigitale.com
Museum of Science, Leonardo DaVinci
Leonardo da Vinci’s mother was a slave, according to new research
Da Vinci's mother was an enslaved teenager trafficked to Italy, new documents suggest
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to Math Science History. It's Pride Month and so today I'm going to be
talking about one of the most prominent and possibly gay men in history,
Leonardo da Vinci and his journey from an unconventional childhood to the
courts of Renaissance Italy. I'm Gabrielle Birchak, your host. I have a
background in math, science, and journalism and by the time you're done
(00:23):
listening to today's podcast, you're going to know so much more about the
genius and lifestyle of Leonardo da Vinci. In the year 415, the infamous
philosopher and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, Egypt was savagely murdered
by church monks. This murder shocked the Roman community and its government
(00:47):
leaders. Hypatia was known far and wide as a respected philosopher, mathematician,
government advisor, and a professor. Hypatia, the sum of her life, is a book
that I wrote that looks not just at the circumstances surrounding her death, but
also at the sum of her entire life. I weave in the details of her education,
(01:08):
disciples, Neoplatonic philosophies, female contemporaries, and the many
mathematics that she wrote and taught about. There is truly more to Hypatia's
life than her death. Hypatia, the sum of her life, written by me,
Gabriele Birchak, is now on sale on Amazon. Buy your copy today.
(01:34):
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, in the small village of Anchiano,
near the town of Vinci in Tuscany. He was the illegitimate son of a 25 year
old notary, Ser Piero da Vinci, and a young woman named Caterina. Because his
parents weren't married, Leonardo didn't receive a classical formal education in
(01:55):
Latin or Greek, but he did grow up in his father's household where he had
access to scholarly texts and learned the basics of reading, writing, and
mathematics. From an early age, he showed an insatiable curiosity about the
natural world and a talent for drawing. Family accounts say young Leonardo would
spend hours observing animals, water flows, and the countryside around him,
(02:20):
sketching what he saw. This self-driven learning laid the foundation for his
lifelong approach, empirical observation over formal schooling. No doubt, from his
artwork to his knowledge about engineering and architecture, to his
ideas about flight, his brilliance was and always will be unmatched. Interestingly,
(02:40):
new research in 2023 suggests that Leonardo's mother, Caterina, may not have
been a local peasant girl, as long-believed, but possibly an enslaved
woman from the Caucasus region. Historian Carlo Vecchia uncovered
documents indicating Caterina was freed from slavery by Ser Piero around the
time of Leonardo's birth. If true, and scholars are still debating this, Leonardo
(03:05):
da Vinci would have been half Italian, half Circassian. This theory paints an
even more fascinating picture of his heritage, though it comes with many
caveats. Whether or not this claim holds, it's clear that Leonardo's origins were
unconventional for the son of a legal notary, and he grew up straddling
different social worlds from the very start. Leonardo's childhood in Vinci was
(03:30):
spent largely in nature, which became his first classroom. By his teens, Leonardo's
artistic talent was evident enough that his father sought a proper
apprenticeship for him. Around 1466, a 14-year-old Leonardo was sent to Florence
to train in the workshop of the renowned artist Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio's
(03:51):
studio was one of the best art schools of the day, and there Leonardo learned
painting, sculpture, and the basics of engineering. He mixed pigments, sketched
anatomy, and studied mechanical devices used in the workshop. This hands-on
training was crucial. He wasn't just taught what to do, but encouraged to
understand how and why things worked. It didn't take long for Leonardo to
(04:16):
outshine his peers. In fact, there is a famous story that Verrocchio enlisted
young Leonardo to paint an angel in one of his own paintings around 1475. The
painting was called The Baptism of Christ. Leonardo's angel was so beautifully
rendered that Verrocchio allegedly put down his brush and vowed never to paint
(04:38):
again, feeling upstaged by his apprentice. Now, historians aren't sure if Verrocchio
truly quit painting entirely, but the tale speaks to Leonardo's emerging genius. By
about 1477, Leonardo had qualified as a master in the Guild of St. Luke and set
up his own workshop in Florence. Despite his growing reputation as an artist,
(05:00):
Leonardo in his 20s was already developing a reputation for, quote,
not finishing things. Attention deficit disorder, possibly? A notable example is
The Adoration of the Magi, a complex painting he was commissioned to create
in 1481. He left that painting unfinished when a new opportunity beckoned.
(05:23):
Leonardo was restless for bigger challenges, and he found one in the city
of Milan. In 1482, at roughly 30 years old, he moved to Milan to enter the
service of Duke Ludovico Sforza. In a letter to Ludovico, he barely mentioned
painting at all. Instead, he advertised his skills in engineering and design. He
(05:44):
described plans for building portable bridges, designing cannons and armored
vehicles, diverting rivers, and constructing new architecture. Only at
the end did he add, almost as an afterthought, that he could paint too.
This bold self-promotion worked. The Duke of Milan welcomed Leonardo, not just as an
(06:06):
artist, but as a military engineer and architect. It's here that Leonardo's
scientific journey truly took off. When Leonardo da Vinci arrived in Milan in
1482, he was ready to reinvent himself, not just as an artist, but as an engineer,
inventor, and problem solver. Under the patronage of Duke Sforza, Leonardo spent
(06:27):
much of the next 17 years designing military machines, studying anatomy,
experimenting with physics, and dreaming up architectural and urban plans. While
he did create masterpieces, like The Last Supper during this time, his real passion
lay in engineering and scientific exploration. One of his most ambitious
(06:48):
Milan projects was the Sforza Horse, a towering 24-foot bronze statue.
