Thinking Differently Hero: Leonardo Da Vinci

We couldn’t write a series about our ‘Thinking Differently Heroes’ and not include one of history’s most famous and influential thinkers: Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci.

Widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time, Da Vinci’s talents far extended the reach of his paintbrush - even if that paintbrush did craft the Mona Lisa.

The illegitimate son of a wealthy nobleman, and with no formal education, Da Vinci became perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.

Although he is known primarily as a painter Da Vinci in fact left less than 30 completed works, and during his life was known primarily as an engineer and inventor. He conceptualised the helicopter, the tank, and the calculator hundreds of years before they were officially ‘invented.’ He outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, invented musical instruments, hydraulic pumps, reversible crank mechanisms, and even a steam cannon.

Even with his life choices Da Vinci thought differently – he was a vegetarian, very unusual for the renaissance era when banquets were very popular. But even his vegetarianism didn’t stop him from dissecting bodies to study anatomy and to map out where the human soul was located. Nor did it stop him from accepting a job as a military engineer, improving and inventing a variety of siege weaponry.

Even his art didn’t escape his experimentation. Rather than sticking with established techniques Da Vinci played around with the mix of his paints and canvas. He was one of the first artists in Italy to use oil paints instead of egg tempera, enjoying the freedom it gave him to rework a painting even creating his own recipe for oil paints.

In almost every area of his life he thought differently, assessing problems from different angles and looking for new solutions. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest minds ever to have lived – and so sir, we at Modern Milk salute you!