The art and imagination of Leonardo da Vinci
Ahead of the Ken Burns documentary on the genius and imagination of Leonardo da Vinci, we talk with the filmmakers and an art historian.
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Leonardo da Vinci was more than a great artist, famous for The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. He was a draughtsman, an engineer, a scientist, a sculptor and an architect.
He had a voracious curiosity and believed that real understanding was best found in nature, not in a musty library. He didn’t complete half the paintings he started and left behind thousands of pages of drawings.
A new two-part Ken Burns documentary about Leonardo da Vinci airs November 18th and 19th on WHYY. It explores the lively mind of da Vinci, finding connections between art and science, imagination and elements in the natural world.
Filmmakers Sarah Burns and David McMahon, who lived in Florence where Leonardo lived, join us today to tell us how they brought this 15th century genius to life. Also with us is Jack Hinton, curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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