Leonardo da Vinci -Bestiário, Fabulas e Outros Escritos

Of Leonardo da Vinci's many talents, which encompassed various branches of the arts and wisdom of his time, the last to be recognized was precisely that of writer. And for a reason that almost makes one think of a trick played by Leonardo's truculent humor on posterity: when, after his death, his numerous notes, which he jealously guarded from curious eyes, were examined, it was found that they were nothing more than sheets and sheets of handwritten notes in completely illegible characters. And so, for many decades it was thought that Leonardo had invented a script perceptible only to him, so that his competitors would not steal his secrets, according to some, and in the opinion of others so that he would not fall into the hands of the Inquisition, which would certainly make him suffer greatly. And only belatedly, seeing this undecipherable script in the mirror, was it discovered that he actually wrote from right to left because, as was already public knowledge, he was left-handed. While the Bestiary represents the only attempt to create a complementary book, the other texts also date back to the period of his life at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan, from 1482 to 1499, and reveal another facet of him that has been neglected: that of a courtier. Indeed, the fables, jokes, and prophecies were productions intended to entertain the courtiers.