- Surface DNA from artworks reveals biological patterns
- Findings offer clues, not conclusions: Research continues on
definitive genetic identification of Leonardo - Artworks emerge as biological archives, preserving traces
of their human and environmental history
Renaissance artworks and historical documents associated with Leonardo da Vinci continue to preserve measurable biological traces shaped by centuries of human contact and environmental exposure, according to an international study published today.
Leonardo DNA Project researchers used minimally invasive techniques to sample drawings, sketches, and archival correspondence linked to Leonardo, as well as several other European masters. They found that genetic material recovered from surfaces of these cultural objects forms distinct signatures that reflect their long journeys through time.
Broadly, the work represents a landmark shift in heritage science. Biological material once dismissed as contamination is increasingly viewed as evidence. Microbial and environmental DNA recovered from artworks has already offered insights into where objects traveled and the conditions they endured.
Cultural artifacts can serve as biological archives
Initiated in 2015, the Leonardo DNA Project has helped establish arteomics, an emerging discipline focused on using genetic and microbial evidence to interpret and conserve artworks. Project scientists have developed protocols that allow DNA to be recovered from fragile papers and delicate drawings with minimal invasiveness.
Using light surface swabbing and low-input whole-metagenome sequencing, the team analyzed traces from several Leonardo-associated objects. These included a red chalk drawing known as The Holy Child, as well as letters written more than 500 years ago by a da Vinci relative, a key artifact uncovered by Italian journalist / project researcher Rossella Lorenzi. The same approach was applied to less valuable artworks of the same era to provide meaningful comparisons.
Across all artifacts, the research led by Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe of the J. Craig Venter Institute and University of Maryland identified distinct biomes made up of bacteria, fungi, plants, animals, viruses, and parasites. These biological profiles differed systematically from object to object. Materials, geography, storage conditions, and conservation histories all appeared to influence what remained on each surface.
Statistical comparisons showed that every artifact carried a reproducible and distinguishable signature. In effect, objects once assumed to be biologically silent were found to function as living fingerprints of their environments.
Beyond environmental and microbial signals, the study also investigated the extraction of meaningful human genetic information from surface-derived DNA.
Using short-read sequencing data and forensic genetic profiling, the researchers consistently detected related Y-chromosomal lineages across multiple Leonardo-associated objects and family documents.
The scholars are careful to emphasize that these results are promising but not definitive, especially when it comes to isolating the DNA of a single historical individual.
Instead, the repeated detection of paternal signals suggests a shared lineage pattern that merits further investigation. Additional artifacts will be needed to strengthen or refine these observations.
Looking ahead, notebooks remain among the top future sampling priorities related to Leonardo.
Tombs and burial sites may also be considered if access becomes available.
The project’s impact extends beyond attribution. Researchers hope to determine whether Leonardo’s biology might help explain his extraordinary visual perception. His precise depictions of transient phenomena, such as turbulent water flows and dragonfly wingbeats, have led engineers and geneticists to wonder whether he perceived motion at unusually high temporal resolution.
Genes linked to retinal signal speed are among those under consideration. Even so, scholars stress that genius cannot be reduced to genetics alone. Biology may add clues about the man, but it will never replace the creative achievements that made his name immortal.
Implications for art, science, and history
The study demonstrates that combining metagenomic sequencing with targeted molecular analyses can extract biological and genealogical information from cultural objects. What began as a conservation experiment has grown into a new method for exploring the material history of humanity’s heritage.
Says Jesse Ausubel of The Rockefeller University, chair of the Leonardo DNA Project: “Even if confirmed DNA matches with Leonardo are still ahead, success is now inevitable in the sense that a threshold has been crossed. The project has established a solid ‘scaffold,’ a reference framework for detecting ‘signatures’ on ancient artworks or documents using DNA or microbiomes. The knowledge and landmark techniques pioneered by the project can and surely will be applied to gain insights into other major historical figures.”
Curators may use this framework to better understand deterioration processes and environmental risks. Provenance research gains a complementary layer, and conservation science acquires tools that were unimaginable only a decade ago.
Dr. Gonzalez-Juarbe adds that biology has long been treated as dirt to be cleaned away. “This project helps illustrate just how much we can learn from DNA and microbiomes that may have been preserved on artworks over centuries.”
The bioRxiv paper was produced by an international team from the J. Craig Venter Institute, The University of Maryland, Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, The Jackson Laboratory, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, The University of Basel, The University of Granada, and collaborating forensic laboratories in the United States and Europe.
Financial support was provided by the Achelis & Bodman Foundation, Richard Lounsbery Foundation, and Puffin Fund.
At a glance
The new study compared multiple independent swabs from Leonardo-linked artifacts, letters written by a documented distant relative, modern control samples, and artworks by other masters.
Artworks as biological archives: Cultural artifacts retain complex biological traces from centuries of human contact, environment, and material use.
Non-destructive science: Researchers used gentle swabbing and low-input sequencing that allowed biological analysis without damaging artworks.
Distinct biological signatures: Each artifact carried a unique biome of microbes, plants, animals, viruses, and parasites shaped by its history.
