The television series on Leonardo aired in Italy in the world premier has brought with it a series of controversies regarding the relevance to the historical facts on which the plot of the fiction unfolds. It is a product designed for an international audience and as such respects the need to make the life of Leonardo da Vinci spectacular, which in some ways could instead appear rather boring. Leonardo was a scholar and not an adventurer; he spent most of his days observing and understanding natural phenomena, designing machines, until he ran out of paper and candles.
The most beautiful definition of Leonardo is probably in the title of a beautiful 2011 BBC documentary: The man who wanted to know everything. Leonardo devoted a good part of his days to reading books and studying. The result is the thousands of pages of his codes, there are 6,000 left, but it is thought that they could be up to three times more. At the court of Ludovico il Moro he was also very busy organizing parties and entertaining the court with his charm as a great storyteller and entertainer. He was considered one of the greatest improvisers of musical pieces that he accompanied with his arm lyre.
The most controversial point of the airing of this television series is which image of Leonardo it transmits to the public. This idea will also be the one that will remain fixed in many of the people who watch it, some perhaps not quite aware of the fact that it is a fictional fiction and largely not based on historical facts. Leonardo, also based on what Giorgio Vasari tells us, was a boy and then an adult of extraordinary beauty and refinement whom he dressed in a sophisticated way. In the fiction Leonardo appears as little more than a rough boy with dirty hands and coarse ways. Leonardo, on the other hand, fascinated the greats of his time with his refinement and grace, the king of France wanted Leonardo with him only for the pleasure of enjoying his presence and being able to converse with him. Vasari at the end of the chapter of the Lives dedicated to Leonardo writes: "With the splendor of his air, how beautiful he was, he calmed every sad soul, and with his words he turned every hard intention to yes and no." Unfortunately, none of this transpires from the Leonardo of the fiction.
Spectacularizing Leonardo's biography to package a product for the general public using a series of tricks and inventions is an operation of great interest. In the series, however, numerous historical forcings appear that were introduced by the authors with the aim of creating an enjoyable fiction that attracts viewers. The risk is, as usual, of using the Leonardo brand sure that it is an easy reminder, just mix a little mystery and secrets and combine them with the word genius. The forcing of the series, however, touches the image of a collective icon in a certain sense sacred and of which everyone has his own personal representation. Many of these historical inventions could have been avoided, for example the quarrel between Leonardo and his father who accuses him of being a failure, or the refusal of Amerigo Benci, the father of Ginevra de Benci, most likely already dead when Leonardo made the painting. , to pay for his daughter's portrait because he did not like it.
Insisting on homosexuality with blatant scenes is a choice of the screenwriters, who have nevertheless included an invented female character, Caterina da Cremona, as a counterpart. Leonardo had actually been accused of sodomy when he was in Florence with a group of boys but it was most likely a politically instrumental accusation as it involved many young people from important Florentine families, so much so that it was quickly withdrawn. Leonardo's personality was very complex and in some ways indecipherable even from a sexual point of view. Carlo Pedretti, Leonardo's most famous scholar, has published a document with which he proves that he had a relationship with a prostitute. Furthermore, Carlo Pedretti always observed that "a female nude like Leda has no equal for sex appeal either before or after him, not even today". In the fiction Leonardo even kisses another man in public. Showing two men kissing publicly on the mouth would probably not have been tolerated even in the permissive Renaissance where the accusation of sodomy could cost a lot.
When the master Andrea del Verrocchio shows in public the Baptism of Christ to which Leonardo da Vinci had collaborated, moreover only in the realization of the face of an angel, the presentation of the painting resembles more a vernissage in New York than to what could have happened in a Renaissance workshop. On the other hand, the ball that Verrocchio will make for the dome according to the authors had a diameter of 2.5 meters and a weight of eighteen tons, despite the fact that the metric system was far from being introduced. Other expressions used such as "stretched like a violin string" would hardly have been pronounced, considering that at the time of Leonardo the liras were used and the first protoviolins of which we have evidence date back to the mid-1500s.