Leonardo studied horse anatomy in meticulous detail, and even devised a
new casting technique. He completed a full-scale clay model by 1493, but war
disrupted the project. The bronze was repurposed into cannons, and invading
(07:11):
French troops reportedly destroyed the statue by using it for target practice.
Leonardo's notebooks from this era reveal a restless visionary mind. He
designed advanced weaponry, like multi-barreled cannons, and sketched
practical innovations, like a self-supporting bridge that could be
assembled quickly without nails, a design that modern engineers have confirmed
(07:32):
works flawlessly. He even ventured into cartography, creating a remarkably
accurate map of the town of Imola in 1502, while working for Cesare Borgia, an
early sign of his scientific precision. His anatomical studies were groundbreaking,
Leonardo performed dozens of dissections and recorded detailed drawings of
(07:55):
muscles, bones, and organs, including the first accurate depiction of the heart's
aortic valve. Though his illustrated treatise was never published in his
lifetime, modern medicine has since validated many of his insights. Even in
painting, his scientific mind was at work. In Mona Lisa, which he began around 1503
(08:16):
in Florence and carried with him for years, Leonardo used his understanding of
optics and human perception to craft that famously elusive smile. Later in
life, Leonardo served in the Medici in Rome and eventually accepted an
invitation from King Francis I of France, who honored him with the title
(08:37):
Premier Painter and Engineer and Architect to the King. Leonardo da Vinci's
imagination almost knew no limits. He was sketching inventions so far ahead of
his time that some would not be built until the modern era. And it's important
to note that most of these ideas never made it off the page in Leonardo's
lifetime. They remained blueprints in his notebooks, but they demonstrate how
(09:02):
Leonardo's mind could leap beyond the technology of the 15th century. So I'm
gonna talk about a few of these visionary concepts. One of Leonardo's
obsession was flight. Long before airplanes, about 400 years before the
Wright Brothers, Leonardo studied birds to unlock the secret of flying. He drew
plans for several flying machines, which he called ornithopters, contraptions with
(09:25):
wings intended to flap like a bird. In one design, a person lies face down on a
board, working two large wings and hand levers and foot pedals. And in another,
the person stands and pumps a wing apparatus. Leonardo filled pages with
these sketches, even writing a treatise called Codex on the Flight of Birds
(09:46):
around 1505, analyzing bird flight and proposing how humans might mimic it. He
realized that human muscle power alone might not be enough for sustained flight,
which was a very prescient understanding, since his machines as drawn likely
wouldn't have worked with the materials available, which were wood, canvas, and
human strength. We'll be right back after a quick word from my advertisers.
(10:12):
Beyond flying up, Leonardo also imagined how to get safely down from great
heights. He drew a design for a parachute, a pyramid-shaped canopy made of linen,
about 12 arms, which is approximately 23 feet across, with a wooden frame. In his
notes, he wrote that with this device, a man could, quote, jump from any great
(10:34):
height without injury, unquote. Remarkably, this parachute was actually built and
tested in modern times. In 2000, a British skydiver named Adrian Nicholas
constructed a parachute exactly to Leonardo's specifications, using wood and
canvas. He took it up in a hot air balloon and jumped from 10,000 feet, and
(10:55):
it worked brilliantly, bringing him down safely. Imagine Leonardo's delight if he
could have seen proof of concept over 500 years later. That's another reason
for having a time machine. I'm telling you, somebody needs to get on this.
Leonardo's military engineering ideas could be quite fearsome. For example, he
(11:17):
sketched a design for an armored fighting vehicle, essentially a tank, in
the 1480s. It was a circular platform covered in metal plates, operated from
inside by soldiers, who would turn cranks to move the wheels and rotate
light cannons sticking out around its perimeter. This tank could, in theory, move
in any direction and shoot in all directions, a terrifying innovation for
(11:41):
its time. However, Leonardo's sketch contains a small flaw. The gear
mechanism, as drawn, would actually make the wheels turn in opposite directions,
immobilizing the tank. That would be a bad thing. Was this an error, or did
Leonardo deliberately insert a mistake to prevent his design from being
misused if his notes fell into the wrong hands? Some historians speculate he might
(12:06):
have sabotaged the design on purpose as a kind of safety measure. Regardless, the
concept of a covered armored vehicle was unique. Nothing like it would be built
until World War One. For naval warfare and exploration, Leonardo conceived of
diving equipment. In Venice, when he was helping devise defenses against a
(12:27):
potential Ottoman attack, he drew up plans for a diving suit that would
allow men to breathe underwater and sabotage enemy ships from below. His
sketch in the Codex Arundel shows a leather suit with a mask and goggles and
breathing tubes that lead up to a floating bell or an air pocket on the
(12:47):
surface. It even includes a pouch to urinate in, so he basically thought of
everything. This scuba suit was never built at the time. Venice didn't actually
end up needing it, but it demonstrates his capability to apply imagination to
practical problems of war. Leonardo also tinkered with the idea of automated
(13:08):
machines. Around 1495, he designed what is now known as Leonardo's mechanical
knight, an automaton in the shape of a knight that could, through a system of
pulleys and gears, sit up, wave its arms, and possibly open and close its jaw. We
don't know if Leonardo actually built it, but the notes were detailed enough that
in 2002, a robotics expert built a working replica that indeed could
(13:32):
perform the motions Leonardo described. Another whimsical but advanced creation
was the self-propelled cart, essentially a spring-driven car, which some consider
to be the first concept of an automobile. Leonardo drew a cart that, through
coiled springs like large clock springs and steering, controlled by a
(13:53):
programmable arrangement of pegs, could move on its own for a short distance.
Modern engineers have built models of this design, and they do lurch forward as
intended. It's like a wind-up toy, but at human scale. That is super cool.
