Becoming Leonardo

1. Born an Outsider: Illegitimacy and Hidden Identity

It meant he was two things, not one.

An unconventional start. Leonardo da Vinci was born illegitimate in 1452, a significant social handicap in Renaissance Italy. Raised primarily by his grandfather and uncle in the village of Vinci, his father, Ser Piero, a notary, was often absent in Florence. New evidence suggests his mother, Caterina, may have been a house slave, potentially making Leonardo of mixed race, a fact perhaps hinted at by dermatoglyphic patterns in his fingerprints.

Early shaping forces. Growing up outside the traditional family structure, possibly with a mother from a different culture, likely contributed to Leonardo's unique identity and perspective. His uncle Francesco, a contemplative man, may have fostered his love for nature and a patient, methodical approach. This rural upbringing, with panoramic views and exposure to the natural world, contrasted sharply with the urban environment he would later inhabit.

A hidden self. This early experience of being "two things, not one" – bastard and legitimate family member, potentially mixed-race in a homogenous society – may have instilled a sense of otherness and a need to hide aspects of himself. This duality could be a key to understanding his later mysteriousness and deliberate cultivation of a unique persona, perhaps even influencing his distinctive right-to-left mirror writing.

2. Shaped by Chaos: Death, Trauma, and Early Struggles

Death was everywhere, always.

A brutal reality. Leonardo's childhood and early life were framed by pervasive death and chaos. The Black Death, famine, hurricanes, and high murder rates were constant threats. He witnessed animal slaughter and the harsh realities of poverty and disease, which likely instilled a deep awareness of mortality and the fragility of life.

Traumatic experiences. Beyond the general brutality of the era, specific events left their mark. His arrest for sodomy at age 24, even if brief, exposed him to the capricious and severe justice system and the potential for public humiliation and savage punishment. This experience of losing freedom, even temporarily, likely fueled his lifelong desire for independence and control over his time and work.

An interior churn. The constant exposure to death and violence, coupled with personal traumas like his arrest and strained relationship with his father, likely created an "interior churn" beneath his often-composed exterior. His art and studies, particularly his fascination with anatomy and the natural world, can be seen as a response to this chaos – an attempt to find order, beauty, and understanding in a world defined by suffering and decay.

3. Finding His Path: Florence, Verrocchio, and the Sodomy Charge

Between the philosophical languor of Platonic love and the holding-cells of the Office of the Night is a long drop.

Entering the urban world. Around age 15, Leonardo moved to Florence and was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio, a versatile artist and engineer. This was a crucial transition from isolated country life to a bustling, cosmopolitan city. In Verrocchio's workshop, he learned various crafts – painting, sculpture, goldsmithing – and was exposed to the intellectual currents of the Renaissance, including the concept of the "ingenio," the artist-inventor.

Early artistic development. While Vasari's account of Leonardo's angel in The Baptism of Christ leading Verrocchio to retire from painting is likely exaggerated, it highlights Leonardo's emerging talent. His early works, like The Annunciation and Ginevra de' Benci, show his developing style, technical experimentation (like using oils in tempera paintings), and fascination with detail, perspective, and capturing movement and psychology.

The shock of arrest. The anonymous accusation and arrest for sodomy in 1476 was a pivotal, traumatic event. Despite the charges being conditionally dropped, the experience of imprisonment and the threat of severe punishment deeply affected him. This brush with the law, coupled with his father's likely disapproval and lack of support, may have solidified his sense of being an outsider and fueled a distrust of authority and conventional society.

4. Seeking Fortune: The Milan Years and the Promise of the Horse

He who does not try to surpass his teacher is mediocre.

A fresh start. Facing limited opportunities and personal difficulties in Florence, Leonardo sought patronage elsewhere. His letter of introduction to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, was a bold self-promotion, emphasizing his military engineering skills alongside his artistic talents. This move marked a deliberate attempt to reinvent himself and escape his past reputation for unfinished work and personal scandals.

Court life and diverse roles. In Milan, Leonardo served Ludovico for 18 years, initially taking on various roles beyond painting, including designing pageants, fixing plumbing, and working as an engineer. He was part of a vibrant court, interacting with intellectuals like the mathematician Luca Pacioli and artists like Bramante. This period allowed him to broaden his studies and pursue his diverse interests, though it also meant working on projects dictated by his patron.

The monumental horse. The commission for a giant bronze equestrian statue honoring Ludovico's father became Leonardo's consuming project. He dedicated years to studying horses, anatomy, and bronze casting, aiming to create a masterpiece that would surpass previous efforts, including his former master Verrocchio's statue in Venice. Despite immense effort and the creation of a massive clay model, the project was ultimately thwarted when the bronze was diverted for cannons, a major disappointment that underscored the precariousness of his position.

5. The Ingenio's Method: Curiosity, Observation, and Endless Tweaking

To study something closely enough to draw accurately was to also learn it deeply all over its surface, to absorb the thing through visual touch.

Drawing as knowing. For Leonardo, drawing was not just an artistic skill but a fundamental way of understanding the world. He meticulously sketched everything he observed – plants, animals, water, machines, human anatomy – using his hand to explore and internalize the subject. This process of visual touch allowed him to see deeply and make connections others missed.

