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(НЕ)ГЕНИЙ Леонардо да Винчи. Реальная история самого известного художника — Transcript

by Владимир Логинов · 11,175 words · 1,757 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00What do we know about Leonardo da Vinci
0:02?
0:02The greatest genius. Vinci.
0:07That is not the case. Da Vinci is not a
0:08genius and yet he is a genius, but
0:10definitely not the kind of genius you
0:12imagined. Sounds confusing. I
0:14understand. A quick example. At the end
0:18of the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci
0:20paints The Last Supper, one of his main
0:22works. Hundreds of years later, a coded
0:24message, secret images, and other
0:26mysteries are found on the fresco.
0:28Leonardo is not just a genius, but a
0:30riddle. Inspired by this, Dan Brown
0:31writes the famous book The Da Vinci
0:33Code, and Hollywood makes a blockbuster
0:35out of it. And even Stas Mikhailov
0:37releases a song of the same name.
0:38Mysteries, codes, messages, ciphers.
0:41Vinci.
0:42In reality, The Last Supper started
0:44falling off the wall 20 years after it
0:45was painted. The genius messed up with
0:47the paints. The composition he invented
0:49did not stick well to the surface. The
0:51mysterious secret messages on the
0:53fresco are strictly for conspiracy
0:54theorists. The book The Da Vinci Code
0:56is fiction. Interesting, captivating,
0:59but fiction. Don't get me wrong. This
1:01does not diminish the merits of da
1:02Vinci. The Last Supper. Undoubtedly a
1:04masterpiece. The song by Stas Mikhailov
1:06. Undoubtedly, no. Today I will tell
1:08you about the life of an outsider, a
1:10gay, illegitimate artisan without an
1:12education, whom descendants will name
1:14one of the greatest geniuses in human
1:16history. This is the biography of an
1:18artist, engineer, scientist, producer,
1:20designer, and, finally, a passionate
1:21lover of pink clothing.
1:23Leonardo da Vinci. The greatest genius
1:25of the Renaissance.
1:26The legendary Gioconda. Leonardo da
1:27Vinci could have been naked.
1:29A scandal of international proportions
1:30is already flaring up in the art world.
1:32A work by Leonardo da Vinci was sold
1:35for 450 million dollars.
1:37Experts claim the painting could have
1:38been stolen since the day of the death
1:40of the great master of the Renaissance,
1:42Leonardo da Vinci.
1:47Okay, let's start with an unexpected
1:49problem. Do you definitely recognize
1:51this self-portrait of da Vinci, or this
1:53portrait belonging to the brush of his
1:55student, or this one, made many years
1:57after the artist's death? The images
1:59are linked by age. And although much is
2:02still unknown about Leonardo's life
2:04today, one thing can be said for sure:
2:06da Vinci was not born a sixty-year-old
2:08man; he is no Benjamin Button. So what
2:10did young Leonardo look like? Most
2:12likely, like this. This is a sketch
2:14made for one of the statues authored by
2:16Leonardo's teacher. He likely used his
2:18student as a model. The image matches
2:21the rare recollections of those who
2:23knew the young da Vinci. They described
2:26him as a handsome, athletic man with
2:28long curly hair. But the most
2:30interesting detail of these memories is
2:32Leonardo's outfit. A pink tunic to the
2:34knees. And contemporaries were
2:36surprised not so much by the color, but
2:37by the length, since most preferred
2:39floor-length clothing. Da Vinci would
2:41keep the habit of being stylish
2:42throughout his life, and clothes would
2:44be almost his main expense. His
2:46favorite colors were pink and red. At
2:48least, that follows from the purchase
2:50records found in da Vinci's diaries. By
2:53the way, 3/4 of the diaries are lost.
2:55However, the part that has survived,
2:57along with the memories of his
2:58contemporaries, is enough to dispel
3:00myths and understand. Leonardo da Vinci
3:03was far from the person he is typically
3:05portrayed as. For many children, being
3:10born out of wedlock would mean a grim
3:12outlook, full of hardship and suffering
3:14. For Leonardo, it was a stroke of luck
3:17. Back in the early 10th century, his
3:19ancestors settled in the Italian town
3:21of Vinci. For over a hundred years,
3:23almost all the men in the dynasty were
3:25notaries, including
3:26twenty-four-year-old Ser Piero. He
3:28meets a girl named Caterina. Some time
3:30later, a boy is born, whom they name
3:33Leonardo. This is in 1452. The boy had
3:38no chance of becoming anything other
3:40than a notary. However, Caterina was an
3:42orphaned daughter of a farmer. Piero by
3:45that time was already pursuing a
3:46successful career as a notary in
3:48Florence. A marriage between people of
3:50such different backgrounds was unlikely
3:51for those times. Thus, Leonardo becomes
3:54illegitimate. In mid-15th century Italy
3:56, this didn't make you a second-class
3:59citizen, but it often stripped you of
4:01privileges, primarily the opportunity
4:03to inherit the family business. In the
4:05case of the da Vincis, everyone
4:06benefited from this: both the family
4:07and the young offspring. A tendency
4:09toward procrastination and a short
4:11attention span would have made Leonardo
4:14a terrible notary. Eight months after
4:16the birth of his son, Piero da Vinci
4:18marries the daughter of a prominent
4:20Florentine shoemaker. He would live a
4:22long life with several marriages and
4:24become a father 11 more times. Piero
4:27would continue to communicate with
4:28Leonardo and theoretically could have
4:30officially recognized him as his son,
4:32but he never did. Leonardo's mother,
4:35Caterina, finds a suitable husband
4:37among local farmers. And within a short
4:39time, they have four children of their
4:42own. Leonardo would spend his early
4:44childhood mostly in the town of Vinci
4:45at his grandfather's house. Okay, let's
4:50stop for a second. Do you know what the
4:52famous actor DiCaprio and the great
4:54artist da Vinci have in common? They
4:56are both named Leonardo. First, the
4:57mother of the future Hollywood star
4:59named her son after the famous artist.
5:01Second, there is a big-budget Hollywood
5:03film in development about the life of
5:05the great painter, in which Leonardo
5:07DiCaprio will play the lead role. But
5:09most importantly, the surnames da Vinci
5:11and DiCaprio have a shared history of
5:13origin.
5:14In the 14th and 15th centuries in Italy
5:16, many began registering their place of
5:18birth as a surname. Thus, that very "da
5:20Vinci" was added to the name of his
5:22father, Piero, and Leonardo himself.
5:25Leonardo was born out of wedlock, and
5:27therefore did not get into one of the
5:29prestigious schools that provided a
5:30full education. Instead, the boy
5:32underwent brief training in the basics
5:34of mathematics, and otherwise, he was
5:37self-taught. As a result, the future
5:39genius would struggle to learn Latin as
5:41an adult and would write it with
5:42mistakes. But on the other hand,
5:44practice and experiments would become
5:46his main tools for understanding the
5:48world. At the age of 12, Leonardo
5:50leaves Vinci and moves to his father in
5:53Florence. Florence of that time was a
5:59boiling epicenter of commerce,
6:01technology, and, most importantly, art.
6:03Constant celebrations, stylish people
6:05walking the streets. In short, Big City
6:07Life. Everything is run by the famous
6:09Medici family, specifically Lorenzo de
6:11'Medici. For many artists, Lorenzo was
6:13a patron, or, simply put, a man who
6:15generously provided commissions and
6:17money. There has never been a more
6:20perfect time or place in history to be
6:22born a bastard. Yes, you might not have
6:24had a good education, an inheritance,
6:27or a family profession, but what you
6:29definitely had was freedom. The freedom
6:31to do whatever you wanted with your
6:33life. At the very least, even become an
6:35artist. Leonardo was also lucky to be
6:38born during the period that would
6:39become the dawn of the Renaissance.
6:41This was a time when superstars of fine
6:44art were at work: Michelangelo, Raphael
6:46, Donatello, and, of course, Leonardo
6:48da Vinci. All these people whose names
6:50would later be given to the Teenage
6:51Mutant Ninja Turtles. After moving to
6:58Florence, Leonardo da Vinci continues
7:00his superficial education, mostly in
7:02the basics of mathematics. The
7:04apprentice stands out for being
7:05left-handed. It wasn’t exactly
7:07something looked down upon, but it
7:09definitely made the boy stand out from
7:10everyone else. This trait would later
7:13manifest in his drawing technique and
7:14his unusual approach to writing. Around
7:17the age of thirty, Leonardo began
7:19keeping detailed diaries. Mostly, he
7:21wrote about anatomy, engineering,
7:23physics, and art, and very rarely about
7:25his personal life. The entries were
7:27written in reverse from right to left,
7:29meaning that ideally, you needed a
7:31mirror to read them. Very often, this
7:34fact is perceived as further proof of
7:36Da Vinci’s mysterious nature, as if
7:38he intentionally encrypted everything
7:40so no one could read it. And, by all
7:42accounts, this is a myth. Let's start
7:45with the obvious. Why would one encrypt
7:47their conclusions in the 15th century
7:48about the sun not revolving around the
7:50Earth? I understand. Why encrypt
7:52information about apricots bought at
7:54the market and newly acquired stockings
7:56is unclear. Stockings were standard
7:58menswear at the time. No need to be shy
8:01. Most likely, the real reason for the
8:03mirror technique is his left-handedness
8:05. If you write with your left hand from
8:07left to right, there is a risk that the
8:09ink on the page will smear with your
8:11sleeve or palm, and paper was expensive
8:13. Even when Leonardo was already
8:15wealthy, he filled every empty space on
8:17a page with some kind of information.
