Art and Science.
The da Vinci Legacy.

Reams and reams have been written about Da Vinci,
What is his legacy?
How great a genius was he?
Was he really ahead of his time?

 Leonardo's greatness lies in the diversity of his knowledge. His depth of understanding across a broad range of disciplines sets him aside from his contemporaries. Even by today's standards it would be difficult to find an individual who embraced Anatomy, Biology, Engineering, Architecture, and Science in addition to being one of the greatest painters of all time.

 The tragedy is that much of his scientific work was not published in his lifetime, and was only re-discovered many years after his death at a time when science had already embraced many of his ideas. There is little doubt that had his work been publicised in the Renaissance era it would have advanced the knowledge of the time. His left handed mirror-writing also caused problems. It created a code that needed breaking before his unpunctuated manuscripts could be understood. Also many of his scientific papers have been lost or damaged and are dispersed throughout the world.

 As an artist it is universally agreed that Leonardo's marriage of art and science was significant for the advancement of painting techniques. He was famous for being a great painter long before his scientific work was acknowledged and appreciated. So the basis of his genius lies in his artistic achievements. The contradiction is that he designed weapons of war and, at the same time, marvelled at the beauty of nature that these devices could ultimately destroy.

 Some historical characters stride like giants through the pages of history, think of Newton, Einstein, and Aristotle, Leonardo is certainly cast in the same mould. If art is about an emotional response then Leonardo da Vinci delivers at the highest level.

 I have been privileged to see a number of Leonardo's paintings in the flesh; at the Louvre in Paris and also at the National Gallery in London. On 21st February 2009 I travelled to Manchester to view 10 of his drawings from the Royal Windsor collection. Needless to say these small works oozed quality. In a society were fame is fleeting and celebrity is often acquired very cheaply, it is refreshing that an artist, who died 500 years ago, can cause a queue to form, waiting in line to view his work.

 That's beyond fame; that's immortality!