A mind in constant motion. Leonardo's notebooks reveal a relentless curiosity and a mind that constantly sought to understand how things worked. He pursued diverse subjects, often simultaneously, driven by an intrinsic desire to know rather than a specific goal of publication or application. This "mania" for learning was a core part of his identity and a coping mechanism against the external chaos.

The art of improvisation. Leonardo's creative process was often improvisational and evolutionary. He would revisit ideas and projects repeatedly, adding layers, refining details, and allowing the work to evolve over time. This "obsessive tweaking" and willingness to delay completion until he felt it was "right" often clashed with patrons' expectations and deadlines, contributing to his reputation for unreliability but also enabling his unique insights and innovations.

6. Witness to Brutality: The Borgia Campaign and the Scars of War

Pazzia bestialissima, or “bestial folly,” he would call it later in his notebook.

Serving a tyrant. After the French invasion of Milan, Leonardo returned to Florence but soon found himself employed by Cesare Borgia, the ruthless son of Pope Alexander VI. As Borgia's chief engineer, Leonardo traveled with his army, designing fortifications and military machines. This period exposed him directly to the horrors of war, including massacres and brutal acts of cruelty.

A moral dilemma. Working for Borgia placed Leonardo in a morally compromising position. While he designed ingenious war machines and may have even facilitated a massacre by revealing a secret passage, his notebooks reveal a growing revulsion towards human violence, which he termed "bestial folly." This experience likely deepened his cynicism about humanity and contributed to his later vegetarianism and withdrawal from the world.

Machiavelli's companion. During this campaign, Leonardo spent time with Niccolò Machiavelli, who was observing Borgia for Florence. Their shared experiences of witnessing Borgia's ruthlessness and the chaos of war likely influenced both men. Leonardo's scientific approach to observation may have resonated with Machiavelli's developing ideas about politics, while the brutality they witnessed together left indelible scars on Leonardo's psyche.

7. Return to Florence: Rivalry, Failure, and Deepening Studies

Leonardo remained there, his face turning red.

Back in the fold. After escaping Borgia's service, Leonardo returned to Florence, where he was a known figure, albeit with a mixed reputation. He received prestigious commissions, including a massive wall painting of the Battle of Anghiari for the Palazzo Vecchio, placing him in direct competition with the rising star Michelangelo, who was commissioned to paint a companion piece.

Rivalry and humiliation. The competition with Michelangelo was fraught with tension. A public meeting regarding the placement of Michelangelo's David statue revealed underlying animosity, culminating in Michelangelo publicly shaming Leonardo for his unfinished bronze horse. This public humiliation, coupled with the pressure of the Anghiari commission and the failure of his Arno river diversion project, made this a difficult period for Leonardo.

Struggling with the brush. Despite the high-profile commission, Leonardo struggled to complete the Anghiari painting. Technical problems with his experimental paint mixture, coupled with what appears to be a deep-seated reluctance to depict the horrors of war he had recently witnessed, led him to abandon the project. This period of creative block and public failure coincided with a deepening of his anatomical studies, perhaps as a retreat from the external pressures and a search for internal truth.

8. Later Years: Rome, French Patronage, and Unfinished Masterpieces

Alas, this man will never do anything, because he is thinking about the end before he has even begun the work.

Seeking new patrons. After the Medici returned to power in Florence, Leonardo sought opportunities elsewhere. He was invited to Rome by Giuliano de Medici, brother of the newly elected Pope Leo X. While provided with accommodation and a stipend, Leonardo struggled to gain significant commissions from the Pope, who famously criticized his procrastination.

Anatomy and its consequences. In Rome, Leonardo continued his anatomical dissections, a practice not universally accepted and viewed with suspicion by some. His German assistants reported him to the Pope, leading to a ban on further dissections and accusations of sorcery. This setback, coupled with the lack of artistic commissions, further isolated Leonardo and limited his scientific pursuits.

French refuge. Frustrated with his situation in Rome, Leonardo accepted an invitation from the young French King Francis I to move to France. Francis I, who admired Leonardo's work and ingenuity, offered him a comfortable position at the Clos Lucé manor house near the royal palace. Here, Leonardo spent his final years, revered by the king, but primarily focusing on organizing his notebooks and working on a few beloved paintings, including the Mona Lisa, which remained a work in progress until the end.

9. The Enduring Mystery: Leonardo's Legacy and Unknowable Self

To know him was to see past his disguise, past all the distractions and contradictions, to the man improvising in the moment.

A life of contradictions. Leonardo remains an enigmatic figure, a bundle of contradictions that defy easy categorization. He was a genius who struggled with deadlines, a visionary engineer whose most ambitious projects were never realized, a sensitive artist who worked for brutal tyrants, and a man who sought fame yet left much of his most profound work unpublished and hidden away.

The power of the hand. Despite his struggles and unfinished projects, Leonardo's surviving work, particularly his drawings and a handful of paintings, reveals an unparalleled talent for observation, composition, and capturing the essence of life. His ability to make the unreal seem real, to imbue his subjects with a sense of inner life and movement, continues to captivate and astonish centuries later.

An internal world. Ultimately, Leonardo's true life may have been lived within his own mind and notebooks. His relentless curiosity, his deep emotional responses to the world's beauty and brutality, and his constant search for understanding were the driving forces behind his work. He was a man who valued his solitude, trusted his own observations above all else, and improvised his way through a chaotic world, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire and perplex.

Last updated: May 4, 2025