8:20An Italian calligraphy book from the
8:2215th century actually offers a life
8:24hack for lefties to write using this
8:26mirror technique. There are other
8:28left-handed contemporaries of Da Vinci
8:30who wrote in exactly the same way. And
8:32finally, if you think that such a
8:34mirror technique is available only to
8:36geniuses, give it a try. I assure you,
8:38it is not as difficult as it seems.
8:40It’s a matter of practice. The fact
8:43that Leonardo studied mostly
8:45mathematics in Florence could mean that
8:47his father, Piero, hoped his son would
8:49become a notary. However, by that point
8:51, it was already quite obvious.
8:53Leonardo da Vinci was much more
8:55interested in drawing than in office
8:57work. There is a rather famous story
8:59about a painted wooden shield that can
9:01be considered the first work of a
9:03future genius. It happened like this.
9:05The carpenter Ser Piero asks Leonardo's
9:07father to take a wooden shield to
9:09Florence for painting, but Ser Piero
9:11entrusts this task to his son. He
9:13decides to draw either a fire-breathing
9:15dragon or a Medusa Gorgon. And to do
9:17this, Leonardo, still a boy at the time
9:19, studies lizards, snakes, grasshoppers
9:21, and other real-life creatures. Having
9:24received the finished work, Ser Piero
9:25da Vinci is so pleasantly shocked by
9:27his son's abilities that he keeps the
9:29shield for himself and gives the
9:30carpenter. He buys a simpler
9:32replacement. It is not certain that the
9:34whole story about the shield is true.
9:36Perhaps it is just a legend, but one
9:38thing is known for sure: studying the
9:40real world to realize fantasies based
9:42on it is an approach that Leonardo
9:44would carry throughout his life.
9:46Perhaps because of his penchant for
9:48drawing, Ser Piero would abandon the
9:49idea of legitimizing his son and making
9:51him a notary. Instead, he would take
9:54the teenager to his acquaintance and
9:55client, the famous artist Verrocchio.
9:59Today, Verrocchio is one of the
10:00important representatives of the
10:02Renaissance. In the 15th century, he is
10:04essentially a craftsman, and his
10:05workshop is an assembly line. Under the
10:07supervision of the master, students and
10:09assistants churn out paintings with
10:10religious themes. However, this place
10:13would essentially become a real school
10:15for many artists, including Botticelli
10:17and Leonardo da Vinci. Let's pause for
10:21a second to clarify an important detail
10:23. Painting is not art. At least for the
10:26majority living in the 15th century,
10:28the logic was as follows: that which is
10:30a product of the mind is art. That
10:32which is made by hand is a craft;
10:34poetry is art, sculpture is a craft,
10:37music is art, painting is...Well, you
10:39get the point. The system formed back
10:41in Ancient Greece and suited everyone
10:43for a long time. Everything would
10:45change thanks to the Renaissance and,
10:47among others, Leonardo da Vinci. The
10:50artists of that time, primarily from
10:51Italy, took visual art to a new level.
10:54They studied anatomy, perspective,
10:56geometry, and physics with one single
10:58goal: to transfer 3D reality onto a 2D
11:00canvas as accurately as possible. A
11:03simple example. On the left is a
11:04typical painting, or rather an icon, of
11:06the 10th century. On the right is one
11:08of the first famous works by da Vinci.
11:10The difference is obvious, whether you
11:11are an art historian or just a person
11:13with eyes. The painting on the right is
11:15The Baptism of Christ. And to be
11:16precise, it is the work of Verrocchio,
11:18made with the participation of his
11:20student, Leonardo da Vinci. By that
11:23time, the artist, who was a little over
11:2420, had spent almost 5 years in the
11:26workshop. He is no longer just an
11:28intern, but a full-fledged employee
11:30living at the studio. This means
11:31Leonardo can handle not only
11:33assembly-line orders but also be a
11:34partner to the master on his projects.
11:37This is what da Vinci does, and so
11:38successfully that he surpasses his
11:40teacher. Take the example of The
11:42Baptism of Christ. On the left are two
11:44angels, who interest us the most,
11:46because one of them was painted by da
11:47Vinci himself. And if you're watching
11:50this video on something larger than a
11:52phone screen, you've likely guessed
11:54intuitively. The angel on the left
11:56belongs to Leonardo. His pose is much
11:58more lively and natural, as if he's in
12:00motion rather than a frozen statue. And
12:03if the legend is to be believed, the
12:05difference between the angels was so
12:06obvious to contemporaries that
12:08Verrocchio admitted defeat as a teacher
12:10and eventually gave up painting.
12:12Whether that was really the case is
12:13unknown. But what is indeed a fact.
12:16After The Baptism of Christ, Verrocchio
12:18essentially never finished another
12:19independent work. At this point,
12:21Leonardo's story might resemble a
12:23typical rise of talent to the peaks,
12:25were it not for prison. A week before
12:30his twenty-fourth birthday, da Vinci is
12:32accused of sodomy. Allegedly, he and
12:34three other men were spotted in an
12:36intimate encounter with a young man
12:37named Saltarelli. The accusations were
12:39anonymous, but an investigation began.
12:42Homosexual relations in the Florence of
12:44that time were a crime, and hundreds
12:46were sentenced annually to imprisonment
12:48, exile from the city, or even death.
12:52But Leonardo gets lucky. Yes, he likely
12:54spends a day or two in jail, but it
12:56quickly emerges that the other
12:57defendants are connected to the Medici
12:59clan. The case is hushed up, the
13:01suspects are free. Was da Vinci guilty?
13:04Most likely, as there isn't a single
13:06mention of Leonardo ever having a
13:07relationship with women, whereas with
13:09men, on the contrary. With one of his
13:11partners, they would remain together
13:13for over 20 years. Sodomy in 15
13:15th-century Florence was a crime.
13:17However, among local artists, it was a
13:19common phenomenon. Botticelli was
13:21accused of sodomy. Michelangelo,
13:23Donatello, and Cellini were gay.
13:25Leonardo didn't exactly parade his
13:27personal life, but in general, he
13:29didn't hide his orientation either.
13:32Legal troubles do not hinder Leonardo's
13:34work at Verrocchio's. He continues to
13:36study how nature is structured and how
13:38the human eye perceives it. From this
13:40will be born da Vinci's famous and
13:42unique style of painting. First and
13:44foremost, we are interested in two
13:46Italian words: chiaroscuro and sfumato.
13:48Let me explain simply. We see the world
13:51in three dimensions, but the canvas is
13:53a two-dimensional space. How do you
13:54make a figure on a painting look
13:55voluminous and separate it from the
13:57background? First and foremost, with
13:59the help of light and shadow. The
14:00chiaroscuro technique is responsible
14:02for this. Roughly speaking, you see an
14:04example of this technique right here in
14:05my frame. That light in the background
14:08creates the illusion of
14:09three-dimensionality on a 2D screen.
14:11That is exactly why it is there. Today,
14:13every second vlogger who cares about
14:16their image does this, but in the 15th
14:18century, it was a major artistic
14:20achievement. The chiaroscuro technique
14:22wasn't used only by da Vinci, but he
14:24mastered it virtuously. Another
14:26signature mark of the genius is the
14:28so-called sfumato, or "smoky" effect.
14:30Objects have no sharp outlines. Instead
14:32, there are smooth transitions of light
14:34and shadow. Thanks to this, people in
14:36the painting look alive rather than
14:38like frozen statues. Da Vinci would
14:40carry his signature sfumato through his
14:42entire biography, from the angel in the
14:44Baptism of Christ to the Mona Lisa.
