Da vinci is gay
Five centuries on, Milan still echoes with the genius of queer icon Leonardo da Vinci
Since his death more than 500 years ago, multihyphenate genius Leonardo da Vinci and his spectacular works have inspired respect and wonder in generation after generation the world over. An icon of the Renaissance, an inventor so ahead of his period that it’s taken centuries for many of his ideas to come to fruition, and the painter of some of the most stirring and renowned works of art on the celestial body, Leonardo has also become a hero for LGBTQ people, who’ve long seen in his works and biography a host of beguiling clues to his queerness.
Yet non-Italians are often surprised to learn that it was Milan, not Florence, where Leonardo spent the bulk of his profusely productive professional experience, and where one of his most recognizable works, “The Last Supper,” still graces the wall of the convent dining room where he painted it at the close of the 15th century. Milan is also where he met Gian Giacomo Caprotti, more commonly known as Salaì, the young male assistant and pupil who many historians believe also became his longest-term lover.
This week, as Milan plays host to the annual global convention for
Archer Magazine
There are two men missing at the Château du Clos Lucé.
The Château, which is really just a massive red brick property, is in France’s Loire Valley. The missing men are not French however, they are Italian.
The Château du Clos Lucé is where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life, from 1516 to 1519. By all historical reports, he was happy there.
Da Vinci lived at the Château as a guest of the king of France, François I. The king called da Vinci ‘father’, and apparently loved to listen to him talk. He had gardens to trek in and a workshop in which to paint the masterpieces he brought with him from Italy, including the Mona Lisa. (It is astonishing to think that a painting that is now protected by bulletproof glass was once carried on the back of a mule through the Alps.)
When you visit the Château, you can still see the workshop. You’ll also watch where da Vinci worked on designs for his machines, and where he studied nature. The garden where da Vinci once held parties is now full of replicas of his designs.
The whole museum is a loving homage to this great man. Many rooms explore his ideas –what he thought and what interested him.
Was Leonardo da Vinci gay? Exploring queer details in his art
The private life of Leonardo da Vinci, a esteemed Italian artist and scientist of the Renaissance, has been the subject of much curiosity and discussion for many years. In particular, certain discoveries and interpretations by scholars have sparked speculations about his possible homosexuality.
Let’s initiate by stressing that during the Renaissance, homosexuality was not unequivocally seen as a sexual orientation, but rather as a sexual practice. Even the terminology was completely different. At that hour, so-called “sodomy” (a term of religious origin indicating “non-procreative sexual acts”), was punishable by death. It is therefore clear that the lack of clarity we have today concerning Leonardo da Vinci’s homosexuality is likely due to the artist’s probable judgment to keep his romantic and sexual attraction to people of the same sex a secret.
However, there are various historical pieces of evidence suggesting Leonardo Da Vinci’s possible homosexuality and in this article, we will strive to delve into them in an effort to answer the question: “
Da Vinci's Demons: Is it offensive that Leonardo isn't gay?
Uosdwis_R.Dewoh1
Da Vinci’s Demons is apparently a new high budget (I think) show about Leonardo Da Vinci produced by David S. Goyer. Seeing as it’s widely realize that Leonardo was probably gay, is it insulting that he’s portrayed as straight?
The trailer for the show clearly shows him having sex with a woman:
The show seems to take liberties with history anyways. What with all the seemingly magic stuff going on in the trailer.
Link to Wikipedia article about the show.
Miller2
Mahaloth3
I didn’t know that he was widely known as male lover. Or probably gay.
DigitalC4
First i hear of “probably gay”. I doubt it is widely known, and “probably” is not “definitely”.
Smapti5
From what I know of LBGT history, “gay” as we understand it wasn’t a mindset that existed in Leonardo’s day, and it’s not something he would have identified himself as. According to Wikipedia, there’s no evidence he ever had a sexual relation of any kind - he was once accused of having patronized a male prostitute, but the charge was never prosecuted.
In any event, the only portrayal of him as gay that I’ve eve