New research reveals that painting genius Leonardo da Vinci is only half Italian because his mother was a slave from the Caucasus (located on the border between Asia and Europe).
Previously, it was believed that Caterina di Meo Lippi , mother of Leonardo da Vinci, was a farmer in Tuscan (Italy). However, one expert on Renaissance painters believes the truth is more complicated than that.
At the launch of her new book The Smile of Caterina , Carlo Vecce, a professor at the University of Naples (Italy), told AFP that Caterina was a Circassian slave in the Northwest Caucasus and was sold to Venice and then to Florence, Italy. At her final destination, she met a young notary, Piero da Vinci . They fell in love and gave birth to a son named Leonardo.
Professor Carlo Vecce launches book about Leonardo da Vinci’s mother. (Image: Getty Images).
According to the Daily Mail , Professor Vecce is someone who has spent decades studying the artist of the Mona Lisa painting . He made the above statement after researching and researching Florence’s archives.
Any new discovery about da Vinci is fiercely contested by his team of experts, but Professor Vecce, recognized as a leading scholar in the field, insists there is evidence.
Among the documents he found was one written by da Vinci’s father himself . It was a certificate of legal liberation for Caterina, to regain her freedom and restore her human dignity.
Ancient documents of Piero da Vinci that historian Carlos Vecce found. (Photo: ABC News).
The document is dated 1452 – da Vinci’s birth year. Professor Vecce made it public during a press conference at the Giunti publishing house in Florence on March 14. Mr Vecce said it was written by “the man who loved Caterina while she was still a slave, with whom she gave birth to a child named Leonardo and who also helped free her”.
The new discovery has completely changed the way da Vinci is viewed.
When Caterina is said to have been of a peasant background, historians point out that because of being born in a village outside Florence, da Vinci did not receive the formal education to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he began his career as an apprentice in the studio of painter Florentine Verrocchio. At the age of 18, he became a member of the prestigious painters’ guild, wearing a rose-colored tunic and sporting a long, curly beard.
However, if Caterina was a slave and came from elsewhere, Professor Vecce believes that her mother’s difficult life has affected the genius son’s work.
“Caterina left Leonardo a great legacy, certainly the spirit of freedom that inspired all of his scientific and intellectual work. He doesn’t let anything stop him,” the analyst said.
The background is said to have influenced da Vinci’s great career. (Image: Getty Images).
Dr Matthew Landrus, also a leading da Vinci scholar, said Prof Vecce’s work was “very important and interesting”.
He told MailOnline it provided academics with more information and increased discussion about Caterina.
Paolo Galluzzi, historian and member of the prestigious Lincei Academy of Sciences in Rome (Italy), says the research is by far the most convincing.
He stressed to AFP he was not surprised if da Vinci had a slave background.
“The period in which da Vinci was born marks the beginning of modernity, the exchange between people, cultures and civilizations that gave birth to the modern world,” he explains.
In addition to being an illegitimate child, da Vinci was left-handed – considered a curse from the devil at the time. He was also suspected of being gay at a period in history where same-sex lovers could be buried alive.
Despite everything, he became an icon of Italian culture. He created works of great value, not only about money but also history, art such as Mona Lisa, Last Supper (the last meal of Jesus with his disciples before his crucifixion), Vitruvian Man (naked man in two overlapping positions)…
Not only painting, he also showed his genius ability in the fields of civil engineering, music, architecture, sculpture and military machinery.
He designed versions of airplanes and helicopters centuries before the first powered flight.
Dissecting his corpse, which was taboo at the time, shed some light on the knowledge of muscles and the nervous system.
Unfortunately, these achievements were hidden for 200 years. When he died, he left his notes to his young apprentice Francesco Melzi. Melzi’s son then inherited the notes and left them in the attic.