14:48Okay, I suspect some of you are
14:49thinking: "Dude, you said at first that
14:51Leonardo wasn't such a genius, but so
14:53far it looks exactly like that." A
14:55teenager enters a workshop as an
14:57apprentice and quickly becomes a
14:58top-tier artist. That is true. By his
15:00mid-twenties, Leonardo manages to gain
15:03some hype. His works start getting
15:05noticed. However, this does not mean
15:07that everything from the young artist's
15:09hand was flawless. A striking example:
15:12The Annunciation. A painting created
15:14while working for Verrocchio that has
15:16clear imperfections. The unnatural
15:18hands of the Virgin Mary, the bulky
15:19pedestal, and the garden hedge
15:21distracting from the plot, and so on.
15:23All of this means only one thing. If Da
15:26Vinci was a genius, he became one much
15:28later, rather than being born one. At
15:3324, Leonardo is still working and
15:35living in Verrocchio’s workshop,
15:37churning out religious paintings. By
15:39that time, many of the master's
15:41apprentices had already become
15:42independent artists. Why Da Vinci
15:44finally decides to set out on his own
15:47remains unknown. Perhaps the
15:48accusations of sodomy that occurred a
15:51year earlier led to this. Either way,
15:53in 1478, Leonardo opens his own
15:56workshop in Florence. From a business
15:58standpoint, it’s a disaster. In the
16:00five years the workshop existed,
16:02Leonardo received only three
16:03commissions. He never finished two of
16:05them, and he didn't even start the
16:07third. Art history has a sort of top
16:10list of unfinished masterpieces. And
16:13Leonardo’s painting, The Adoration of
16:14the Magi, has every right to top that
16:16list. Da Vinci gets this commission
16:18from the monastery thanks to his father
16:20Piero's connections. The Adoration of
16:22the Magi is a well-known biblical
16:24subject. Many great artists chose it
16:26for their works. By the time he got the
16:28commission, Da Vinci was already
16:30infamous as an undisciplined artist.
16:32Promises were broken, deadlines missed,
16:35so they forced Leonardo to sign a very
16:37strict contract. After this, Da Vinci
16:39floors the pedal of perfectionism. He
16:42makes a detailed sketch, calculates the
16:43perspective, and plans out the
16:45background. In his opinion, no
16:46character's pose in the painting should
16:48be repeated, and there are dozens of
16:50people. Each of the subjects
16:52experiences an emotion that must be
16:53expressed in their movement, hand
16:55position, and facial expression.
16:57Moreover, Da Vinci first draws everyone
16:59naked. He believes in an anatomical
17:01approach, where the body is drawn first
17:03, then the clothing on top. Where to
17:05get all this information? By studying
17:07it. Anatomy, geometry, geology, physics
17:09. Da Vinci tries to understand every
17:11detail of the world to transfer it onto
17:13the canvas. Perfectionism may have made
17:16Da Vinci great. Perfectionism certainly
17:18prevented him from finishing what he
17:20started. Today, he is considered the
17:22author of only fifteen works. Not many
17:25for an artist who lived a long life.
17:28The Adoration of the Magi, of course,
17:29isn't finished on time. The contract is
17:31broken. Leonardo falls into debt. The
17:33future genius is borrowing money. And,
17:35judging by the records, he uses it to
17:37buy paint and a bottle of wine. At that
17:40moment, Da Vinci is clearly in a crisis
17:42. And although he is considered a
17:43talented artist, his reputation ruins
17:45everything. He isn't getting any
17:47commissions. His colleague Botticelli
17:49is swamped with work, while Leonardo
17:51criticizes his technique. Perhaps it's
17:53envy. Who knows? Either way, today the
17:56Adoration of the Magi hangs in the
17:58Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and every
18:00visitor can see a young man on the side
18:01. It is believed that this is a
18:03self-portrait of Leonardo. Perhaps this
18:06is exactly how he looked in 1482, when
18:08he left his native Florence and moved
18:11to Milan. Da Vinci marks his thirtieth
18:22birthday in a new city and in a new
18:23capacity. Now he is not an artist, but
18:26an engineer-architect capable of
18:28designing almost anything, from
18:30buildings to military weapons. This
18:32follows from a letter written by
18:33Leonardo himself to the ruler of Milan,
18:35Ludovico Sforza. In this resume, Da
18:38Vinci lists a long list of his
18:39engineering skills and only in the
18:41eleventh point notes: "And I can also
18:43paint." It's hard to say what
18:47influenced such a career turn. Perhaps
18:49weariness with painting, where, despite
18:51his recognized talent, a trail of
18:53unfinished works followed Leonardo.
18:55Perhaps a desire to finally devote more
18:57time to science, which Leonardo began
18:59to study passionately while in Florence
19:01, or it was a tactical ruse. Milan,
19:04Venice, Florence, and other Italian
19:06cities at that time were separate
19:08states. Da Vinci surely knew that
19:10Sforza was a militaristic leader
19:12surrounded by adversaries. Such a ruler
19:15needs a military engineer, not an
19:17artist. What does Da Vinci actually do
19:19for the first few years of his stay in
19:20Milan? He works as a producer and
19:22director. In times without YouTube,
19:24Netflix, or TikTok, people also needed
19:26entertainment, especially if you were
19:28nobility. Da Vinci organizes theatrical
19:30performances at the Sforza court. And
19:32one might think that for a talented
19:34artist, this is a step down the career
19:36ladder. But Leonardo has a different
19:37opinion. He thinks through the plot,
19:39set design, music, and special effects
19:41of people, dragons, and demons flying
19:43on stage. Da Vinci began working on
19:46theatrical performances back in
19:48Florence, but he truly hits his stride
19:49in Milan. Despite his mythical image as
19:53a mysterious genius, Leonardo is
19:54actually a person who loves festivals,
19:56parties, bright clothes, and humor. For
20:00example, he might catch a lizard, glue
20:01a beard and wings onto it, put it in a
20:02box, and then scare his friends with it
20:04. So, Leonardo was also a prankster.
20:07Besides that, he looks great, has an
20:09athletic build, is a good
20:10conversationalist, and also sings and
20:12plays music well. In short, organizing
20:15theatrical performances is the perfect
20:17job for a person with such traits. But
20:19most importantly, in this work,
20:21Leonardo fully utilizes his engineering
20:23skills. And now is the perfect time to
20:25dispel another myth. If you happen to
20:31travel to Rome, you will likely land at
20:33the Leonardo da Vinci Airport. There
20:35stands a huge statue of the genius. It
20:37is bronze, 12 meters tall. But that is
20:39not what is interesting. In his hand,
20:41Da Vinci is holding his model of a
20:42helicopter. That is what is interesting
20:44. There is a belief that Leonardo was
20:46such a genius that he designed many
20:48modern technologies 500 years ago, from
20:50tanks to helicopters. And while that is
20:53not exactly a complete fallacy, it is
20:54far from the whole truth. The
20:56helicopter design from Da Vinci's
20:58journals is a fact. However, it seems
20:59it was created for one of his
21:01performances. This thing cannot fly.
21:03The structure itself does not work.
21:06Here is a design for wings for human
21:08flight. It is in Da Vinci's journals. A
21:10fact. As a theatrical effect, it is
21:12genius; as a real invention, it does
21:14not work. And this is a typical story
21:16for the engineering projects in the
21:17genius's journals. Some of them were
21:19created exclusively for performances.
21:22Others were never realized by Leonardo
21:24in practice, only on paper. Okay, there
21:26are a couple of exceptions, but more on
21:28those later. So, Leonardo is a
21:31successful producer in Milan. It is
21:33here that he meets a young man named
21:35Salaì. He is significantly younger
21:37than Leonardo. Salaì becomes the
21:39master's assistant, then a decent
21:40painter, but above all, a partner of
21:42Leonardo with whom he would spend
21:43nearly 30 years of his life. In his
21:46journals, Da Vinci would leave notes
21:48about the clothes he bought for Salaì,
21:50and even brief mentions of their
21:52arguments. It was after moving to Milan
21:55that Da Vinci began keeping journals on
21:57a regular basis. He would rarely write
21:59about his personal life. The main
22:00subjects of his notes would be art and
22:02science. As you remember, Leonardo
22:04essentially had no formal education,
22:06including a good knowledge of Latin.
22:08And most scientific works of that time
22:11were in that language, not in Da
22:13Vinci's familiar Italian. But Leonardo
22:15does not get discouraged. His sources
22:16of knowledge become observation,
22:18experiments, and personal interaction.
22:20Milan is a much better city in this
22:22regard. Science was given much more
22:25attention there than in Florence. A
22:27common myth about Da Vinci is the image
22:29of the solitary genius creator. Yes,
22:31Leonardo once wrote in his diary: "If
22:33you are alone, you belong entirely to
22:36yourself." However, in reality, this
22:38was the kind of loneliness known only
22:40to its possessor, not to those around
22:42him. Da Vinci would be forced to have
22:45many friends, students, and business
22:46connections, as this would largely
22:48become the secret to his success. At
22:50the Sforza court gatherings, there was
22:52always a place for architects,
22:54scientists, engineers, and artists.
