On Wednesday, auction records were shattered when an anonymous buyer spent $450.3 million to be the proud owner of a “long lost” painting “by” Leonardo da Vinci. The thing is, it may not have even been painted by Leonardo, it’s in terrible shape, it’s not especially good, and in the financial world of art, none of…
Never assume that Leonardo Da Vinci’s doodles are meaningless. That, at least, is the takeaway of a new study out of the University of Cambridge, which shows that a page of Leonardo’s scribbled notes from 1493—previously dismissed as “irrelevant” by art historians—is actually the first written demonstration of the…
Figma’s Table Museum series is adding another iconic artistic masterpiece to its collection. Following up on action figure versions of the Venus de Milo and Michelangelo’s David, there’s now a bizarre multi-limbed version of Leondardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man to add to your toy box.
An international team of scholars has just unveiled plans to science the shit out of Leonardo da Vinci, the man who gave us the Mona Lisa and envisioned futuristic technologies like helicopters and tanks 500 years ago. Goals of the fledgling “Leonardo Project” include recovering the famous Renaissance figure’s remains…
After a decade of work, French scientist Pascal Cotte claims there are hidden portraits underneath the Mona Lisa—including one of a distinctly different woman. Art experts are skeptical.
Leonardo DaVinci’s wing and glider designs have inspired literature, art, and cinema over the centuries. But plenty of other people have schemed to take to the air, long before the Wright Brothers. Here are just some of the inventors who devised methods of unpowered human flight...with mixed success.
Today, Leonardo da Vinci is renowned for being one of the Renaissance's most illustrious polymaths – but back in the late 15th Century, the artist, inventor and all-around genius still had to job hunt like the rest of us. And yes, his resume was... intimidating.
It sounds like a plot for an Indiana Jones or Captain America film. But, during World War II, the self-portrait of Leonardo DaVinci was secretly moved from Turin to Rome for safekeeping from the Nazis. Legend says the gaze of DaVinci is so intense, that it can imbue onlookers with preternatural strength.
This centuries old, one-third scale anatomical model of a human skull was sculpted by hand and contains remarkable detail. And research suggests that it maybe be a previously undiscovered work made by none other than Leonardo Da Vinci.
It pumps blood. Duh. Well, for most of history, people were unsure what the heart's main function was. Even Leonardo Da Vinci gave up studying it and he's probably one of the five smartest guys ever. Even now, it's not as easy as it should be to find out how the ticker works. Don't worry, this Ted-Ed animation will…
Thanks to a wonderful coincidence, Leonardo da Vinci may have invented the first stereoscopic image in history. According to researchers Claus-Christian Carbon and Vera M Hesslinger, the Mona Lisa can be seen in 3D thanks to another version that was painted side by side as Leonardo was making the original.
Because Da Vinci's Demons apparently hasn't pushed its ahistorical fantasy far enough, our can't-fail Renaissance man Leonardo Da Vinci heads to the Americas in the trailer for Season Two, years before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic.
From the audience, this instrument looks like a typical grand piano. Then the maestro takes his seat and begins to play. It's a sound nobody has heard before, because this instrument, designed by Leonardo Da Vinci five centuries ago, has just been built for the very first time. And it sounds heavenly.
Researchers who've been hunting for Mona Lisa's skeleton are now opening up a family tomb in hopes of confirming Mona Lisa's existence. They want to confirm that bones they found last year under a convent are the remains of Lisa Gherardini. The family tomb they're cracking open is the resting place for Gherardini's…
Rabies spread by bites of infected dogs has been deeply feared since antiquity. But the virus also gave some people a rather nasty idea: Why not use it as a weapon?
After a fun episode that focused on the fantastical secrets within the Vatican archives, it was a bit disappointing that the Da Vinci's Demons finale returned to Florentine history for its season finale. But it finally brings the Pazzi conspiracy into the open, with plenty of blood. Spoilers ahead.
Da Vinci's Demons has already given us the "truth" behind Count Dracula, and now a trip to the Vatican's secret archive reveals a few other mysteries of the universe, including a brief nod to Arthurian legend. Spoilers ahead.
Not a dream! Not a hoax! Last night's episode of Da Vinci's Demons pit Leonardo against Vlad the Impaler, and our hero's usual scheming and quipping isn't quite as successful as he hoped. Spoilers ahead.
Last week's episode of Da Vinci's Demons ended with Leonardo arrested on charges of sodomy, and this week gave us the spectacle of of his trial. And Leonardo finds that technology is good for more than robotic birds and weapons of war; it's also handy for blackmail. Spoilers ahead.
