The Codex Atlanticus

Leonardo da Vinci is truly the 'Master of All'.  Had he been born today, he would be classed as a genius, so it is not surprising that he was so misunderstood and feared by the religious authorities, in his time.

Leonardo da Vinci will always be best remembered for his creation of the Mona Lisa. If she truly existed, what would her place have been in Riviera society? The fact that it has been suggested that Mona Lisa was actually a representation of himself as a female, raises further suspicions as to his sanity.

Leonardo's talent had no boundaries and there were no obstacles that prevented him from being the entrepreneur that he clearly was. He was a typical 'trouble shooter' and found synergies in all that he did and became not just 'Jack of all trades' but defied the critics and the saying by being, 'Master of all'.

Apart from being a painter, Leonardo was a musician, a sculptor, botanist, architect, mathematician, engineer, mechanic, chemist and geographer. Did the man ever sleep?

Even though he was most definitely a complex being and just as we were at the point of knowing all that was to know about him, previously unseen notebooks were discovered, which has been given the title 'Codex Atlanticus', translated as Atlantic Codex. It is the largest collection of Leonardo's drawings and scripts now held at the Ambrosiana Library in Milan. The items that were on show throughout a recent exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum, came from the Academia Nazionale dei Lincei, in Italy.

Undeniably, Leonardo da Vinci was born ahead of his time. It is so incredible to comprehend how much he achieved without the technology that we so take for granted today. We will never know why he was so driven to accomplish such great things but we could learn by example and to take a leaf out of his book.

The diving apparatus of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)