22:55Leonardo was a frequent participant in
22:57these events. For him, and for many
22:59other figures of the Renaissance, this
23:01kind of mental ping-pong between
23:03representatives of different fields of
23:05science and art was an important source
23:07of knowledge. In the 1480s, the "
23:10Vitruvian Man" becomes a hyped topic of
23:13discussion. Let’s be honest, I’m
23:18not the only one who has seen this
23:19image many times, yet never quite
23:21understood who this naked guy inside
23:22the square is. Let’s figure it out.
23:25Marcus Vitruvius, an ancient Roman
23:27engineer and architect. He wrote a
23:28famous treatise on ancient architecture
23:31, and the Renaissance was a revival of
23:33ancient culture. For Da Vinci and his
23:35peers, Vitruvius’s concept of the
23:37relationship between the human
23:38microcosm and the planetary macrocosm
23:39was especially relevant. Translating
23:41this, the human body is the world in
23:43miniature. Everything in our organism
23:46is structured and works by the same
23:47laws as the surrounding space.
23:49According to Vitruvius, for instance, a
23:51well-built human can serve as a model
23:53for building design. His treatise
23:55actually describes the precise
23:57proportions of that very well-built
23:59body. Many of Leonardo’s friends
24:01started drawing their own versions of
24:03the Vitruvian man. However, Da
24:05Vinci’s version became the most
24:06famous. Firstly, it is better drawn.
24:09Secondly, Vitruvius’s concept would
24:11become a major theme in Leonardo’s
24:12scientific and philosophical inquiries.
24:14And thirdly, there is a theory that
24:16this is a self-portrait of Da Vinci. If
24:18that’s true, we can have a rough idea
24:20of what Leonardo looked like at 38. And
24:24he apparently looked amazing. I
24:25didn’t have a physique like that at
24:2728. At 38, absolutely no chance.
24:29Perhaps the reason lies in the genius
24:31Leonardo’s lifestyle. According to
24:33his contemporaries, he was an athletic
24:35man who loved horse riding and other
24:36physical activities. Besides that, Da
24:39Vinci was a vegetarian. Judging by his
24:41diaries, he treated animals with great
24:43warmth. Among his shopping records, one
24:45finds only fruits, vegetables, and fish
24:47. One of the notes reads: went to the
24:49market, bought apricots and eels.
24:53Furthermore, Leonardo did not overwork.
24:55He understood that serving the Muses
24:56does not tolerate haste. Creativity and
24:59intellectual labor require time, not a
25:01schedule. I don’t know who the
25:03villain was that said an artist should
25:04be hungry, but Da Vinci certainly
25:06wouldn’t have agreed. In his opinion,
25:08an artist should sit in a pleasant room
25:10, wearing fine clothes, and painting
25:12beautiful images. All these luxuries
25:15became available to Leonardo when he
25:17received an order for a massive statue
25:19for Ludovico Sforza. The year 1489.
25:24Around the same time Da Vinci was
25:26drawing the Vitruvian man. The plan was
25:29for the statue to depict Sforza’s
25:30father on horseback. The father quickly
25:32stopped bothering Da Vinci. He focused
25:34exclusively on the horse. And it
25:38wouldn’t be Leonardo if he just made
25:39a regular horse, not outstanding or
25:41unique, just a horse finished on time.
25:43After all, you can’t just go and not
25:45turn on your perfectionism. First, Da
25:48Vinci went to the stables to study live
25:50horses, their poses, movements, and
25:51facial expressions. Then he moved on to
25:54dead horses to understand how the
25:55animal's anatomy was structured. Okay,
25:58the design is ready. Now he needs to
25:59execute it. The statue was to be made
26:01of bronze and had to be enormous, but
26:03despite the size, Da Vinci wanted to
26:04cast it in one piece rather than in
26:06parts. To do this, he would simply need
26:09to invent a new technology. Five years
26:11pass this way. French troops advance on
26:13Milan, and all the bronze intended for
26:15the statue is used to make cannons. The
26:17French would eventually capture the
26:18city, though not this time, but a
26:19little later. And the soldiers would
26:21use the giant model of the horse for
26:23target practice with their arrows. Yet
26:26Leonardo simply wanted to make a fine
26:28statue. Around this same time, Columbus
26:33and Vespucci were discovering America,
26:35book printing was developing, and
26:36important scientific discoveries were
26:38being made. And, of course, Da Vinci
26:40was not occupied solely with the
26:41ill-fated horse sculpture. This period
26:43was one of the most productive in
26:45Leonardo's career as a scientist. When
26:47asked which discipline he preferred,
26:50Leonardo replied: "Yes." Geometry,
26:52arithmetic, optics, engineering,
26:54mechanics, chemistry, anatomy—and
26:55that is far from everything. Perhaps
26:57the main quality Da Vinci possessed was
27:00curiosity. Whether this was a result of
27:02his lack of formal education or a
27:03natural trait, no one knows. But what
27:05is known for sure is the vast list of
27:07questions that interested Leonardo,
27:09from why the sky is blue to the anatomy
27:11of a woodpecker's tongue. You heard
27:13that right—studying a woodpecker's
27:15tongue was a standard item on
27:17Leonardo's to-do list in his diary, and
27:19we will return to this. Luck plays a
27:22significant role in the making of a
27:24genius. For example, in the mid-15th
27:26century in Germany, Johannes Gutenberg
27:28invented book printing, and toward the
27:30end of the century, one of his students
27:32opened a print shop in Venice. They
27:34used the Italian language, familiar to
27:36Da Vinci, for printing rather than the
27:37wretched Latin. Thus, Leonardo gained
27:39access to a vast number of scientific
27:42works. But, as is well known, theory
27:44bears no fruit without practice.
27:46Experiments and observations remained,
27:47for Da Vinci, a vital method of
27:49acquiring knowledge. In an era when
27:51everyone was asking "why," Leonardo was
27:53asking "why not." Da Vinci attempted to
27:57build a perpetual motion machine,
27:58studied physics, and even formulated
28:00something resembling the laws of
28:02mechanics 200 years before Newton.
28:04Ultimately, Leonardo concluded that a
28:06perpetual motion machine was impossible
28:08, but instead of tragedy, he simply
28:09moved on. Da Vinci developed several
28:11military projects, among which were a
28:13giant twenty-meter crossbow and a tank
28:15resembling a turtle. Inside, according
28:17to Leonardo's design, there was to be
28:19room for up to eight people. These
28:21inventions would remain merely concepts
28:23. The genius's true passion was flying
28:26machines. At first as theatrical props,
28:29then as real projects. His journals
28:31contain many concepts for flying
28:33machines, most of which resemble birds.
28:35Despite decades of searching, Da Vinci
28:38would never manage to create a working
28:40model. While studying various
28:44disciplines, Leonardo quickly realized
28:46the necessity of mathematics. After all
28:47, mathematics is the language in which
28:49nature writes its laws. And this is the
28:52very language that Da Vinci struggled
28:53with. His biggest problems were with
28:55algebra and arithmetic. Already in his
28:57forties, he could make mistakes in
28:59elementary calculations and had
29:01difficulties with roots and other
29:03algebraic elements. It’s nice to
29:05realize that you have something in
29:06common with Leonardo da Vinci. I also
29:08had big problems with square roots back
29:10in school. I hadn't even heard of cubic
29:12ones. Unlike algebra, geometry was much
29:15closer to Da Vinci, as he perceived the
29:17world through visual images. Leonardo
29:19worked for many years on various
29:21theories in this field. However, for
29:23mathematicians, none of these studies
29:25were of any interest. Perhaps Da
29:27Vinci's main contribution to this
29:29science was the illustrations for the
29:31book of his friend Luca Pacioli, a
29:33famous mathematician of that time. The
29:35work was mainly dedicated to the most
29:37famous mathematical proportion, the
29:38golden ratio. A discipline whose
29:41influence on Da Vinci's art is hard to
29:43overestimate is anatomy. Leonardo began
29:45studying anatomy back in Florence just
29:47to draw people better. But in Milan,
29:50this fascination went far beyond
29:52artistic necessity. Connections with
29:54medical scientists gave Leonardo access
29:56to research, and more importantly, to
29:58the bodies of the deceased. Da Vinci
30:01would become the one to take the art of
30:03anatomical drawing to a new level. His
30:05images are correct from a scientific
30:07point of view and stunning from an
30:09artistic one. Light, shadow, his
30:11signature sfumato—all executed by a
30:13great master. Leonardo would be the
30:15first to accurately depict and describe
30:17the structure of teeth. So, if it
30:19weren't for all his other achievements,
30:21Da Vinci could have earned a worthy
30:22place in the history of dentistry. Some
30:24of his theories in anatomy could have
30:26become scientific discoveries, but they
30:29remained just ideas on paper. However,
30:32studying anatomy, while it didn't put
30:33Da Vinci in the history of science,
30:35certainly brought him closer to the
30:37answer of how to reflect a character's
30:38emotional state through movement.