Leonardo dreamed big. Some of his ideas, like the helicopter tank or even the
(14:13):
debated sketch, possibly of a bicycle, make us wonder, why didn't he build these
or propose them publicly? We have to recall the context. There was no concept
of publishing technical innovations widely, and some ideas were so far out
that they might have been seen as impractical or even heretical. Also,
Leonardo was a bit secretive. He wrote in mirror script, which was backwards, in his
(14:38):
notebooks, perhaps to keep his ideas somewhat encoded. Moreover, he often
conceived inventions as solutions to specific problems of patrons or as
thought experiments, rather than with an eye to mass-produce them. So most of these
visionary designs stayed on paper until they were rediscovered in Leonardo's
notebooks centuries after his death. The Codex Atlanticus, for example, which is a
(15:03):
large collection of his papers, sat largely unknown in a library until the
19th and 20th centuries, when scholars pieced together his achievements as an
engineer and scientist. Only then did the world realize the full scope of
Leonardo's inventive genius. In sum, Leonardo da Vinci, the visionary,
(15:24):
conceptualized parachutes before humans could fly, tanks before engines existed,
robots before electricity, and a host of other marvels. It's little wonder that he
is often called the Renaissance man, as he straddled art, science, engineering, and
imagination in a way that still feels modern. Now, having marveled at his
(15:47):
intellect and creativity, I'm gonna take a more intimate look at his personal life.
Who was Leonardo as a person? What do we know about his relationships, his
personality, even his quirks? In particular, I'm going to explore a topic
that earlier generations of historians often tiptoed around. So let's get our
rainbow flags ready. When we think of Leonardo da Vinci, it's easy to focus on
(16:13):
his accomplishments as a painter, engineer, and visionary, but to understand
the man behind the genius, we also need to look at his personal life, his
relationships, personality, and how his identity might have shaped his art and
curiosity. While Leonardo left behind thousands of notebook pages on science,
anatomy, and invention, he gave us very little about his inner emotional world,
(16:36):
and that silence has intrigued historians for centuries. One area where
we do have intriguing clues is his sexual orientation. So I'm going to start
with how Leonardo's contemporaries described him. These were people who
actually knew him. They say he wasn't just brilliant, he was magnetic. Giorgio
Vasari, the Renaissance biographer who wrote Lives of the Artists, said Leonardo
(17:00):
was, quote, so pleasing in his conversation that he attracted to
himself the hearts of men. Although the exact phrase that has been used in
history texts is, Leonardo's disposition was so lovable that he commanded
everyone's attention. That's a paraphrase, but it captures Vasari's essence.
Leonardo was known for his charm, wit, and generosity, and one of my favorite
(17:25):
authors and historians, Walter Isaacson, who has written several incredible books,
including the biography on Albert Einstein, I highly recommend that one.
He also wrote extensively about da Vinci's life. Isaacson echoes this, as he writes
that Leonardo's social skills and good looks helped him compensate for his lack
of pedigree. He was tall, athletic, and charming, and he wore rose-colored tunics
(17:49):
that reached only to his knees. Flamboyant in a city where older men
wore long, dark robes. I like this guy. He was left-handed, vegetarian,
fashion-forward, and famously gentle with animals. There's even a rumor that he
would buy birds in cages just to set them free. He chose not to marry, never
(18:12):
had children, and showed no recorded interest in women romantically or
sexually. We'll be right back after a quick word from my advertisers. In 1476,
at the age of 24, Leonardo's private life was suddenly under scrutiny. He and
several others were anonymously accused of sodomy, a crime in Florence punishable
(18:37):
by death. The charge alleged that he had relations with a young male prostitute
named Jacopo Saltorelli. The case was dropped due to lack of signed evidence,
but the accusation remains a pivotal moment in Leonardo's life. Isaacson
explains in his book about Leonardo that the accusation likely caused him to
(18:59):
become even more discreet about his personal life. There is no evidence of any
sexual activity with women, and his most intimate relationships were with younger
men. So we'll never know the exact truth of what happened, but the historical
record shows that Leonardo was moving in artistic circles where same-sex
relationships were not uncommon, even if they were criminalized. Florence was
(19:23):
infamous for its tolerance behind closed doors. Even the German word Florenzer came
to mean gay man. The case may have made Leonardo especially cautious about
revealing anything personal going forward. So, Leonardo had two long-term
companions, both young men who entered his household at different times and
(19:44):
remained closely connected to him. The first was Gian Giacomo Caprote,
nicknamed Salai, which means a little devil. He joined Leonardo's household in
1490 as a ten-year-old boy. He was, by all accounts, mischievous, beautiful, and
sometimes troublesome. Leonardo once recorded that Salai had stolen money and
(20:06):
bought expensive clothes, but he kept him around for nearly 30 years.
Isaacson wrote in his book that Salai was a bit of a scoundrel, but also
Leonardo's companion, model, and perhaps lover. Salai appears in several of
Leonardo's paintings, most notably in St. John the Baptist and Bacchus, both of
(20:28):
which feature sensual, androgynous young men with a knowing smile. These
portrayals stand in contrast to the religious and formal depictions of
saints typical of the time. There's a flirtation, a human warmth that hints at
something more personal. Then there's Francesco Melzi, a young nobleman who
(20:49):
became Leonardo's pupil and assistant in 1506. Melzi was refined, educated, and
loyal. When Leonardo died in 1519, Melzi inherited nearly everything, including
the vast trove of notebooks and manuscripts. Again, Isaacson notes in his
book that Leonardo's relationship with Melzi was more intellectual than
(21:10):
affectionate. Melzi was not only a pupil, but also a companion whom Leonardo
cherished. Was it romantic? It's hard to say for sure, but what's clear is that
both young men held important places in Leonardo's life, and modern scholars
believed at least one of them. Likely, Salai was more than just a companion.
