Long hailed as one of history's most diverse geniuses, Leonardo da Vinci has come to personify all that is great about the innovative ideas conjured up during the Italian Renaissance. The image of a masterful thinker, centuries ahead of his time, imagining flying machines, tanks and diving suits in undeniably intriguing… but may not be acutely accurate. Produced in 2010 for the Smithsonian Channel, Mystery Files: Leonardo da Vinci presents new scholarly evidence that suggests the great artist's invention concepts and ideas aren't entirely original. Much of the genius aura of Leonardo da Vinci as an inventor was created in the late 19th Century when his notebooks were published and made available for study. However, particularly during the 17 years he lived in the court of Ludovico Sforza, Leonardo was surrounded by great thinkers and mathematicians with intellects on par with his own… and ideas were certainly shared amongst them. Crude drawings in the notebooks of lesser known inventors prove that others had conceived of similar ideas as well. However, Leonardo's depictions make marked variations and are much more beautifully illustrated. Although no less of a genius, the true mark of Leonardo's innovation then rests with his sfumato painting technique, with his inventive side taking a back seat. This short TV documentary, with expert commentary by Monica Azzolini, Paolo Galluzzi, Dr. Tobias Capwell and Leonardo scholar Martin Kemp provides a brief look at the new views of da Vinci as an inventor and his place in Art History.