30:41Famous portraits: Lady with an Ermine,
30:43La Belle Ferronnière, Mona Lisa. They
30:45all went down in history for one main
30:47reason. Through the slightest details
30:49of pose and facial expression, the
30:50author conveys the subject's thoughts
30:52and inner state. To achieve this, it
30:55took not only the painter's skill
30:57acquired over years of practice but
30:59also decades of studying anatomy. Okay,
31:02time for an example. We’ll take a
31:05quick look at one painting, and
31:06you’ll understand once and for all
31:08what makes Da Vinci a great artist,
31:10even if you draw stick figures. This is
31:13the famous Lady with an Ermine. Perhaps
31:15Da Vinci’s second most popular
31:17portrait after the Mona Lisa. Leonardo
31:19worked on it around the same time as
31:21the horse statue. The painting features
31:23the mistress of the ruler of Milan,
31:25Ludovico Sforza. Using this work as an
31:27example, it’s interesting to break
31:28down several important points that Da
31:30Vinci discovered while perfecting his
31:32craft. Once upon a time, these
31:34discoveries helped him create
31:35masterpieces, and today they will be
31:36useful to anyone who wants to make
31:38their Instagram photos a little better.
31:41Instagram tip from Leonardo number one.
31:43Too bright a light falling on your face
31:46makes it look unflattering. It’s much
31:48better when the light is dimmed. The
31:49sunset sun is the perfect option.
31:52Instagram tip from Leonardo number two.
31:55The body and head are turned slightly,
31:56with the angle of the body and head
31:58needing to be different. This makes the
32:01pose look as beautiful and natural as
32:02possible. In short, Da Vinci understood
32:05500 years ago why passport photos look
32:07terrible. A genius. That is far from
32:11all the merits of the Lady with an
32:13Ermine. One of the important details is
32:14the facial expression. A subtle smile
32:17is Da Vinci's calling card. It can be
32:19found in many of his works, including
32:21the Mona Lisa. A small detail of facial
32:23expression, which for a genius might
32:25seem simple enough to portray. However,
32:27the average person has no idea how many
32:29years Da Vinci spent standing with a
32:31scalpel over the faces of the deceased,
32:32studying every muscle responsible for a
32:34smile. Da Vinci's perfectionism can
32:36also be seen in the level of detail
32:38given to fabrics, hair, and the
32:39animal's fur. And so as not to spend
32:41another hour analyzing this painting,
32:43here is one small detail that will
32:45prove we are dealing with a genius.
32:48Look at the subject's little finger. It
32:50is darkened because it is in shadow.
32:52However, the very bottom part of the
32:54finger is slightly lighter because the
32:56main light source is located to the
32:58right and above, as this light falls on
33:00the white fur of the ermine. Because
33:02the white fur reflects this light, and
33:04it falls onto the lower part of the
33:05little finger, making it lighter.
33:07Because Da Vinci spent decades studying
33:10the nature of light. Because Da Vinci
33:12made himself a genius, at least in
33:15painting. During this period, Da Vinci
33:18would paint several more famous works.
33:21But it is the Lady with an Ermine that,
33:23centuries later, would be called the
33:24first modern portrait in history, the
33:26first painting where the artist managed
33:28to convey the inner experience of the
33:30subject. For Leonardo, it was an
33:32undoubted success, and not just because
33:34poets began dedicating poems to the
33:36painting, and contemporaries noted its
33:38absolute merit. The Lady with an Ermine
33:40was the first painting commission for
33:42Da Vinci in his 7 years of living in
33:44Milan. Leonardo is great. Year 1494.
34:02The ruler of Milan, Ludovico Sforza,
34:04decides to immortalize his name and
34:06create a mausoleum for himself and his
34:08family. The location chosen is not the
34:10largest, but in its own way beautiful,
34:12the Milanese church of Santa Maria
34:14delle Grazie. However, this place would
34:16go down in history not because of its
34:17architecture, but for another reason.
34:19It is there, on one of the walls, that
34:21Da Vinci would paint The Last Supper.
34:23Another person is to blame for the
34:25enormous popularity of this work: Dan
34:28Brown. In 2003, he writes the famous
34:30book The Da Vinci Code. It is there
34:32that the writer, or rather his
34:33characters, discuss the topic of hidden
34:35signs on the mural The Last Supper,
34:37which Da Vinci painted. Everyone has
34:39seen this mural, many are aware of its
34:41mysteries, and only a few know the
34:43details. Well, let's increase the
34:45number of the latter. Leonardo receives
34:47a commission to paint a wall in the
34:49church of Santa Maria delle Grazie,
34:51choosing a famous biblical scene as his
34:53theme. Jesus informs the twelve
34:55apostles that one of them is a traitor.
34:58Da Vinci intends to capture the exact
35:00moment the apostles react to Christ's
35:02words. The working process is public.
35:04First of all, the room where the fresco
35:06is being painted is essentially a
35:07dining hall for monks. Secondly, anyone
35:09can walk in from the street and observe
35:11the genius at work. And often, visitors
35:14find neither the work nor the genius
35:16there. There are good days when
35:19Leonardo arrives early and works until
35:21late at night. There are unsuccessful
35:23days. Da Vinci stands before the
35:25painting, silent, occasionally
35:26criticizing his own work, silent again,
35:28and after a couple of hours of
35:29self-flagellation, he leaves. There are
35:31worse days, when Leonardo comes to the
35:33church around lunchtime, makes a couple
35:35of strokes, puts down the brush, and
35:37leaves. The genius’s procrastination
35:39becomes a topic of conversation between
35:41the church prior and Ludovico Sforza.
35:43Da Vinci defends himself. He explains
35:45to Sforza that an artist is working
35:47even during the moments when he is not
35:48holding a brush. Thoughts and images
35:51must be born in the mind before they
35:52can take the form of a painting. Da
35:55Vinci also promises to take the prior
35:57and portray him as Judas if he does not
35:58stop his denunciations. All this amuses
36:01Sforza greatly, and he decides not to
36:03pressure Leonardo. At least for a while
36:05. In 1497, Sforza's wife dies. His
36:09patience wears thin, and he forces Da
36:11Vinci to sign a strict contract. By
36:13that point, work on the fresco has
36:14already been going on for 3 years. It
36:17will take Leonardo another year to
36:18finish, but in the end, the
36:19expectations will be met. The work will
36:22immediately be recognized by
36:23contemporaries as a masterpiece. Da
36:24Vinci will receive a bonus from Sforza
36:26in the form of a small vineyard. Happy
36:28end. Well, not quite. Within just 20
36:30years, The Last Supper begins to flake
36:32off the wall. Who is to blame? A fresco
36:35must be painted quickly. A piece of the
36:37wall is covered with wet plaster, and
36:39while it dries, the paint is applied to
36:41it. For this, the artist has only one
36:43day. Leonardo, as you have realized,
36:44did not like to rush. He was used to
36:47working with oil paints, which allowed
36:49him to paint for years, adding the
36:50smallest touches and making adjustments
36:52. All of Da Vinci's previous painting
36:55successes were linked to this approach.
36:58Therefore, for The Last Supper, he
36:59decided to use an experimental mix. He
37:01took tempera, usually used for frescoes
37:04, mixed it with oil paint, and began
37:06applying it to a dry surface. This, of
37:08course, allowed him to work in his
37:10unhurried manner, but it led to a sad
37:12result. Over the past 500 years, The
37:15Last Supper has undergone many
37:16restorations. None of them were very
37:18successful. As a result, today in Santa
37:21Maria delle Grazie, you will see only a
37:23dim shadow of what the fresco was
37:24immediately after its completion. But
37:27that is quite enough to appreciate the
37:29scale of Da Vinci's genius. Although,
37:31who are we kidding; given the global
37:32situation, a picture on the internet is
37:34all that's available to us. Let’s
37:36briefly cover why The Last Supper is a
37:38masterpiece: it’s the characters and
37:40the composition. Decades of studying
37:42anatomy and impressive experience as a
37:45theatrical producer allowed Da Vinci to
37:47reflect the reaction of each apostle to
37:49Jesus' words with maximum precision.
37:51Take this trio as an example. Judas has
37:54leaned back and is holding a bag of
37:56silver in his hand. He bumped it with
37:58his hand and spilled the salt. His
37:59actions, posture, and facial
38:00expressions reveal him as the traitor.
