I was surprised to learn that Leonardo da Vinci, the person we hold to be the apotheosis of the creative genius, was also not a complete a-hole to his fellow human or animal.
It makes him all the more interesting when you compare him with modern-day “geniuses” who are notorious for anti-social, careless, and selfish behavior.
I think we can all learn from Leonardo’s harmonious mix of good nature and creative output. And you extroverts out there can rest assured that he (like later polymath Benjamin Franklin) actually socialized with people.
Here’s what Leonardo da Vinci was actually like
His early biographers describe him as magnanimous, gentle, kind, and compassionate:
“His disposition was so lovable that he commanded everyone’s affection…
Leonardo was most generous in every deed…
His generosity was so great that he sheltered and fed all his friends, rich and poor alike…
Leonardo was so pleasing in his conversation that he won everyone’s heart.”
– Renaissance biographer Giorgio Vasari
Despite the commercialism of Renaissance Italy, Leonardo had no taste for wealth. Biographer Walter Isaacson tells us that Leonardo wrote in his notebook:
“men who desire nothing but material riches and are absolutely devoid of the desire for wisdom, which is the sustenance and truly dependable wealth of the mind.”
Vegetarian and animal lover
Another fact about Leonardo that is even more surprising, considering his insatiable love for dissecting dead things, is that he was a vegetarian.
And not just to maintain his lean, Vitruvian Man physique. He actually cared greatly for the welfare of animals.
There’s an anecdote about him buying birds from the market just so he could set them free.
“If you are, as you have described yourself, the king of the animals, why do you help other animals only so that they may be able to give you their young in order to gratify your palate?
…Does not nature bring forth enough simple food things to satisfy your hunger?”
– Leonardo da Vinci
I leaned heavily on the Walter Isaacson biography for this post and I highly recommend you read it. Below is the reading list and a poem.
Reading list
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael J. Gelb
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Vol. I by Leonardo da Vinci
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman