Leonardo Da Vinci

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of antigay bias.

“Describe the tongue of the woodpecker.”

This note from one of Leonardo’s to-do lists perfectly encapsulates his boundless and joyful curiosity. It wasn’t a practical question for a painting or scientific project—it was simply something he wanted to know, for its own sake. The specificity and oddity of the task highlight a key theme of the chapter: that Leonardo’s genius lay not in divine talent but in his habit of noticing the unnoticed and asking questions no one else thought to ask.

“Suddenly there arose in me two contrary emotions, fear and desire—fear of the threatening dark cave, desire to see whether there were any marvelous thing within.”

This sentence distills Leonardo’s essential character: his insatiable curiosity triumphing over fear. The contrast between darkness and marvels captures a recurring theme in his life—his drive to explore, understand, and render even the most shadowed mysteries. Isaacson uses this recollection not only as a literal memory but also as a metaphor for Leonardo’s lifelong pursuit of both knowledge and wonder.

“The first intention of the painter is to make a flat surface display a body as if modeled and separated from this plane, and he who surpasses others in this skill deserves most praise.”

This statement expresses Leonardo’s view that painting was a science of illusion, grounded in observation and technique. By emphasizing the transformation of flatness into volume through light and shadow, he articulates his lifelong goal of capturing dimensional reality on canvas. This belief would guide his innovations in chiaroscuro and