Consistent lineage signal: Multiple independent samples supported Y-chromosome haplogroups within E1b1/E1b1b, though not definitive identification.
Broader impact: The approach provides a scalable framework for conservation science, provenance research, and hypothesis-driven studies of cultural heritage.
Findings offer clues, not conclusions: The project continues cautiously toward a definitive genetic identification of Leonardo da Vinci.
Authors
● Harinder Singh
● Seesandra V. Rajagopala
● Rebecca Hart
● Pille Hallast
● Mark Loftus
● Rosana Wiscovitch-Russo
● Cody R. K. Conrad
● David S. Thaler
● Guadalupe Piñar
● Karina C. Åberg
● Rossella Lorenzi
● José A. Lorente
● Jesse H. Ausubel
● Thomas P. Sakmar
● Rhonda K. Roby
● Charles Lee
● Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe
Coverage highlights
Have scientists found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA?
Science Magazine, United States
Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA may be hiding in his artwork, researchers say
CNN, United States (91,593,162)
Leonardo Da Vinci’s DNA may be in his art, experts say.
CBS News, United States (43,929,078)
Mona Nix, yes?
Der Spiegel, Germany (16,781,758)
Searching for the real da Vinci code: Leonardo’s DNA
ABC Online, Australia (15,836,140)
Research roundup: 6 cool stories we almost missed
Ars Technica, United States (3,910,394)
Did Leonardo Leave More Than Paint Behind
Medium, United States (43,097,627)
Coverage summary in full, click here
News release in full, click here
]]>Ancient Da Vinci family tomb: excavated remains undergo analysis
VINCI, Italy — For over five centuries, Leonardo Da Vinci has been celebrated as a visionary artist, scientist, and inventor, known for his extraordinary talent and groundbreaking experiments. Today, an international collaboration known as the Leonardo DNA Project is closer than ever to uncovering the biological secrets of the greatest genius of the Renaissance.
In their new book “Genìa Da Vinci. Genealogy and Genetics for Leonardo’s DNA,” published by Angelo Pontecorboli Editore, experts Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato of the Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage Association, Vinci, present findings from 30 years of genealogical research that have culminated in groundbreaking insights. Published with the support of the Municipality of Vinci, the book documents an elaborate family tree tracing back to 1331, spanning 21 generations and involving over 400 individuals. The work lays the groundwork for one of the most advanced historical-genetic investigations ever undertaken: the reconstruction of Leonardo’s genetic profile.
Through meticulous analysis of sources and archival documents — now published in the book — Vezzosi and Sabato successfully reconstructed branches of the family to which Leonardo belonged, including the identification of 15 direct male-line descendants related genealogically to both Leonardo’s father and to his half-brother, Domenico Benedetto.
This allowed David Caramelli, the Leonardo DNA Project’s coordinator for anthropological and molecular aspects, and Director of the Department of Biology at the University of Florence, along with forensic anthropologist Elena Pilli, to subject six of these descendants to DNA testing. Their analysis revealed that segments of the Y chromosome — used for individual identification — matched across these men, confirming the genetic continuity of the Da Vinci male line, at least since the 15th generation.
The authors also confirmed the existence of a Da Vinci family tomb in the Church of Santa Croce in Vinci, currently under archaeological excavation in collaboration with the University of Florence. This may be the burial site of Leonardo’s grandfather Antonio, uncle Francesco, and several half-brothers — Antonio, Pandolfo, and Giovanni.
The excavation leaders, University of Florence anthropologists Alessandro Riga and Luca Bachechi, recovered bone fragments, some of which have been radiocarbon dated. One specimen, consistent in age with Leonardo’s presumed relatives, has undergone paleogenomic analysis. Preliminary results from Caramelli and molecular anthropologist Martina Lari indicate the individual was male.
“Further detailed analyses are necessary to determine whether the DNA extracted is sufficiently preserved,” says Caramelli, who is also President of the University Museum System. “Based on the results, we can proceed with analysis of Y chromosome fragments for comparison with current descendants.”
If the Y chromosome of the living descendants is also found in the older remains in the Vinci church tombs, it would support the accuracy of paternity records, the historical reconstruction of the lineage established through death registers, and would allow for a more in-depth examination of the biological material attributed to Leonardo, as well as traces left on his original manuscripts or other works, potentially leading to the reconstruction of his DNA.
Launched in 2016 and coordinated from The Rockefeller University, New York, the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project involves the J. Craig Venter Institute of California, the University of Florence and other institutions, with support from the Achelis and Bodman Foundation (New York), the Richard Lounsbery Foundation (Washington, D.C.), and other public and private partners.
The team’s scientific starting point was a hypothesis as simple as it is crucial: to trace the Y chromosome, which is passed unchanged from father to son.
“Our goal in reconstructing the Da Vinci family’s lineage up to the present day, while also preserving and valuing the places connected to Leonardo, is to enable scientific research on his DNA,” says Vezzosi. “Through the recovery of Leonardo’s DNA, we hope to understand the biological roots of his extraordinary visual acuity, creativity, and possibly even aspects of his health and causes of death.”
