Visakan Veerasamy

He was playful and obsessive. "He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, delineated the muscles that move the lips, then painted the world's most memorable smile." His study in optics informed his mastery of shading and perspective. This guy was Mr. Inspect Element of the 1400s

Over 7,200 pages of Leonardo's notes survive to this day (I saw a set of them at an exhibition a while ago). He couldn't afford to waste paper, so he crammed his pages with lots of miscellaneous and divergent things. Wonder what he'd have done with an Internet connection

A todo list: - learn the measurement of Milan - draw Milan - ask A how to square a triangle - ask B how the tower of Ferrera is walled - ask C how people in Flanders walk on ice - ask D how to repair a lock, canal and mill, Lombard-style - ask E for measurement of the sun

- observe the goose's foot - why fish in water faster than birds in air? - describe tongue of woodpecker - go every Saturday to the hot bath where you will see naked men - inflate pig lungs and observe how exactly they expand ... I love this weirdo

It's worth restating that Da Vinci was a rambling, distracted, self-directed weirdo who would probably not have survived in a modern classroom without getting put on ADHD meds

He was born out of wedlock - which funnily was good luck for the rest of us, because otherwise he would've been expected to be a notary like his ancestors

Leonardo was lucky on several counts, his circumstances allowed him to be who he became. Gutenberg had recently opened his publishing house. He was spared a dogmatic education, and was able to be quite innovatively self-taught - might not have been possible a generation earlier

15th century Florence was something special - 84 woodcarvers, 83 silkworkers, 30 master painters, 44 goldsmiths. It was a banking center. A third of the population was literate (highest in Europe). Leading thinkers embraced a Renaissance humanism. Trade brought ideas

According to an essayist in 1472, Florence had 1. "Complete liberty" 2. Large, rich, elegantly dressed population 3. River with clear, pure water 4. Rules over castles, towns 5. University teaching both Greek & accounting 6. Masters in every art 7. Banks & biz agents worldwide

Florence had 40k people when Leonardo arrived, down from 100k in 1300 (Black Death, plagues) 100 elite families, 5,000 prosperous middle class members (guildsmen, merchants) Lots of new money eager to establish status by commissioning art, becoming patrons

But it was not democratic or egalitarian. The Medici family, wealthy from banking, dominated Florentine politics and culture. In 1430, Cosimo de' Medici made the family bank the biggest in Europe. He founded Florence's first public library. Died 1464, just before Leonardo arrived

2 of Leonardo's influences were Brunelleschi and Alberti. B was also son of a notary, trained as goldsmith and became architect, building the cathedral dome that's still the largest masonry dome 500+ years later. He was also a master of visual POV, influencing optics & geometry

Alberti was also a linear POV theorist. Also illegitimate son. He studied law, was ordained as a priest and wrote for the Pope. He wrote a book analyzing paintings, and was a prolific collaborator, organizing communities of intellectuals. Leonardo conscientiously emulated him

"When Leonardo arrived, Verrocchio's workshop wss creating an ornate tomb for the Medici, [...] and generating Madonna paintings for merchants who wanted to display both their wealth and their piety."