Far from the creation of one Dan Brown, Leonardo Da Vinci is arguably the most spoken-about polymath (a master of several distinct professions) in the world.
He created the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and a pen-and-ink drawing of the Vitruvian Man, a figure meant to show that the human form could fit within both a circle and a square at the same time. He also pre-empted the invention of the helicopter with his ‘aerial screw’ in the late 15th century.
Da Vinci has had no time to fade into history. As mentioned, author Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code added a modern, forensic twist to the Italian legend, albeit without much tact or acclaim. Similarly, game developers continue to borrow the artist’s renown to attract players. In the iGaming sector, Da Vinci stars in the Slingo bingo game Da Vinci Diamonds.
A legend doesn’t say much without the physical presence of its work, however. So, let’s uncover the parts of London where Da Vinci’s work resides today.
Codex Forster
The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square notes that “many” of Da Vinci’s pieces were never finished, and many more were lost to the decay of years. Still, the Gallery holds four paintings, two of which are on display.
Room 51 hosts The Burlington House Cartoon and The Virgin of the Rocks. The artist’s An Angel in Green with a Vielle and The Virgin and Child are in storage.
The tourist website Guide London begins at the National Gallery on its Leonardo da Vinci in London trail, noting that The Virgin on the Rocks is one of the few finished pieces from the Renaissance master.
Elsewhere, Cromwell Road’s Victoria & Albert Museum lights a different side of Da Vinci, namely, his love of science. The Codex Forster notebooks offer a visual journey through the artist’s later creativity, through to the year 1505, just over a decade before his passing.
The Codex Forster is the concept art of the entire science-fiction genre (or, at least, the real future), featuring hydraulic design, engineering plans, and Da Vinci’s efforts to create a flying machine.
‘Mirror Writing’
There’s one more place for Da Vinci fans to discover in London – Windsor Castle. This ancient structure contains more than 550 examples of Da Vinci’s rough work, mostly anatomical sketches. Dubbed the Royal Collection, its official website claims that the artist preferred the visual arts to the written.
It’s worth mentioning here that Da Vinci’s handwriting travelled right to left – or backwards to a Western observer. This is the case in the Codex Forster notebooks. It’s believed that he chose a ‘mirror writing’ style to avoid smudges caused by his left-handedness.
The Royal Collection depicts Da Vinci’s frenzied attempts to understand the world around him. Befitting his reputation as a polymath, it includes drawings of plants and rocks, as well as buildings and maps. Da Vinci’s study of anatomy is described as “revolutionary”.
There’s plenty more of Da Vinci’s work to discover around the world. The Mona Lisa resides in the Louvre, France, from where it was famously stolen in 1911 by handyman Vincenzo Peruggia (who simply walked out with it).
Finally, The Last Supper is located at Milan’s Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (booking required months in advance).
 in the world. ){kind=link}