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He was one of the most brilliant thinkers in history, renowned for his stunning artworks and profound scientific insights.
Now, researchers provide a gripping insight into the family of Renaissance-era Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
A new book, to be published on Thursday, traces his relatives going back to 1331, just before the bubonic plague arrived in Italy.
Spanning 21 generations, the elaborate family tree covers more than 400 individuals who were part of the Da Vinci family originating from the Tuscany region of Italy.
The visionary artist, scientist, and inventor, who left behind thousands of pages of writings and drawings, died on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67, of a suspected stoke – but the cause of death is unconfirmed.
Alessandro Vezzosi, one of the two authors, hopes the book will help inform future studies of Leonardo’s genetic profile, which could reveal more about his final hours.
‘Our goal in reconstructing the Da Vinci family’s lineage up to the present day, while also preserving and valuing the places connected to Leonardo, is to enable scientific research on his DNA,’ he said.
‘Through the recovery of Leonardo’s DNA, we hope to understand the biological roots of his extraordinary visual acuity, creativity, and possibly even aspects of his health and causes of death.’
The researcher’s tree began with Michele (born in 1331), and covered five family branches — including the one that yielded his great-great-great grandson Leonardo (pictured, born 1452)
The new Italian-language book, ‘Genìa Da Vinci. Genealogy and Genetics for Leonardo’s DNA’, is ‘one of the most advanced historical-genetic investigations ever undertaken’, according to Vezzosi and his co-author Agnese Sabato.
It includes the identification of 15 direct male-line descendants related to Leonardo’s, his father, Ser Piero da Vinci, and his half-brother, Domenico Benedetto.
Ser Piero, his father, was a Florentine landlord and ‘notary’ – someone authorized to draw up legal contracts and deeds.
Meanwhile, Leonardo’s mother, Caterina, was a young peasant woman and possibly a slave who was trafficked from the Caucasus mountains of Eastern Europe.
The researchers say it’s ‘increasingly plausible’ that Caterina was a slave in the service of a wealthy banker by the name of Vanni di Niccolò di ser Vanni.
A series of wills and donation records from 1449 onward document the relationship between Vanni and Leonardo’s father Ser Piero, with whom she’d elope.
Leonardo – born in the small hamlet of Anchiano west of Florence – was an illegitimate son born out of wedlock and his parents both married separately the year after his birth.
Meanwhile, his paternal grandfather on his father’s side, Antonio, was a farmer and a merchant who traveled between Catalan Spain and Morocco.
The new book is ‘one of the most advanced historical-genetic investigations ever undertaken’, according to Vezzosi (left) and his co-author Agnese Sabato
Leonardo Da Vinci is known for his magnificent artworks such as the Mona Lisa, which hangs at the Louvre Museum in Paris (pictured)
A 1457 tax return filed by Leonardo’s grandfather, Antonio da Vinci, listed his family members, including Piero da Vinci’s illegitimate son, ‘born of him and Caterina’.
But the family tree goes as far back as 1331 – the birth date of Michele da Vinci, considered to be the founder of the family.
Michele, the great-great-great grandfather of Leonardo, likely picked the surname to describe where family members were born, near Vinci, a city in Tuscany.
According to the researchers, Leonardo had no children himself, having been generally thought of as gay by contemporary experts. When he was aged 24, the polymath and three friends were accused of homosexual activity but fortunately for him, the case was dismissed.
Despite his lack of children, Leonardo had an estimated 22 half-siblings, mostly from his father’s multiple relationships, including Domenico who was about 30 years Leonardo’s junior.
Researchers also traced the family forward from Domenico, who was son of Ser Piero and a woman called Margherita Giulli.
The authors say there is a Da Vinci family tomb in the Church of Santa Croce in Vinci near Anchiano which is currently being excavated, which may be the burial site of Leonardo’s grandfather Antonio, uncle Francesco, and several other of his half-brothers – Antonio, Pandolfo, and Giovanni.
Through analysis of ancient land registries, the authors also identified seven Da Vinci family homes in Vinci’s village and castle, including two properties owned by Leonardo himself, inherited from his uncle Francesco and contested in a long dispute with his half-brothers.
The Renaissance polymath had a keen understanding of maths, languages, geology, science and art. Pictured, his pictographs and an architectural plan c.1490
Further into the future, a 19th century descendant of Leonardo is Tommaso Gaspero Maria, who lived between 1820 and 1887.
But the famous artist has living descendants into the modern day, including children, farmers, office workers, an upholsterer, porcelain seller and even an artist.
The family is now known as Vinci – having dropped the ‘da’ part of the iconic surname.
Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps best known for the Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous artworks, which hangs at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Painted between 1503 and 1519, it has been traditionally considered to depict the Italian noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo.
As well as the Mona Lisa, his other works included the famous Last Supper – a depiction of Jesus Christ’s last meal with his disciples before he was crucified.
And da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, a drawing of a nude man in two superimposed positions, is regarded as one of the most iconic images of Western civilisation.
But during his lifetime, da Vinci was likely to be more famous for his feats in the fields of civil engineering, music, architecture, sculpture and military machines.
He famously designed versions of aeroplanes and helicopters, centuries before the first powered flight.
And his dissections of human corpses, at a time when the practice was taboo, shed new light on muscles and the nervous system.
Among his anatomical discoveries was the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain.
Da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine, another of the famous Renaissance artist’s mysterious portraits, at at Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland
Leonardo da Vinci obsessed over movement and anatomy – as seen in the drawing of the vitruvian man. Researchers suggest he could see the world in ‘freeze frame’
The new book suggests that Leonardo may have intuited concepts we now call ‘epigenetic’ – changes that impact gene activity without changing the DNA sequence.
In his writings on heredity, the great polymath reflects on the influence of diet, blood, and parental behavior on offspring – observations still relevant today.
‘Leonardo questioned the origins of human life not only biologically,’ said Agnese Sabato, one of the book authors.
‘In his studies on generation, conception becomes a complex act where nature, emotion, and fate intertwine anticipating themes now central to the genetics-epigenetics debate.’
The book is due to be presented Thursday at the at the Vinci Theater, Via Pierino Da Vinci, and the research will also be the subject of an upcoming documentary.
Leonardo da Vinci: The man behind the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and the Vitruvian Man
His most recognisable works include the Mona Lisa (pictured), The Last Supper and the Vitruvian Man
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, more commonly Leonardo da Vinci or simply Leonardo, was one of the greatest individuals of the last millennium.
The polymath was a driving force behind the Renaissance and dabbled in invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography.
He has been attributed with the development of the parachute, helicopter and tank.
He was born in what is modern-day Italy in 1452 and died at the age of 67 in France.
After being born out of wedlock the visionary he worked in Milan, Rome, Bologna and Venice.
His most recognisable works include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and the Vitruvian Man.
Another piece of artwork, dubbed the Salvator Mundi, sold for a world record $450.3 million (£343 million) at a Christie’s auction in New York in 2017.
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