Many individuals excel in one particular area: science, or art, or literature. Much rarer is the genius who masters all he attempts. Leonardo may have come closer to this ideal than any other individual in western history. He designed war machines and fortifications, painted timeless masterpieces like the "Mona Lisa," wrote treatises on art, and seemed more able than any of his contemporaries to think "outside the box." Yet his impatient mind and great energy also led him to abandon projects before they were finished, and to undertake bold but ill-fated experiments with artistic media that began to crumble as soon as he was finished, as was the case with his famous "Last Supper," in Milan. A complex man who prized mathematics and who is believed to have been gay, Leonardo rose beyond what his illegitimate birth might have predicted, was sought by patrons all over Europe, and is remembered today as a genius for the ages.
- Leonardo made drawings of crossbows, submarines, helicopters and other machines, as well as of people, animals and buildings; view some of them at
http://www.hillsborough.k12.nj.us/hhs/sok/herold.html and
http://www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/manoscritti.html
- Several of Leonardo's best known paintings, including "Mona Lisa" and the "Last Supper," are online at
http://www.famouspainter.com/galleries/gallery_leonardo.htm
- Leonardo left numerous writings and notebooks. One idiosyncrasy that they display is Leonardo's handwriting, which often went from right to left - backwards - rather than from left to right. See a sample at
http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/LeonardoRighttoLeft.html
- A recent article points out that, in Leonardo's era, being gay was far less an obstacle to an ambitious man than low birth. Leonardo, illegitimate and lacking formal education, nonetheless won commissions from kings and merchants. See
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/leonardo/life.html