38:02Peter has a knife gripped in his hand.
38:04He is ready to act. Leaning in, he is
38:06saying something to John. John, on the
38:08contrary, is saddened and calm. He
38:10knows that he is innocent. It is John
38:12who is the key character in the
38:14conspiracy theory that the plot of The
38:16Da Vinci Code book is based on.
38:18Supposedly, this is not John, but Mary
38:20Magdalene, as he looks too much like a
38:22woman. However, depicting characters
38:25whose appearance lacked distinct gender
38:27traits is one of the important features
38:29of Leonardo’s work, from the angel in
38:31Verrocchio’s painting to the later
38:33portrait of the same John. The woman in
38:37the fresco is not the only mysterious
38:38theory associated with The Last Supper.
38:40An hour wouldn't be enough to list and
38:42refute them all. But none of these
38:44theories are taken seriously for one
38:46simple reason. There are not enough
38:48facts. The signs that Da Vinci actually
38:50encoded in the fresco are related to
38:52his mastery and powers of observation.
38:54For example, Jesus, sitting in the
38:56center, is positioned against a light
38:57background. Leonardo noticed that
38:59objects placed against a light
39:00background seem larger than against a
39:02dark one. A discussion of perspective
39:04deserves a separate video. As you
39:07remember, the depiction of depth and
39:08the three-dimensionality of space is
39:10one of the main achievements of
39:11Renaissance artists. And The Last
39:13Supper is a vivid example. Work on the
39:18fresco coincides with an important
39:20event in Leonardo’s personal life.
39:21His biological mother, Caterina,
39:23arrives in Milan. Leonardo writes about
39:25this in his diary. A year later, his
39:27mother dies of malaria, and in Da
39:29Vinci's notes, there are only a few dry
39:31lines about the funeral expenses. By
39:33the way, he spent less on them than he
39:35did on buying clothes. What does this
39:37say? Perhaps about resentment toward
39:38his mother harbored since childhood.
39:40Perhaps she herself did not want a
39:41lavish funeral, as she was an ordinary
39:43peasant. About this, as with many other
39:45events in Leonardo’s life, little or
39:48nothing is known. What is known for
39:50sure is the career dead-end that
39:51Leonardo found himself in. It seemed
39:53that after the success of The Last
39:55Supper, things should have looked up
39:56for the genius. However, it was the
39:58exact opposite. By that time, he had
40:00settled comfortably in one of the
40:02Milanese palaces. This is his home, his
40:04studio, where not only Leonardo himself
40:06works, but his students as well. To
40:08maintain the household, he needs
40:09commissions. But the only art that
40:12interests his main patron, Ludovico
40:14Sforza, at that moment is the art of
40:16war. The French are advancing on the
40:18city, the very same ones who arrived a
40:20few years before. Da Vinci has no
40:22commissions, so to make ends meet, he
40:25moonlights as an interior designer.
40:27Leonardo is almost 50. He is, by and
40:29large, a recognized genius, yet he is
40:30painting someone’s chambers. But even
40:32this, Da Vinci doesn’t finish,
40:34leaving in a scandal. The genius had no
40:36issues with his self-esteem. In search
40:38of work, he begins sending resumes to
40:40potential clients. These letters would
40:43end in a similar fashion. There is no
40:45better candidate for this work than
40:47Leonardo of Florence. In Milan, that is
40:49exactly how they often called him. In
40:511499, the French enter the city. Da
40:55Vinci does not flee. Fuss is not his
40:57style. He contemplates staying and
40:59establishing ties with the new
41:00authorities, but after some time, he
41:02leaves anyway. At the turn of the new
41:05century, he leaves Milan, where he
41:07spent 18 years, to return once again to
41:09Florence. In the city that is well
41:15known to him, Da Vinci will celebrate
41:16his fiftieth birthday. For some, this
41:19age would signal the sunset of a career
41:21, but for Da Vinci, the next 6 years
41:22spent in Florence will become the most
41:24productive of his life. He will
41:26continue his scientific research and
41:28also begin work on several masterpieces
41:31, among them the Mona Lisa. In Florence
41:33, Da Vinci has star status, and he
41:35lives up to it. An incredibly
41:37fashionable older man in a pink outfit
41:39from a famous tailor strolls slowly
41:41through the city streets. Next to him
41:43is an equally fashionable young man in
41:45his mid-thirties. This is Leonardo and
41:48his partner, Salai. Judging by Da
41:49Vinci’s diaries, the main items of
41:51his expenditure at that time were
41:53clothes and books. In Florence, Da
41:55Vinci organizes a workshop similar to
41:58the one his teacher Verrocchio had.
42:00Routine work, like commissioned
42:01religious paintings, is done by
42:03Leonardo’s pupils. The master himself
42:05devotes time only to projects that
42:07interest him. In 1503, Francesco del
42:10Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant,
42:12approaches Leonardo. He wants to
42:15commission a portrait of his wife Lisa,
42:17who at that time is 24 years old. Why
42:20Da Vinci agrees is a mystery. At that
42:22very time, he is engrossed in science
42:23and does not take commissions even from
42:25significantly more influential lords.
42:26Perhaps Da Vinci’s father, Piero, who
42:28had business ties with the client,
42:30helped. Perhaps Leonardo needed the
42:32money. Due to a large number of
42:34refusals, his bank account was nearly
42:36empty. Perhaps the reason was that very
42:38mysterious smile possessed by Lisa del
42:41Giocondo. For a long time, the identity
42:43of the woman in Leonardo’s painting
42:45was questioned. There were a dozen
42:46versions, even including a
42:48self-portrait of the artist himself or
42:49a depiction of his mother. All of this
42:51worked perfectly for the image of the
42:53mysterious genius. And only by the mid-
42:552000s were truly solid proofs
42:57discovered that the Mona Lisa is a
42:59portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. However,
43:02neither she nor her husband would
43:03receive the completed commission, not
43:05in a year, not in three, not even in 10
43:07. Da Vinci would take it with him,
43:09first to another city, then to another
43:11country. He would work on it for 16
43:13years, right up until his death.
43:18Fulfilling individual commissions is a
43:20decent way for an artist to earn money,
43:22but having a patron helps one truly
43:24shine. They offer large-scale projects,
43:26do so regularly, and, most importantly,
43:28pay generously. For Da Vinci in Milan,
43:30that patron was Sforza. In Florence,
43:33his place is taken by Cesare Borgia.
43:35Technically, not quite in Florence.
43:37Here is the thing. Cesare Borgia would
43:39have been a perfect character in the
43:41Game of Thrones universe. In times when
43:43many rulers were known for their
43:44cruelty and ruthlessness, Cesare Borgia
43:46was arguably the most cruel and
43:48merciless of them all. Murder, betrayal
43:50, executions, incest, corruption—in
43:52short, a bloody tyrant in power. He was
43:55capturing one city after another and
43:56could have easily taken Florence. The
43:59famous Niccolò Machiavelli was sent to
44:01negotiate with Borgia and managed to
44:03strike a deal. There is a theory that
44:05one of the terms of the treaty was Da
44:07Vinci himself. Perhaps Da Vinci working
44:09for Borgia was a diplomatic gesture.
44:11Perhaps it was the genius’s personal
44:12initiative. One way or another,
44:14Leonardo gets another chance to prove
44:16himself as a military engineer. Da
44:17Vinci accompanies Borgia on his travels
44:19from city to city, consulting and
44:21offering ideas. However, despite his
44:23designs for tanks, giant crossbows, and
44:25diving suits, arguably Da Vinci's
44:27greatest achievement in military
44:29affairs would be this sheet of paper.
44:33To create a detailed map of the town of
44:35Imola, Leonardo uses his scientific
44:36knowledge from various fields and
44:38builds a special measuring device that
44:40is rolled through the streets.
44:43Subsequently, for many centuries to
44:45come, accurate maps would become the
44:46most vital tool in conducting military
44:48campaigns. Da Vinci would serve Borgia
44:51for six months and leave him after
44:53another bloody act, during which an
44:55acquaintance of Leonardo was executed.
44:59A logical question arises: why did Da
45:01Vinci, who often expressed a negative
45:03attitude toward war in his diaries and
45:05was a vegetarian, work for such cruel
45:07rulers like Sforza and Borgia? Some
45:09would say, "It was pragmatism." That
45:11way, Da Vinci gained access to
45:12ambitious projects. Freud would say, "
45:14It was a search for a father figure."
