L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 6 lization: yes, I am talking about the Priory of Sion, of course, central element of Dan Brown's 2003's best seller, The Da Vinci Code. But that, alas, is all an invention: there isn't such a thing as the Priory of Sion, nor do we have any historical proof about his existence in the past. What about his inventions and paintings, what can we really say about those? I recently read an interesting, albeit certainly controversial, post by a blogger quite aptly called Leonardo. Well, he main- tained that, in the end, none of the inventions Leonardo da Vinci conceived all those cen- turies ago were realistic, other- w is e they w ould have been made there and then. He was a visionary, for sure, but was he a true inventor? And when it came to art, he had the habit to leave w orks unfinis hed and to try unsuitable methods to paint, often resulting into the quick deterioration of his mas ter - pieces: well, he did decide to paint the Last Supper on dry plaster instead of using the usual fres co metho d becaus e he thought his pigments w ere enough to last in time, even on a dry piece of wall. And we all known he was sadly mistaken. Yet I, and I believe all of you, draw the line here: dear blogger, thank you for giving us some uncommon views on old Leo, but let us politely disagree with you. It is true: none of Leonardo's inventions were actually made in his own lifetime. But what about the geniality of his intuitions, which he had, by the way, some 3-400 years before anyone else even tried to come up with simi- lar ideas ? A nd yes : he w as inconsistent and moody when it came to his artistic work, but which artist isn't, in the end? Isn't it that the ultimate symbol of creative genius, so much so in Italy we even say it, genio e sre- golatezza, genius and wildness? The greatness of Leonardo, the reason he still is today, 500 years after his death, the symbol of the immense power and beauty of human genius is because he was the first to demonstrate how utterly complete and beautiful the human mind could be, in spite of its imperfections and its tricky habits; he was the first all round artist, an ultimate learner, the Renaissance embodiment of Dante's depiction of Ulysses, born to learn because learning is at the heart of human nature. Leonardo opened up the eyes of humanity to what we, as human beings, could really achieve, only with the use of our brain; he created delicate beauty in his painting and sectioned corpses to s ee how w e w ere made; his hands were no longer able to paint but he still believed there w as a w ay for M an to fly. Leonardo was a genius. And geniuses do not need to have their inventions built or the name of their mothers known. With all his geniality, Leonardo was also imperfectly, reassuringly human. He never learnt to write from left to right, had s ome uns avory friend s hips and a couple of issues with the law. He glorious- ly failed the choice of his paint- ing technique for the Last Supper and he didn't finish a series of great works, he was messy and disorganized, as his many note- books show. But then, that's the real essence of Leonardo, the real reason we celebrate his greatness this year and we will always: because his genius was incredi- ble yet human, his hand blessed, but still that of a man. Leonardo was a genius, but he was refresh- ingly imperfect. That makes him closer to us and very likeable indeed. And of course, there are all the mysteries: who doesn't like a bit of those? Leonardo's flying machine: to the eyes of many, a very early ancestor of our helicopters LIFE PEOPLE PLACES TRADITIONS Continued from page 4 A self portrait of Leonardo It is not only Leonardo to be surrounded by mystery, but also his work: La Gio- conda remains one of the most enigmatic paintings in the history of art

• Cover