(21:31):
There's visual evidence in Leonardo's own hand that suggests homoerotic themes.
One of the most provocative is a drawing known as the Incarnate Angel,
attributed to Leonardo, which features a young angel with an erect phallus. Many
scholars believe the model was Salai, and the style matches Leonardo's other
drawings of the youth. The piece was likely a private work, perhaps not meant
(21:55):
to show for public view. Then there are humorous sketches found in the Codex
Atlanticus. One shows a drawing labeled Salai's bum being chased by phalluses on
legs. Isaacson notes that these could have been jokes drawn by Leonardo or by
someone else in his workshop, but they reflect a culture of sexual playfulness
(22:19):
around Leonardo and Salai. Taken together, the intimate companionship, the drawings,
the lack of female partners, and the incident in 1476, a picture begins to
form. Despite all this, some biographers believe Leonardo might have remained
celibate most of his life. In his notebooks, Leonardo expressed a certain
(22:40):
aversion to sexuality. In a quote that Isaacson paraphrased, Leonardo writes,
The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting
that human beings would soon die out there if there were no pretty faces and
sensuous dispositions. That line doesn't sound like someone burning with desire,
(23:01):
and it may reflect Leonardo's internal struggle, possibly due to the trauma
from the sodomy accusation, or simply a personal temperament that prioritized
intellectual intimacy over physical passion. In his book about da Vinci,
Isaacson addresses this, writing that Leonardo was different, even by the
standards of the Renaissance. He was openly affectionate with his male
(23:24):
companions, but guarded about any public display of intimacy. He adds that although
there is little hard proof of sexual relationships, the weight of
circumstantial evidence suggests Leonardo was likely homosexual, even if
discreet or celibate. Leonardo's avoidance of traditional family life, his choice to
(23:45):
live with and nurture young male protégés, and the consistent thread of
intimate male friendships all suggest he carved out a life that was quietly
non-conforming. He didn't make political statements about his identity, but he
lived authentically in the way he formed his household, painted his subjects, and
organized his life around creativity and companionship. Modern scholars, including
(24:09):
Martin Kempt and Michael Rock, generally agree Leonardo da Vinci was most likely
gay, though private about it. He lived in an era when being open could ruin you,
but he also lived in Florence, a city that offered some measure of coded
tolerance for those who knew how to stay out of the spotlight. In his book,
Isaacson concludes that there is little doubt that Leonardo was attracted to men,
(24:33):
and it is likely, but unprovable, that he had sexual relationships with them. Da
Vinci remains a symbol of unbounded curiosity and creativity, and a reminder
that genius doesn't conform to norms. Whether he was romantically involved,
celibate, or somewhere in between, his life reflects the richness of an
identity shaped more by connection and intellect than by convention. By
(24:57):
revisiting his story through a modern lens, we don't diminish him. We see him
more fully. Leonardo da Vinci stands as the ultimate Renaissance polymath, a man
who wanted to know everything. He saw no boundary between art and science, between
imagination and reality. His contemporaries knew him as a charismatic,
(25:19):
enigmatic figure. Today, we know him also as an ahead-of-his-time inventor, and a
person who lived authentically in many ways. He has inspired countless minds, and
will likely continue to do so as new analysis of his notebooks and life
emerge. In fact, as we discussed, we are still learning new details about him,
(25:41):
from the possibility of his mother's origins to the decoding of his hidden
sketches. Da Vinci once wrote, quote, iron rusts from disuse. Water that does not
flow becomes stagnant, so it is with the mind. His mind certainly never stagnated,
and he kept the iron of his intellect well-honed until the very end. Leonardo
(26:05):
died in 1519 at Cloluce. Though many of his projects were unfinished, his
notebooks, brimming with designs, experiments, and questions, remain among
his greatest legacies. They capture not just a polymath at work, but a man deeply
curious about the world and eager to solve its mysteries. Leonardo died 500
(26:26):
years ago, but his legacy feels ever alive in every airplane in the sky, every
anatomical textbook, every use of the chiaroscuro in art, that's a shading
term, and in the broader ideal that art and science can unite to deepen our
understanding of the world. He reminds us to stay curious, to observe closely, and
(26:49):
to not be afraid of imagining the impossible. So here's a question I want
to leave you with. What would the world look like if every person, regardless of
gender, identity, or sexual orientation, were free to live as their most authentic
self? What could we create, discover, and solve if no one had to hide who they are
(27:12):
to feel safe, accepted, or worthy? Leonardo da Vinci, a man who lived quietly on the
margins of society, gave us some of the most breathtaking art, forward-thinking
inventions, and scientific observations the world has ever known. And he did it
while carefully guarding parts of himself, likely out of necessity and fear.
(27:34):
But imagine if he hadn't needed to hold anything back. Imagine a world where
every brilliant mind, especially those long silenced or dismissed, had the
freedom to fully flourish. How much beauty, how much genius, how much progress
are we still missing? Because too many people have been forced to dim their
(27:56):
light to survive. Leonardo's life reminds us that when we allow curiosity,
compassion, and authenticity to lead the way, the results can be revolutionary. So
let's create a world where everybody gets that chance. Thank you for joining me on
Math Science History, and thank you for joining me on this journey through
(28:17):
Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable life. Grazie for listening. And until next time,
stay curious like Leonardo, live your life authentically, and Carpe Diem.
Thank you for tuning in to Math Science History. If you enjoyed today's episode,
please leave a quick rating and review. They really help the podcast. You can
(28:41):
find our transcripts at mathsciencehistory.com, and while you're
there, remember to click on that coffee button, because every dollar you donate
supports a portion of our production costs and keeps our educational website
free. Again, thank you for tuning in, and until next time, Carpe Diem.
