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It doesn’t matter if we talk about art history, science, rebirth, Europe or even History in generalthus, with capital letters. Few figures have been in recent centuries as fascinating as Leonardo da Vincithe great polymata, the genius par excellence. Painter, musician, engineer, scientist (the latter in the extent more broad and precursor of the word) and compulsive writer of notes, Da Vinci has become the maximum exponent of humanism.
Until now, telling their lives the biographers have cited mostly two points: The different regions of Italy in which he lived and France, where he died in 1519, with almost 70 years. Now a new work, cemented in a deep research work, establishes a new geographical link: Barcelona.
Great painter, huge icon
Da Vinci is not just a huge painter and a precursor of modern science. Next to some counted names, such as Van Gogh, Beethoven either Poe (not many more), is part of the group of artists elevated to the category of Pop icon timeless Hence in recent years he has starred tens hundreds of monographs that follow the wake of one of its first biographers, Giorgio Vasari.
Only in the last decades they have investigated in the life of the Tuscan (sometimes putting the focus on some concrete aspect of its legacy) Fritjof Capra, Michael White, Frank Zöllner either Charles Nicholl either Walter Isaacsonknown for his biographies Steve Jobs and Elon Musk And who in 2017 dedicated a monumental work to Leonardo.
Now that vast list is added an essay of more than 600 pages written by the teacher Carlo VecceExpert in the Renaissance. Its title cannot be clearer and gives an idea of to what extent the book aspires to be a total compendium about Da Vinci: ‘Leonardo’s life’. To prepare it, Vecce has examined the painter’s manuscripts and divered in files And historical records, which has allowed him to enrich the image we had so far of the author of ‘La Gioconda’.
Along the way, it has also reached some amazing conclusions.
One of them is Leonardo’s family link with Spain. More specifically with Barcelona, where he moved part of your family time before the painter was born in AnchianoVinci, in 1452. In fact, to find the connection with the city, you have to go back to the time of Leonardo’s great grandfather and grandfather, to whom his commercial vocation took him to the Spanish coast.
To establish the link, Vecce starts talking about Guido Di Michele, a key figure in Leonardo’s family tree for two reasons. First, for carving a hole in the influential guild of Florentine judges and notaries between 1330 and 1360. Second, for their two children: Giovanni and Piero, great -grandfather of the future painter.
Although both brothers studied laws and were admitted to Guido’s profession, over time they ended up following different paths. Piero made career as a diplomat and became a notary of The Signoria. Giovanni however decided to break the tradition and try fortune in Barcelona.
That I opt for the city is no accident.
In his work, Vecce remembers that Barcelona was “one of the capitals of the Mediterranean world “in which a rich community of Florentine merchants also prospered. Giovanni was installed near Santa María del Mar (under construction) Together with his wife Lottiera and managed to make his son, Frosino, dedicate himself to the lucrative trade of luxury fabrics and dyes Between Mallorca and Valencia.
Leonardo’s link could have been left in that distant branch of his ancestors if it were not because one of Piero’s children, perhaps tired of life in Tuscany, was attracted to the life that his uncle Giovanni and his Frosino cousin like merchants in Barcelona took. His name was Antonio and the dessert would be remembered for being the father of being Piero Da Vinci. That is, Leonardo’s grandfather.
Instead of following the footsteps of his father in Florence, Antonio moved to Barcelona and for almost 15 years he worked hand with Frosino, dedicating mainly to the sale of Spices and raw materials for the textile industry.
Vecce recounts how Leonardo’s grandfather navigated the Mediterranean, between Barcelona, Valencia, Mallorca and Morocco, and reached Fez, although over time his activity focused on Barcelona. When he was already 40 years old, Antonio decided to take a new turn to his life and Return to Tuscany.
The exact reason is not known, but that decision would be crucial for Leonardo. Back in Italy Antonio started from scratch, he married a notary’s daughter and in 1417 he returned to Vinci, where the family lived from the few family income.
His tight economy did not prevent marriage from having several children: Guliano, Violante, Francesco and Piero Frosino. We are interested in the latter, the eldest of all and who in the 1440s decided to move to Florence to resume the family tradition initiated by Guido Di Michele and become a notary.
If Piero has gone down in history, it is not, however, because of his study of the laws or the role he performed in the capital of Tuscany, but for his son. In 1452 he had An illegitimate rod With a woman named Caterinaa healthy, creative and intelligence creature only surpassed by its very powerful curiosity.
They called him Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci.
His father and mother would end up following different paths, marrying other people and having more offspring; But Piero soon realized his son’s talent for drawing and worried that Leonardo could train as an artist In Florence at the Pintor Academy Andrea del Verrocchio.
The rest is already history.
Who was the mysterious Caterina, her own past and her family is another investigation route that creates new links for Leonardo and in which Carlo Vecce also investigates in her work. But that is already subject to Another report.
Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 and Logan Armstrong (UNSPLASH)
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