Scholar. Humanitarian. Painter. Sculptor. Architect. Engineer. There must have been something Leonardo da Vinci couldn’t do, though examples don’t readily pop to mind.
Consider that some of his most radically inventive machines weren’t initially constructed until many lifetimes later — in some cases, not until the turn of the millennium — yet they work. To call him “ahead of his time” couldn’t be more apt for a genius who really was centuries in front of the world.
Although the Museum of Science and Industry’s enthralling exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius” concentrates on science and engineering above his art, there’s ample evidence of da Vinci’s influence in many spheres. Naturally, artists of all disciplines have been inspired by this singular man, who was as adept at playing the lute as dissecting corpses.
His life story is as compelling as his talents.
Born a bastard and never formally educated, da Vinci explored all possibilities, in spite of the societal restrictions of 15th Century Italy. The labels “vegetarian” and “gay” didn’t exist as we know them, yet they apply. He purchased caged birds from street vendors and set them free. He disdained war, yet designed military weapons.
“He’s captivated people for hundreds of years,” says John Beckman, the museum’s manager of temporary exhibits. “There’s lots to wonder about.” More than ever, that wondering extends beyond circles of scientists and creatives, thanks to a confluence of cultural events driven by the ever-growing phenomenon of “The Da Vinci Code.”
Da Vinci’s impact on the arts existed long before Dan Brown’s book and the Ron Howard movie. Generations of writers have used him in myriad ways, from sly references to plot-driving elements. “It’s amazing, the amount of things Leonardo has wound up popping into over time,” Beckman says. “I think that’s cool. It speaks to the fact that there’s been a public interest in him forever.”
With a mind that envisioned telescopes, helicopters and submarines centuries before they existed, da Vinci is naturally a favorite source for fantasy and science fiction authors. Well-developed versions of him appear in the satirical sci-fi of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels (da Vinci as Leonard of Quirm) and, amalgamated with Nostradamus, as Milo Giacomo Rambaldi in the labyrinthine TV show “Alias.” Under his own name, Leonardo appears in an episode of the original “Star Trek” series and in the film “Ever After,” a feminist fable set in 17th Century France. Of course, ubiquity is a mixed bag: For every “Ever After,” there’s a “Hudson Hawk.”
Meanwhile, his art has been appropriated by some of the best, as seen in the humorous 1950s “self-portrait” of Salvador Dali as the Mona Lisa and in the 1960s multihued Mona by Andy Warhol. It’s often homaged in classic animation, specifically “Looney Tunes” and “The Simpsons.”
The list keeps going. Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian
Man,” its obtuse name notwithstanding (taken from an ancient Roman architect), is an instantly recognizable image of a naked man within a circle and a square. Originally a beautifully drawn study of human proportion, “It has been done in just about every way imaginable,” Beckman says, “from the cover of Rolling Stone to Time magazine, putting different people into it.” Further Vitruvian
iterations include the artwork in the whimsical kids’ book “The Time Warp Trio: Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci,” and also in “Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci,” a remarkably well-researched graphic-novel biography for adults.
Da Vinci’s influence now self-perpetuates; he has become famous for being famous. “The problem with da Vinci’s art is that it’s hard to look at it fresh,” explains Chaz Truog, co-creator of “Chiaroscuro” (the title comes from a painting technique pioneered by da Vinci). “Three of the most famous art images in history — the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper and the Vitruvian Man — those are all Leonardo.
“But his mind! The way he looked at things. That’s what fascinates me most about Leonardo,” continues Truog, himself a painter and sculptor.
“For instance, he had to paint an angel, so he studied the wings of a bird, which made him think about flight, which made him think about air currents, then something else and something else … .”
Truog’s fascination with da Vinci began at 12 or 13, when he discovered a biography in his high school library. Noted kids-lit writer Jon Scieszka had a similar experience as a 4th or 5th grader. “You have to love a guy who writes backward,” says Scieszka, author of the “Time Warp Trio” series. “I’ve always thought Leonardo would be one of the great characters from history to meet. He would also be one of the few people not at all fazed to hear from someone traveling through time.”
Reflecting the split opinions of critics and the general public, these two lifelong da Vinci students offer different verdicts on the “Code.” Truog strongly dislikes it, especially for propagating silly myths about da Vinci, while Scieszka read it before all the hype and enjoyed it. But both could certainly agree with this carefully calibrated perspective: “It’s done a great deal to provide new enthusiasm for Leonardo,” says MSI’s Beckman. “Most of the Italian scholars we speak to are not real high on the theories provided within Dan Brown’s book, but they all love that it’s got people abuzz.”
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The pope and Dan Brown each have their acolytes, and each faction will be out in force this week, asking you to boycott “The Da Vinci Code” or insisting that you see it. We’ll leave that big decision up to you. In the meantime, here are a few less controversial choices: After spending several hours taking in the Museum of Science and Industry’s ambitious exhibition (on display through Labor Day), check out these da Vinci depictions.
FOR ALL AGES
‘Ever After’
20th Century Fox DVD, $19.98
Directed and co-written by Chicagoan Andy Tennant, this 1998 film loosely retells the Cinderella tale — without the magical tropes. Instead, Leonardo (played by Patrick Godfrey) steps into the shoes of the fairy godmother, using wisdom and intelligence to unite a servant girl (Drew Barrymore) with a prince, despite the machinations of her complicated stepmother (Anjelica Huston). The screenplay incorporates famous da Vinci art into the tale, including a less obvious choice: his sketch “Head of a Young Woman (dishevelled).”
FOR YOUNG ADULTS
‘The Time Warp Trio: Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci’
Penguin, $4.99
Author Jon Scieszka (“The Stinky Cheese Man” and “Math Curse”), along with illustrator Adam McCauley, has crafted 15 adventures of the Time Warp Trio, three century-hopping Brooklyn, N.Y., kids. This recent edition is filled with fun da Vinci touches, such as mirror writing for the chapter headings. “My favorite story about Leonardo that I didn’t get to use,” Scieszka says, “was that … he used to follow any really ugly people he saw on the street, and then draw them. I still wonder what opening line he used. ‘Excuse me, ma’am. I love the way your nose almost touches your chin. How about a quick sketch?”
FOR MATURE READERS
‘Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci’
Vertigo Comics, $24.99
Artist Chaz Truog spent three years drawing this 250-page graphic novel. Working from his premise, writers Pat McGreal and David Rawson fold in fascinating figures of the Italian Renaissance, including Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia.
They also imagine answers to mysteries that linger about Leonardo’s most personal relationships: with his longtime apprentice, Salai (the tale’s antihero protagonist), and with the woman who sat for the Mona Lisa. While that latter romance might be “pure supposition,” Truog says, “we didn’t have to make up too much. There’s a lot to his life that didn’t need embellishment.”
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Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive, 773-684-1414. “Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius” costs $21 for adults, $15 for kids 11 and under.
