I suppose everyone has heroes, people they look up to with
stars in their eyes. One of mine has been for a very long time Leonardo da
Vinci. This extraordinary man who lived between 1452 and 1519could turn his
hand to just about anything that took his fancy. He was the artist who created
two of the most famous paintings in the world, the Mona Lisa and the Last
Supper. But he was so much more – an inventor, an investigator, carpenter,
architect. Anything that interested him. If, like me, you are a Terry Pratchett
fan you will have recognised Leonard of Quirm, the inventor of the 'gonne' in
the book Men at Arms. Like Leonardo,
Leonard also invented a submarine which features in the novel, Jingo.
Leonardo was the consummate scientist. He wanted to know how
things worked, so he studied birds to see how they flew, and he was given
permission to dissect human bodies at a Florence hospital. He drew studies such
as the famous Vitruvian Man and a foetus in the womb, as well as anatomically
accurate drawings of horses.
Like Leonard of Quirm, Leonardo's interests jumped from one
thing to another and much of his work, including paintings, was unfinished.
However, he had many notebooks where he would draw sketches and make notes. But
the notes were often disjointed, with bits and pieces in various places.
Undaunted, scholars have put together and actually built many of his machines,
some of them practical, others not. During my recent trip to Milan I had the
opportunity to visit an exhibition of Leonardo's machines. The Leonardo3 group
has a comprehensive website, but it's not exactly intuitive. This
link takes you to the machines, many of which were reproduced for
the Milan exhibition.
Back on the SFR front I'm working on a plot for Puss in
Space II. I've got the characters, I just have to create a nail-biting story.
And this article why
your story is falling apart and how to fix it by Kristen Lamb is actually a
great help. She gives meaningful examples to help the reader to understand what
she's saying. It's well worth a read.
Leonardo had the combination of intelligence and imagination that was beyond genius. I've always been fascinated that he had such incredible foresight.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to read that Lamb article. Thanks for the link. She always provides such great information and advice.
There's evidence to suggest he was both autistic and homosexual - and a vegan. Fascinating man.
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