Welcome to Math Science History. It's Pride Month and so today I'm going to be
talking about one of the most prominent and possibly gay men in history,
Leonardo da Vinci and his journey from an unconventional childhood to the
courts of Renaissance Italy. I'm Gabrielle Birchak, your host. I have a
background in math, science, and journalism and by the time you're done
(00:23):
listening to today's podcast, you're going to know so much more about the
genius and lifestyle of Leonardo da Vinci. In the year 415, the infamous
philosopher and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, Egypt was savagely murdered
by church monks. This murder shocked the Roman community and its government
(00:47):
leaders. Hypatia was known far and wide as a respected philosopher, mathematician,
government advisor, and a professor. Hypatia, the sum of her life, is a book
that I wrote that looks not just at the circumstances surrounding her death, but
also at the sum of her entire life. I weave in the details of her education,
(01:08):
disciples, Neoplatonic philosophies, female contemporaries, and the many
mathematics that she wrote and taught about. There is truly more to Hypatia's
life than her death. Hypatia, the sum of her life, written by me,
Gabriele Birchak, is now on sale on Amazon. Buy your copy today.
(01:34):
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, in the small village of Anchiano,
near the town of Vinci in Tuscany. He was the illegitimate son of a 25 year
old notary, Ser Piero da Vinci, and a young woman named Caterina. Because his
parents weren't married, Leonardo didn't receive a classical formal education in
(01:55):
Latin or Greek, but he did grow up in his father's household where he had
access to scholarly texts and learned the basics of reading, writing, and
mathematics. From an early age, he showed an insatiable curiosity about the
natural world and a talent for drawing. Family accounts say young Leonardo would
spend hours observing animals, water flows, and the countryside around him,
(02:20):
sketching what he saw. This self-driven learning laid the foundation for his
lifelong approach, empirical observation over formal schooling. No doubt, from his
artwork to his knowledge about engineering and architecture, to his
ideas about flight, his brilliance was and always will be unmatched. Interestingly,
(02:40):
new research in 2023 suggests that Leonardo's mother, Caterina, may not have
been a local peasant girl, as long-believed, but possibly an enslaved
woman from the Caucasus region. Historian Carlo Vecchia uncovered
documents indicating Caterina was freed from slavery by Ser Piero around the
time of Leonardo's birth. If true, and scholars are still debating this, Leonardo
(03:05):
da Vinci would have been half Italian, half Circassian. This theory paints an
even more fascinating picture of his heritage, though it comes with many
caveats. Whether or not this claim holds, it's clear that Leonardo's origins were
unconventional for the son of a legal notary, and he grew up straddling
different social worlds from the very start. Leonardo's childhood in Vinci was
(03:30):
spent largely in nature, which became his first classroom. By his teens, Leonardo's
artistic talent was evident enough that his father sought a proper
apprenticeship for him. Around 1466, a 14-year-old Leonardo was sent to Florence
to train in the workshop of the renowned artist Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio's
(03:51):
studio was one of the best art schools of the day, and there Leonardo learned
painting, sculpture, and the basics of engineering. He mixed pigments, sketched
anatomy, and studied mechanical devices used in the workshop. This hands-on
training was crucial. He wasn't just taught what to do, but encouraged to
understand how and why things worked. It didn't take long for Leonardo to
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outshine his peers. In fact, there is a famous story that Verrocchio enlisted
young Leonardo to paint an angel in one of his own paintings around 1475. The
painting was called The Baptism of Christ. Leonardo's angel was so beautifully
rendered that Verrocchio allegedly put down his brush and vowed never to paint
(04:38):
again, feeling upstaged by his apprentice. Now, historians aren't sure if Verrocchio
truly quit painting entirely, but the tale speaks to Leonardo's emerging genius. By
about 1477, Leonardo had qualified as a master in the Guild of St. Luke and set
up his own workshop in Florence. Despite his growing reputation as an artist,
(05:00):
Leonardo in his 20s was already developing a reputation for, quote,
not finishing things. Attention deficit disorder, possibly? A notable example is
The Adoration of the Magi, a complex painting he was commissioned to create
in 1481. He left that painting unfinished when a new opportunity beckoned.
(05:23):
Leonardo was restless for bigger challenges, and he found one in the city
of Milan. In 1482, at roughly 30 years old, he moved to Milan to enter the
service of Duke Ludovico Sforza. In a letter to Ludovico, he barely mentioned
painting at all. Instead, he advertised his skills in engineering and design. He
(05:44):
described plans for building portable bridges, designing cannons and armored
vehicles, diverting rivers, and constructing new architecture. Only at
the end did he add, almost as an afterthought, that he could paint too.
This bold self-promotion worked. The Duke of Milan welcomed Leonardo, not just as an
(06:06):
artist, but as a military engineer and architect. It's here that Leonardo's
scientific journey truly took off. When Leonardo da Vinci arrived in Milan in
1482, he was ready to reinvent himself, not just as an artist, but as an engineer,
inventor, and problem solver. Under the patronage of Duke Sforza, Leonardo spent
(06:27):
much of the next 17 years designing military machines, studying anatomy,
experimenting with physics, and dreaming up architectural and urban plans. While
he did create masterpieces, like The Last Supper during this time, his real passion
lay in engineering and scientific exploration. One of his most ambitious
(06:48):
Milan projects was the Sforza Horse, a towering 24-foot bronze statue.
Leonardo studied horse anatomy in meticulous detail, and even devised a
new casting technique. He completed a full-scale clay model by 1493, but war
disrupted the project. The bronze was repurposed into cannons, and invading
(07:11):
French troops reportedly destroyed the statue by using it for target practice.
