Friends of Marcq Art Talk Dec 2010

Was Leonardo da VInci a genius - or just lucky?

Another in our series of art talks organised by Colin Lomas, in which we were presented with a challenging thesis: that Leonardo da Vinci, generally regarded as a genius, was in many ways just lucky. One reason: unlike other Renaissance artists, all his papers and notes survived intact, thanks to the efforts of his assistant Francesco Melzi. So we know much more about LdV than his contemporaries.

For example, LdV is sometimes described as a mathematician. In fact he merely illustrated some mathematical texts. He is sometimes described as an architect: but nothing was ever built by Leonardo or from his sketches. His drawings and sketches are famous: but other artists did the same, but theirs have not survived. LdV is perhaps best known as a painter: but of the 20 or so paintings attributed to him, some are disputed, and some have strange anatomical details that one would not expect of an artistic genius. Others argue that his paintings of women, notably the Mona Lisa, all have pleasant but expressionless faces.

The talk was presented in French by Carol-Ann Smith, and was followed by wine and cheese.

In short, LdV could perhaps best be described as a lucky genius.