45:16Who is actually right, we are unlikely
45:18to ever know. Having returned to
45:21Florence, Da Vinci takes on a new
45:23engineering project. You surely know
45:25the Italian town of Pisa, the one with
45:27the leaning tower. In the early 16th
45:28century, the authorities of Florence
45:30wanted to take it under their control,
45:32but their attempts failed. Then
45:33Leonardo proposes an idea. The idea, of
45:35course, is ambitious. Da Vinci simply
45:37didn't have any others. Pisa stands on
45:39the Arno River, and thanks to it, has
45:41access to the sea and, as a result,
45:43receives resources. Da Vinci's idea was
45:45to change the course of the river. To
45:47do this, you need to dig a giant trench
45:49. To dig a giant trench, you need to
45:51build a giant machine. Is it worth
45:53saying that the project failed? I
45:54don’t think so. The inability to
45:56bring his ambitious ideas to life was
45:58perhaps Leonardo's greatest weakness.
46:00After coming up with a cool concept, he
46:02quickly lost interest in it.
46:04Furthermore, by that time he had
46:06already begun work on a new major
46:07project that had every chance of
46:09becoming the most important in his life
46:11. In 1504, what is arguably the
46:16greatest art battle in history begins:
46:19Da Vinci versus Michelangelo. Both
46:22artists receive a commission to paint a
46:23wall in the same palace in Florence,
46:25literally across from each other. But
46:28what makes this battle truly
46:29interesting is the context. Da Vinci
46:31and Michelangelo are different artists,
46:33a different generation, and different
46:35people. At that point, Leonardo is 51,
46:37and Michelangelo is 28. Da Vinci is a
46:40bright, fashionable, sociable man.
46:42Michelangelo is an unkempt, stooped,
46:44reserved young man, who despite this,
46:46was already considered a genius and
46:48received many commissions. Leonardo
46:50rarely criticized the work of other
46:52artists, but not in this case. In his
46:54opinion, Michelangelo’s nudes looked
46:57like bags of walnuts: too chiseled,
46:59with no sfumato, fluidity, or any of
47:01the things Da Vinci valued.
47:03Michelangelo didn't necessarily argue
47:05much; he considered himself a sculptor
47:07first and foremost and applied that
47:09approach to his painting. The theme
47:11chosen for Leonardo's fresco was the
47:12Battle of Anghiari, an important event
47:14for the Florentines. Leonardo was
47:16already capable of taking his
47:17perfectionism to the limit. And open
47:19rivalry with a young star most likely
47:22just blew his mind. He once again
47:24dissects dead horses, dissects dead
47:26people, and makes sketches of both. In
47:29his journals, he experiments with paint
47:31again, procrastinates again, and misses
47:33deadlines again. In the process of
47:35working on the fresco, Leonardo's
47:37father dies. It’s not that their
47:39relationship was perfect, but it was
47:40often his father who brought his son
47:42clients. Leonardo often did not
47:43complete those commissions. Ser Piero
47:46da Vinci did not acknowledge Leonardo
47:48as his legitimate child, despite having
47:50a dozen other children, and left him no
47:52inheritance. After his father's death,
47:54Da Vinci continues working on the
47:55Battle of Anghiari. Michelangelo paints
47:57a different battle on the opposite wall
47:59. A few years later, this "versus
48:01battle" ends strangely. Both artists
48:04abandon their unfinished work, and
48:06neither one survives. This is how
48:08Michelangelo's fresco might have looked
48:10. And this, Da Vinci's fresco. Both of
48:13these images are merely copies by other
48:14artists who were able to observe the
48:16geniuses at work. Eventually,
48:18Michelangelo goes to Rome to paint the
48:20Sistine Chapel. Leonardo returns to
48:23Milan. He once again leaves a project
48:25unfinished, despite a strict contract.
48:28This means that Da Vinci is unlikely to
48:30ever receive a major commission again.
48:45Da Vinci comes to a realization of his
48:46own mortality. Both parents are buried.
48:48He has little connection with his
48:50siblings. His relationship with Salaì
48:52was never ideal. Primarily due to the
48:54latter's difficult personality. During
48:56that period, da Vinci meets Francesco
48:58Melzi, who becomes not only his pupil,
49:00but effectively an adopted son. Melzi
49:03would accompany Leonardo until the end
49:05of his life, becoming an artist and
49:06eventually receiving the bulk of da
49:08Vinci’s inheritance. In 1508,
49:10Leonardo is living in Milan again and
49:12once more devotes almost all his time
49:15to science. There is a well-known case
49:17of a hundred-year-old man who simply
49:18dies of old age. Da Vinci cannot just
49:20walk past. In his diary, he
49:22meticulously sketches the muscles,
49:23veins, and a partial portrait of the
49:25deceased. This marks the start of a new
49:27five-year period of anatomy studies, or
49:30rather, an obsession with anatomy. Just
49:32imagine this scene. A
49:34fifty-six-year-old genius, likely in
49:36pink robes, running from one hospital
49:38to another and dissecting corpses.
49:40Fortunately, by that point in history,
49:41the Church was no longer strongly
49:43opposing such operations. At least, in
49:45such advanced cities as Milan and
49:47Florence. Perhaps it was during this
49:49period that da Vinci was closest to
49:51being remembered in history not just as
49:53an artist, but as a scientist. He is
49:55one of the first in history to describe
49:57certain aspects of brain structure,
49:59realize that the heart is the center of
50:01the circulatory system, and discover
50:03new heart valves. Da Vinci intends to
50:05turn all of this into scientific works.
50:07Will he finish what he started?
50:09Of course not. Is it any wonder, when a
50:11typical page from the genius's diary
50:13looks like this: a detailed sketch of
50:15arm muscles, facial muscles, notes, and
50:17at the bottom, a portrait of a random
50:19guy who likely had nothing to do with
50:21what was described above. Leonardo
50:24probably just got distracted. Da Vinci
50:26is far more interested in concepts. You
50:29remember the Vitruvian Man and the
50:30theory that everything in our body is
50:32arranged the same way as in the
50:33surrounding world. So, Leonardo is
50:36constantly seeking analogies. He
50:38compares the movement of blood in
50:39arteries to the movement of water in
50:41rivers, the structure of veins to tree
50:43roots, the movement of planets to the
50:44movement of muscles, and so on. Towards
50:46the end of his life, he would realize
50:47he was wrong. Most of these theories
50:49and analogies simply do not work.
50:51However, failures, as well as the
50:53ability to admit them, are an
50:54inseparable part of genius. It is
50:56difficult to imagine the process of
50:58discovery without hypotheses and
50:59theories, but the 15th century was a
51:01time when not all ideas were met with
51:02enthusiastic responses. Da Vinci's
51:04diaries contain heretical thoughts, for
51:07example, that the sun does not move or
51:09that a fetus in the womb is merely part
51:11of the mother's body and therefore
51:13cannot possess its own soul. However,
51:15Leonardo never tried to offend the
51:17feelings of believers. He only wanted
51:19to answer questions about the universe
51:20and humanity's place within it. Da
51:22Vinci believed in the divine origin of
51:24life, but preferred to study the world
51:26around him through science and art,
51:28rather than through church dogmas. In
51:321512, da Vinci turns 60. There are two
51:35conflicting portraits from that period.
51:38In both, da Vinci is the same age. The
51:41first is by a student, the second is by
51:43Leonardo himself. Yet, the people in
51:45these portraits seem to be 20 years
51:46apart. One possible explanation is that
51:49the student may have embellished his
51:51teacher, a 15 th-century Photoshop
51:52master of sorts. Besides this, there
51:55are accounts from people who met da
51:56Vinci at the time, and they recalled
51:58that he looked significantly older than
52:00his years. Perhaps he was aging
52:02prematurely, and then the self-portrait
52:04is much closer to the truth. Although
52:06it could also be that in the
52:08self-portrait, da Vinci depicted only
52:09his inner sense of self, not an actual
52:11reflection. A year after his sixtieth
52:14birthday, da Vinci moves to Rome. Salai
52:16, Francesco Melzi, and other students
52:18go with him. Leonardo finds a new
52:20patron, takes on rare commissions, but
52:22does not finish them. In notes from
52:25that time, he complains about his
52:26students, who either do the work poorly
52:28or leave to open their own workshops.
52:31From the moment when da Vinci began
52:33work on the Mona Lisa until his death,
52:3516 years would pass. Only a few works
52:37are attributed to this period as well.
52:39For example, Saint John the Baptist.
52:41Yes, the first thing that catches the
52:43eye is not the signature sfumato, but
52:45the index finger. It appears regularly
52:47in da Vinci's paintings. The
52:49explanation is simple: in this way, the
52:50character points to the heavens, that
52:52is, to something divine. At the same
52:54time, Leonardo finishes the painting "
52:56The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne."
52:59The work was started at the same time
53:00as the "Mona Lisa." There is an opinion
53:02that this masterpiece is no less great,
53:05just not as popular. Is that so or not?