Leonardo's notebooks from this era reveal a restless visionary mind. He
designed advanced weaponry, like multi-barreled cannons, and sketched
practical innovations, like a self-supporting bridge that could be
assembled quickly without nails, a design that modern engineers have confirmed
(07:32):
works flawlessly. He even ventured into cartography, creating a remarkably
accurate map of the town of Imola in 1502, while working for Cesare Borgia, an
early sign of his scientific precision. His anatomical studies were groundbreaking,
Leonardo performed dozens of dissections and recorded detailed drawings of
(07:55):
muscles, bones, and organs, including the first accurate depiction of the heart's
aortic valve. Though his illustrated treatise was never published in his
lifetime, modern medicine has since validated many of his insights. Even in
painting, his scientific mind was at work. In Mona Lisa, which he began around 1503
(08:16):
in Florence and carried with him for years, Leonardo used his understanding of
optics and human perception to craft that famously elusive smile. Later in
life, Leonardo served in the Medici in Rome and eventually accepted an
invitation from King Francis I of France, who honored him with the title
(08:37):
Premier Painter and Engineer and Architect to the King. Leonardo da Vinci's
imagination almost knew no limits. He was sketching inventions so far ahead of
his time that some would not be built until the modern era. And it's important
to note that most of these ideas never made it off the page in Leonardo's
lifetime. They remained blueprints in his notebooks, but they demonstrate how
(09:02):
Leonardo's mind could leap beyond the technology of the 15th century. So I'm
gonna talk about a few of these visionary concepts. One of Leonardo's
obsession was flight. Long before airplanes, about 400 years before the
Wright Brothers, Leonardo studied birds to unlock the secret of flying. He drew
plans for several flying machines, which he called ornithopters, contraptions with
(09:25):
wings intended to flap like a bird. In one design, a person lies face down on a
board, working two large wings and hand levers and foot pedals. And in another,
the person stands and pumps a wing apparatus. Leonardo filled pages with
these sketches, even writing a treatise called Codex on the Flight of Birds
(09:46):
around 1505, analyzing bird flight and proposing how humans might mimic it. He
realized that human muscle power alone might not be enough for sustained flight,
which was a very prescient understanding, since his machines as drawn likely
wouldn't have worked with the materials available, which were wood, canvas, and
human strength. We'll be right back after a quick word from my advertisers.
(10:12):
Beyond flying up, Leonardo also imagined how to get safely down from great
heights. He drew a design for a parachute, a pyramid-shaped canopy made of linen,
about 12 arms, which is approximately 23 feet across, with a wooden frame. In his
notes, he wrote that with this device, a man could, quote, jump from any great
(10:34):
height without injury, unquote. Remarkably, this parachute was actually built and
tested in modern times. In 2000, a British skydiver named Adrian Nicholas
constructed a parachute exactly to Leonardo's specifications, using wood and
canvas. He took it up in a hot air balloon and jumped from 10,000 feet, and
(10:55):
it worked brilliantly, bringing him down safely. Imagine Leonardo's delight if he
could have seen proof of concept over 500 years later. That's another reason
for having a time machine. I'm telling you, somebody needs to get on this.
Leonardo's military engineering ideas could be quite fearsome. For example, he
(11:17):
sketched a design for an armored fighting vehicle, essentially a tank, in
the 1480s. It was a circular platform covered in metal plates, operated from
inside by soldiers, who would turn cranks to move the wheels and rotate
light cannons sticking out around its perimeter. This tank could, in theory, move
in any direction and shoot in all directions, a terrifying innovation for
(11:41):
its time. However, Leonardo's sketch contains a small flaw. The gear
mechanism, as drawn, would actually make the wheels turn in opposite directions,
immobilizing the tank. That would be a bad thing. Was this an error, or did
Leonardo deliberately insert a mistake to prevent his design from being
misused if his notes fell into the wrong hands? Some historians speculate he might
(12:06):
have sabotaged the design on purpose as a kind of safety measure. Regardless, the
concept of a covered armored vehicle was unique. Nothing like it would be built
until World War One. For naval warfare and exploration, Leonardo conceived of
diving equipment. In Venice, when he was helping devise defenses against a
(12:27):
potential Ottoman attack, he drew up plans for a diving suit that would
allow men to breathe underwater and sabotage enemy ships from below. His
sketch in the Codex Arundel shows a leather suit with a mask and goggles and
breathing tubes that lead up to a floating bell or an air pocket on the
(12:47):
surface. It even includes a pouch to urinate in, so he basically thought of
everything. This scuba suit was never built at the time. Venice didn't actually
end up needing it, but it demonstrates his capability to apply imagination to
practical problems of war. Leonardo also tinkered with the idea of automated
(13:08):
machines. Around 1495, he designed what is now known as Leonardo's mechanical
knight, an automaton in the shape of a knight that could, through a system of
pulleys and gears, sit up, wave its arms, and possibly open and close its jaw. We
don't know if Leonardo actually built it, but the notes were detailed enough that
in 2002, a robotics expert built a working replica that indeed could
(13:32):
perform the motions Leonardo described. Another whimsical but advanced creation
was the self-propelled cart, essentially a spring-driven car, which some consider
to be the first concept of an automobile. Leonardo drew a cart that, through
coiled springs like large clock springs and steering, controlled by a
(13:53):
programmable arrangement of pegs, could move on its own for a short distance.
Modern engineers have built models of this design, and they do lurch forward as
intended. It's like a wind-up toy, but at human scale. That is super cool.