To conclude, Leonardo, scholar and innovator, is instead pigeonholed in a reassuring way in the word genius, without considering the context in which he found himself, a historical moment in which many like him have contributed to tracing a new path made of culture, beauty and ingenuity in the most great innovation movement born in Florence and known as the Renaissance.
The most beautiful definition of Leonardo is probably in the title of a beautiful 2011 BBC documentary: The man who wanted to know everything. Leonardo devoted a good part of his days to reading books and studying. The result is the thousands of pages of his codes, there are 6,000 left, but it is thought that they could be up to three times more. At the court of Ludovico il Moro he was also very busy organizing parties and entertaining the court with his charm as a great storyteller and entertainer. He was considered one of the greatest improvisers of musical pieces that he accompanied with his arm lyre.
The most controversial point of the airing of this television series is which image of Leonardo it transmits to the public. This idea will also be the one that will remain fixed in many of the people who watch it, some perhaps not quite aware of the fact that it is a fictional fiction and largely not based on historical facts. Leonardo, also based on what Giorgio Vasari tells us, was a boy and then an adult of extraordinary beauty and refinement whom he dressed in a sophisticated way. In the fiction Leonardo appears as little more than a rough boy with dirty hands and coarse ways. Leonardo, on the other hand, fascinated the greats of his time with his refinement and grace, the king of France wanted Leonardo with him only for the pleasure of enjoying his presence and being able to converse with him. Vasari at the end of the chapter of the Lives dedicated to Leonardo writes: "With the splendor of his air, how beautiful he was, he calmed every sad soul, and with his words he turned every hard intention to yes and no." Unfortunately, none of this transpires from the Leonardo of the fiction.
Spectacularizing Leonardo's biography to package a product for the general public using a series of tricks and inventions is an operation of great interest. In the series, however, numerous historical forcings appear that were introduced by the authors with the aim of creating an enjoyable fiction that attracts viewers. The risk is, as usual, of using the Leonardo brand sure that it is an easy reminder, just mix a little mystery and secrets and combine them with the word genius. The forcing of the series, however, touches the image of a collective icon in a certain sense sacred and of which everyone has his own personal representation. Many of these historical inventions could have been avoided, for example the quarrel between Leonardo and his father who accuses him of being a failure, or the refusal of Amerigo Benci, the father of Ginevra de Benci, most likely already dead when Leonardo made the painting. , to pay for his daughter's portrait because he did not like it.
Insisting on homosexuality with blatant scenes is a choice of the screenwriters, who have nevertheless included an invented female character, Caterina da Cremona, as a counterpart. Leonardo had actually been accused of sodomy when he was in Florence with a group of boys but it was most likely a politically instrumental accusation as it involved many young people from important Florentine families, so much so that it was quickly withdrawn. Leonardo's personality was very complex and in some ways indecipherable even from a sexual point of view. Carlo Pedretti, Leonardo's most famous scholar, has published a document with which he proves that he had a relationship with a prostitute. Furthermore, Carlo Pedretti always observed that "a female nude like Leda has no equal for sex appeal either before or after him, not even today". In the fiction Leonardo even kisses another man in public. Showing two men kissing publicly on the mouth would probably not have been tolerated even in the permissive Renaissance where the accusation of sodomy could cost a lot.
When the master Andrea del Verrocchio shows in public the Baptism of Christ to which Leonardo da Vinci had collaborated, moreover only in the realization of the face of an angel, the presentation of the painting resembles more a vernissage in New York than to what could have happened in a Renaissance workshop. On the other hand, the ball that Verrocchio will make for the dome according to the authors had a diameter of 2.5 meters and a weight of eighteen tons, despite the fact that the metric system was far from being introduced. Other expressions used such as "stretched like a violin string" would hardly have been pronounced, considering that at the time of Leonardo the liras were used and the first protoviolins of which we have evidence date back to the mid-1500s.
To conclude, Leonardo, scholar and innovator, is instead pigeonholed in a reassuring way in the word genius, without considering the context in which he found himself, a historical moment in which many like him have contributed to tracing a new path made of culture, beauty and ingenuity in the most great innovation movement born in Florence and known as the Renaissance.
Tell Your Friends