53:07It is a debatable question. However, it
53:08is known for certain that the level of
53:10detail, that is, the number of layers,
53:12in this work is no less than that of
53:14the Mona Lisa. There are more
53:15characters, and their movement is more
53:17complex. Perhaps during this period and
53:20the previous one, da Vinci created more
53:22masterpieces, but there is a problem.
53:24Leonardo, like many other artists of
53:26the time, did not sign his works.
53:29Moreover, in his diaries, he almost
53:30never mentioned what he was working on
53:32at a specific moment in time. In
53:34Wikipedia articles about one
53:36masterpiece of the genius or another,
53:37you can often find a vague phrasing. A
53:40painting, believed to be by the brush
53:42of Leonardo da Vinci. And behind this
53:44short sentence, one can see a vast,
53:47unexplored territory for mere mortals
53:49called the Art Market.
53:55In 1900, the painting "Salvator Mundi"
53:57is found in Britain. The condition is
53:59not very good, and the work itself does
54:00not seem to be a super-masterpiece. One
54:02of da Vinci's students is considered
54:04the author. In the middle of the
54:05century, it is sold for 100 dollars.
54:07Remember this figure. Another 50 years
54:09later, in the new millennium, a theory
54:11is put forward that the author is not a
54:13student at all, but Leonardo himself.
54:15Experts gather, complex technical
54:16analyses are conducted, and eventually,
54:18in 2013, the "Salvator Mundi," now
54:20attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, is
54:22purchased by a Russian billionaire who
54:24made his fortune in fertilizer
54:26production. The deal amount was 127
54:28million dollars. Four years later, a
54:31Saudi prince acquires the work for 450
54:33million dollars. "Salvator Mundi"
54:36becomes the most expensive work of art
54:38ever purchased at auction. What is the
54:46most important thing in this story?
54:48First, fertilizer production turns out
54:50to be a very profitable business, and
54:51second, some experts still consider the
54:53whole saga of the "Salvator Mundi"
54:55painting to be the greatest scam in the
54:57history of the art market. And here is
54:59why. Experts are responsible for
55:00determining the authorship of a
55:02particular painting. And one of the
55:04criteria in their work is attention. A
55:06sixth sense. True story. Let's take "
55:09Salvator Mundi." Some experts look at
55:11the painting and note the signature
55:12sfumato, the rendering of the fabric,
55:14and the hair, typical of da Vinci.
55:16Another group of no less respected
55:18experts objects. Leonardo would hardly
55:20have depicted the subject frontally. He
55:21preferred three-quarter views. And look
55:23at the orb in his hand. Having studied
55:25science, da Vinci could not have failed
55:27to know that a glass orb distorts
55:29objects behind it. We should see the
55:31hand in an inverted state. The first
55:33group of experts responds to this. Guys
55:35, a genius is a genius for a reason. He
55:37deliberately depicted the hand behind
55:38the orb in violation of the laws of
55:40physics, as he understood that
55:41otherwise this detail would distract
55:43the viewer's attention. Who is right is
55:46not known for sure, however, it is
55:47worth noting that the experts denying
55:49da Vinci's authorship are still in a
55:51significant minority. A painting whose
55:53authorship is beyond doubt is the "Mona
55:55Lisa." But what causes doubt, according
55:57to many internet users, is the degree
55:59of the "Mona Lisa's" masterpiece status
56:01. You can often find comments on
56:03YouTube like: "It's not such a
56:04masterpiece after all," and if it
56:06hadn't been stolen, no one would know
56:07about it. There are a bunch of better
56:09paintings. And generally, I don't like
56:11this "Mona Lisa." Okay, it's time to
56:14give a clear answer. The "Mona Lisa" is
56:16, of course, a masterpiece. You may not
56:18like the "Mona Lisa," and that's okay.
56:20Yes, the huge popularity of the "Mona
56:22Lisa" is linked to its theft at the
56:23beginning of the last century. If you
56:25don't understand what I'm talking about
56:26, then you haven't watched the video on
56:28my channel dedicated to the theft of
56:29the "Mona Lisa." The story is fire, the
56:30video is a rocket, the link is in the
56:31description. To summarize, dozens of
56:33world masterpieces have been stolen and
56:35returned at some point. Can they
56:37compete with the "Mona Lisa" in fame? A
56:39rhetorical question.
56:41Look at two paintings. The first is "
56:43Ginevra de 'Benci," which Leonardo
56:45painted back in Florence when he was
56:47about 25. A good work by a talented
56:49artist, but the "Mona Lisa" is a
56:51masterpiece of a genius. Between these
56:53two works are decades of studying
56:55optics, anatomy, geology, and other
56:57disciplines. All the knowledge and
56:59experience that da Vinci acquired over
57:01the years. Several centuries have not
57:03passed without leaving a trace on the
57:04Gioconda. Her face most likely lost its
57:06eyebrows as a result of one of the
57:08restorations. The colors have yellowed
57:10and faded. The genius's experiments
57:12with paints are to blame for this. In
57:13the Prado Museum, there hangs a copy of
57:15the Gioconda, likely painted by one of
57:17his students. Thanks to it, we can
57:19roughly imagine what the Mona Lisa's
57:21colors were like 500 years ago. By the
57:23way, the famous tracking gaze was not
57:25invented by Da Vinci. This technique,
57:27where the subject looks at the viewer
57:28from any angle, was used even before
57:30Leonardo. However, today this effect is
57:32associated specifically with the
57:34Gioconda. But the most important Mona
57:36Lisa is a kind of summary of the
57:37artist's entire life, of decades of
57:39research, trials, and errors. Perhaps
57:41that is exactly why Leonardo never gave
57:43it to the client, but kept adding to it
57:45. For Da Vinci, "good enough" was never
57:48good enough. In 1515, Leonardo accepts
57:53an invitation from a new patron. It is
57:55King Francis I of France. For the first
57:58time in his life, Da Vinci leaves Italy
58:00. Salai remains in Milan. Leonardo’s
58:03new home becomes a small castle in
58:05France. King Francis I is the ideal
58:07patron that Da Vinci had been waiting
58:09for all his life. Comfortable living
58:11conditions, a generous stipend, and
58:13most importantly, no deadlines. In
58:15return, the genius was named the
58:16king’s chief engineer, painter, and
58:18architect. Leonardo spends his final
58:20years in his castle, occasionally
58:22receiving guests. Some of them note
58:24clear signs of a stroke and the
58:26master’s paralyzed hand. The logical
58:28conclusion: he cannot paint, but Da
58:30Vinci was left-handed, and his right
58:32hand was paralyzed. Most likely, he
58:34continued to work until the end of his
58:35life. One of his last projects would be
58:38the concept of an entire city for King
58:40Francis. Da Vinci would not have time
58:42to finish the project. Leonardo once
58:45wrote in his diary: "As a well-spent
58:47day brings happy sleep, so a life well
58:49used brings happy death." He would die
58:52in May 1519 and be buried in the church
58:54of the Château d'Amboise. In the 19th
58:57century, the church would be destroyed,
58:59then half a century later, remains
59:00would be dug up there and reburied in
59:02another church. The remains found
59:05presumably belonged to Leonardo da
59:06Vinci, but no one knows for sure. This
59:11mystery fits perfectly into the story
59:13of a man about whom, in truth, much
59:15remains unknown to this day. But what
59:17is known for sure is that Leonardo was
59:19a genius. Although, it didn't become
59:21clear to me immediately, and not in
59:22everything. Long ago, I heard the idea
59:24that artists and scientists are
59:26actually looking for answers to the
59:28same questions, but do so in different
59:30ways. Who are we, where are we from,
59:32and what is our place in the Universe?
59:33And, as a rule, these very artists and
59:35scientists are different people. But
59:38Leonardo combined both within himself
59:40with varying degrees of success. And
59:42yet, those who are still watching are
59:59apparently haunted by one question:
1:00:01what the hell is wrong with a
1:00:03woodpecker's tongue? So, a woodpecker's
1:00:07tongue is three times longer than its
1:00:09beak. It's handy for pulling insects
1:00:10out of tree bark. But there's a problem
1:00:12: where to store this contraption when
1:00:14the beak is closed. And this is where
1:00:15it gets interesting. The woodpecker’s
1:00:17tongue curls around the back of its
1:00:19skull and ends near its nostrils. In
1:00:21this way, it acts as an airbag for the
1:00:24brain. Thanks to this, the woodpecker
1:00:26bangs its beak against a tree with such
1:00:28force that it would kill a human. Why
1:00:31Da Vinci needed this information, who
1:00:33knows. And it's clear that due to such
1:00:35hobbies, Leonardo created fewer
1:00:37masterpieces. But the question is
1:00:38different. Would he have created those
1:00:41masterpieces without such hobbies?

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