Leonardo dreamed big. Some of his ideas, like the helicopter tank or even the
(14:13):
debated sketch, possibly of a bicycle, make us wonder, why didn't he build these
or propose them publicly? We have to recall the context. There was no concept
of publishing technical innovations widely, and some ideas were so far out
that they might have been seen as impractical or even heretical. Also,
Leonardo was a bit secretive. He wrote in mirror script, which was backwards, in his
(14:38):
notebooks, perhaps to keep his ideas somewhat encoded. Moreover, he often
conceived inventions as solutions to specific problems of patrons or as
thought experiments, rather than with an eye to mass-produce them. So most of these
visionary designs stayed on paper until they were rediscovered in Leonardo's
notebooks centuries after his death. The Codex Atlanticus, for example, which is a
(15:03):
large collection of his papers, sat largely unknown in a library until the
19th and 20th centuries, when scholars pieced together his achievements as an
engineer and scientist. Only then did the world realize the full scope of
Leonardo's inventive genius. In sum, Leonardo da Vinci, the visionary,
(15:24):
conceptualized parachutes before humans could fly, tanks before engines existed,
robots before electricity, and a host of other marvels. It's little wonder that he
is often called the Renaissance man, as he straddled art, science, engineering, and
imagination in a way that still feels modern. Now, having marveled at his
(15:47):
intellect and creativity, I'm gonna take a more intimate look at his personal life.
Who was Leonardo as a person? What do we know about his relationships, his
personality, even his quirks? In particular, I'm going to explore a topic
that earlier generations of historians often tiptoed around. So let's get our
rainbow flags ready. When we think of Leonardo da Vinci, it's easy to focus on
(16:13):
his accomplishments as a painter, engineer, and visionary, but to understand
the man behind the genius, we also need to look at his personal life, his
relationships, personality, and how his identity might have shaped his art and
curiosity. While Leonardo left behind thousands of notebook pages on science,
anatomy, and invention, he gave us very little about his inner emotional world,
(16:36):
and that silence has intrigued historians for centuries. One area where
we do have intriguing clues is his sexual orientation. So I'm going to start
with how Leonardo's contemporaries described him. These were people who
actually knew him. They say he wasn't just brilliant, he was magnetic. Giorgio
Vasari, the Renaissance biographer who wrote Lives of the Artists, said Leonardo
(17:00):
was, quote, so pleasing in his conversation that he attracted to
himself the hearts of men. Although the exact phrase that has been used in
history texts is, Leonardo's disposition was so lovable that he commanded
everyone's attention. That's a paraphrase, but it captures Vasari's essence.
Leonardo was known for his charm, wit, and generosity, and one of my favorite
(17:25):
authors and historians, Walter Isaacson, who has written several incredible books,
including the biography on Albert Einstein, I highly recommend that one.
He also wrote extensively about da Vinci's life. Isaacson echoes this, as he writes
that Leonardo's social skills and good looks helped him compensate for his lack
of pedigree. He was tall, athletic, and charming, and he wore rose-colored tunics
(17:49):
that reached only to his knees. Flamboyant in a city where older men
wore long, dark robes. I like this guy. He was left-handed, vegetarian,
fashion-forward, and famously gentle with animals. There's even a rumor that he
would buy birds in cages just to set them free. He chose not to marry, never
(18:12):
had children, and showed no recorded interest in women romantically or
sexually. We'll be right back after a quick word from my advertisers. In 1476,
at the age of 24, Leonardo's private life was suddenly under scrutiny. He and
several others were anonymously accused of sodomy, a crime in Florence punishable
(18:37):
by death. The charge alleged that he had relations with a young male prostitute
named Jacopo Saltorelli. The case was dropped due to lack of signed evidence,
but the accusation remains a pivotal moment in Leonardo's life. Isaacson
explains in his book about Leonardo that the accusation likely caused him to
(18:59):
become even more discreet about his personal life. There is no evidence of any
sexual activity with women, and his most intimate relationships were with younger
men. So we'll never know the exact truth of what happened, but the historical
record shows that Leonardo was moving in artistic circles where same-sex
relationships were not uncommon, even if they were criminalized. Florence was
(19:23):
infamous for its tolerance behind closed doors. Even the German word Florenzer came
to mean gay man. The case may have made Leonardo especially cautious about
revealing anything personal going forward. So, Leonardo had two long-term
companions, both young men who entered his household at different times and
(19:44):
remained closely connected to him. The first was Gian Giacomo Caprote,
nicknamed Salai, which means a little devil. He joined Leonardo's household in
1490 as a ten-year-old boy. He was, by all accounts, mischievous, beautiful, and
sometimes troublesome. Leonardo once recorded that Salai had stolen money and
(20:06):
bought expensive clothes, but he kept him around for nearly 30 years.
Isaacson wrote in his book that Salai was a bit of a scoundrel, but also
Leonardo's companion, model, and perhaps lover. Salai appears in several of
Leonardo's paintings, most notably in St. John the Baptist and Bacchus, both of
(20:28):
which feature sensual, androgynous young men with a knowing smile. These
portrayals stand in contrast to the religious and formal depictions of
saints typical of the time. There's a flirtation, a human warmth that hints at
something more personal. Then there's Francesco Melzi, a young nobleman who
(20:49):
became Leonardo's pupil and assistant in 1506. Melzi was refined, educated, and
loyal. When Leonardo died in 1519, Melzi inherited nearly everything, including
the vast trove of notebooks and manuscripts. Again, Isaacson notes in his
book that Leonardo's relationship with Melzi was more intellectual than
(21:10):
affectionate. Melzi was not only a pupil, but also a companion whom Leonardo
cherished. Was it romantic? It's hard to say for sure, but what's clear is that
both young men held important places in Leonardo's life, and modern scholars
believed at least one of them. Likely, Salai was more than just a companion.
(21:31):
There's visual evidence in Leonardo's own hand that suggests homoerotic themes.
One of the most provocative is a drawing known as the Incarnate Angel,
attributed to Leonardo, which features a young angel with an erect phallus. Many
scholars believe the model was Salai, and the style matches Leonardo's other
drawings of the youth. The piece was likely a private work, perhaps not meant
(21:55):
to show for public view. Then there are humorous sketches found in the Codex
Atlanticus. One shows a drawing labeled Salai's bum being chased by phalluses on
legs. Isaacson notes that these could have been jokes drawn by Leonardo or by
someone else in his workshop, but they reflect a culture of sexual playfulness
(22:19):
around Leonardo and Salai. Taken together, the intimate companionship, the drawings,
the lack of female partners, and the incident in 1476, a picture begins to
form. Despite all this, some biographers believe Leonardo might have remained
celibate most of his life. In his notebooks, Leonardo expressed a certain
(22:40):
aversion to sexuality. In a quote that Isaacson paraphrased, Leonardo writes,
The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting
that human beings would soon die out there if there were no pretty faces and
sensuous dispositions. That line doesn't sound like someone burning with desire,
(23:01):
and it may reflect Leonardo's internal struggle, possibly due to the trauma
from the sodomy accusation, or simply a personal temperament that prioritized
intellectual intimacy over physical passion. In his book about da Vinci,
Isaacson addresses this, writing that Leonardo was different, even by the
standards of the Renaissance. He was openly affectionate with his male
(23:24):
companions, but guarded about any public display of intimacy. He adds that although
there is little hard proof of sexual relationships, the weight of
circumstantial evidence suggests Leonardo was likely homosexual, even if
discreet or celibate. Leonardo's avoidance of traditional family life, his choice to
(23:45):
live with and nurture young male protégés, and the consistent thread of
intimate male friendships all suggest he carved out a life that was quietly
non-conforming. He didn't make political statements about his identity, but he
lived authentically in the way he formed his household, painted his subjects, and
organized his life around creativity and companionship. Modern scholars, including
(24:09):
Martin Kempt and Michael Rock, generally agree Leonardo da Vinci was most likely
gay, though private about it. He lived in an era when being open could ruin you,
but he also lived in Florence, a city that offered some measure of coded
tolerance for those who knew how to stay out of the spotlight. In his book,
Isaacson concludes that there is little doubt that Leonardo was attracted to men,
(24:33):
and it is likely, but unprovable, that he had sexual relationships with them. Da
Vinci remains a symbol of unbounded curiosity and creativity, and a reminder
that genius doesn't conform to norms. Whether he was romantically involved,
celibate, or somewhere in between, his life reflects the richness of an
identity shaped more by connection and intellect than by convention. By
(24:57):
revisiting his story through a modern lens, we don't diminish him. We see him
more fully. Leonardo da Vinci stands as the ultimate Renaissance polymath, a man
who wanted to know everything. He saw no boundary between art and science, between
imagination and reality. His contemporaries knew him as a charismatic,
(25:19):
enigmatic figure. Today, we know him also as an ahead-of-his-time inventor, and a
person who lived authentically in many ways. He has inspired countless minds, and
will likely continue to do so as new analysis of his notebooks and life
emerge. In fact, as we discussed, we are still learning new details about him,
(25:41):
from the possibility of his mother's origins to the decoding of his hidden
sketches. Da Vinci once wrote, quote, iron rusts from disuse. Water that does not
flow becomes stagnant, so it is with the mind. His mind certainly never stagnated,
and he kept the iron of his intellect well-honed until the very end. Leonardo
(26:05):
died in 1519 at Cloluce. Though many of his projects were unfinished, his
notebooks, brimming with designs, experiments, and questions, remain among
his greatest legacies. They capture not just a polymath at work, but a man deeply
curious about the world and eager to solve its mysteries. Leonardo died 500
(26:26):
years ago, but his legacy feels ever alive in every airplane in the sky, every
anatomical textbook, every use of the chiaroscuro in art, that's a shading
term, and in the broader ideal that art and science can unite to deepen our
understanding of the world. He reminds us to stay curious, to observe closely, and
(26:49):
to not be afraid of imagining the impossible. So here's a question I want
to leave you with. What would the world look like if every person, regardless of
gender, identity, or sexual orientation, were free to live as their most authentic
self? What could we create, discover, and solve if no one had to hide who they are
(27:12):
to feel safe, accepted, or worthy? Leonardo da Vinci, a man who lived quietly on the
margins of society, gave us some of the most breathtaking art, forward-thinking
inventions, and scientific observations the world has ever known. And he did it
while carefully guarding parts of himself, likely out of necessity and fear.
(27:34):
But imagine if he hadn't needed to hold anything back. Imagine a world where
every brilliant mind, especially those long silenced or dismissed, had the
freedom to fully flourish. How much beauty, how much genius, how much progress
are we still missing? Because too many people have been forced to dim their
(27:56):
light to survive. Leonardo's life reminds us that when we allow curiosity,
compassion, and authenticity to lead the way, the results can be revolutionary. So
let's create a world where everybody gets that chance. Thank you for joining me on
Math Science History, and thank you for joining me on this journey through
(28:17):
Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable life. Grazie for listening. And until next time,
stay curious like Leonardo, live your life authentically, and Carpe Diem.
Thank you for tuning in to Math Science History. If you enjoyed today's episode,
please leave a quick rating and review. They really help the podcast. You can
(28:41):
find our transcripts at mathsciencehistory.com, and while you're
there, remember to click on that coffee button, because every dollar you donate
supports a portion of our production costs and keeps our educational website
free. Again, thank you for tuning in, and until next time, Carpe Diem.
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