”Even a tiny fingerprint on a page could contain cells to sequence,” says Jesse H. Ausubel of The Rockefeller University and director of the project. “21st-century biology is moving the boundary between the unknowable and the unknown. Soon we may gain information about Leonardo and other historical figures once believed lost forever.”
Surprising revelations
The book’s revelations extend beyond genetics. In 21 chapters, it takes readers on a rigorous and fascinating journey through genealogy, history, and geography to rediscover the environment that shaped Leonardo.
Through analysis of ancient land registries, the authors identified seven Da Vinci family homes in Vinci’s village and castle, as well as two properties owned by Leonardo himself, inherited from his uncle Francesco and contested in a long dispute with his half-brothers.
The authors devote special focus to two key figures in Leonardo’s life: His paternal grandfather Antonio — not merely a farmer but a merchant who traveled between Catalan Spain and Morocco — and Leonardo’s mother, Caterina. Through careful examination of existing research, sources, and archives, a clearer, non-romanticized picture of Caterina emerges. Increasingly plausible is her identification as a slave in the service of wealthy banker Vanni di Niccolò di ser Vanni. A series of wills and donation records from 1449 onward document the relationship between Vanni and his executor, the young notary ser Piero, Leonardo’s father.
A “Unicorn Dragon” … by Leonardo?
Among the most intriguing revelations: The authors publish for the first time a study hypothesizing that a mysterious charcoal drawing of rare expressive intensity may be attributed to Leonardo. It was discovered on the fireplace mantle of an old building in Vinci (formerly the Bracci house), now owned by the Municipality.
The fantastical creature features several striking iconographic elements, though worn by time: A spiral horn on the head, elongated snout and curved beak, hooked teeth, flaming tongue, clawed limbs, pointed ears, pronounced scales on the back and neck, and a fan-like membranous wing with fingered extensions — anticipating Leonardo’s later studies of bird and bat flight — along with a serpentine tail.
Due to these features, Vezzosi and Sabato have named the work “Unicorn Dragon.” Particularly compelling is a comparison with a detail from Windsor sheet RL 12370, dated to the 1470s.
The attribution hypothesis is currently supported by Roberta Barsanti, Director of the Leonardian Museum and Library, and by Vinci’s Mayor, Daniele Vanni. The Municipality has planned scientific analysis and restoration of the large drawing (about 80×70 cm), under the supervision of the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato.
Leonardo: Epigenetics Pioneer?
The book suggests that Leonardo may have intuited concepts we now call “epigenetic.” In his writings on heredity, he reflects on the influence of diet, blood, and parental behavior on offspring — observations still relevant today.
“Leonardo questioned the origins of human life not only biologically: in his studies on generation, conception becomes a complex act where nature, emotion, and fate intertwine — anticipating themes now central to the genetics–epigenetics debate,” explains Agnese Sabato.
Towards a genetic portrait
The final chapter explores evocative similarities between some current descendants and Leonardo’s famed self-portrait, offered as a reflection. Nonetheless, the project’s scientific ambitions remain paramount. If enough DNA fragments can be sequenced, researchers could reveal new insights into Leonardo’s genetic heritage, physical traits, and perhaps even vulnerabilities that shaped his life and work.
“This is not just about the author of the world’s most famous painting,” concludes Ausubel. “It’s a challenge to redefine the limits of historical knowledge and cultural heritage.”
Reconstructing Leonardo’s genetic profile represents a milestone of international significance — for both science and the valourization of historical identity.
For the small Tuscan town of Vinci, which once welcomed a very special illegitimate child named Leonardo, the echo of his “genetic voice” across the centuries is now a source of deep pride and renewed wonder.
The historical research will also support an upcoming documentary and an international film production.
The book’s premiere presentation is scheduled for May 22, 2025, at the Vinci Theater.
And one thing is increasingly clear: our understanding of Leonardo Da Vinci is far from complete.
Key Points:
Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project: The first scientific project aimed at reconstructing Leonardo’s genome, through indirect and comparative biological sources
Art meets genetics: DNA found on manuscripts or drawings could confirm artwork authenticity, and techniques developed through the project could revolutionize how contested works are verified
Forensic analysis: Leonardo’s genetic profile could reveal biological traits like left-handedness, visual perception, diet, possible health predispositions, and physical appearance
21 documented generations: The reconstructed family tree has been updated from 1331 to the present, including the documentation of extinct family lines
Rediscovered heritage: Over 400 individuals analyzed, including 219 Da Vinci/Vinci (119 males and 100 females)
15 male descendants identified belonging to the direct patrilineal line, crucial for the study of the Y chromosome
Y chromosome: 6 direct male-line descendants successfully involved in comparative DNA analyses
The “Unicorn Dragon”: The hypothesis that a large drawing in Leonardo’s hometown may be attributed to him
Archaeological excavation in Vinci: First effort to identify remains in a Da Vinci family tomb documented in the Church of Santa Croce
Digital Archive “GenìaDaVinci”: A genealogical and documentary database for scholars, genealogists, and enthusiasts, based on traceability and historical verification criteria
Residences of Leonardo’s family: A new map of Da Vinci homes in Vinci village and countryside, including two of Leonardo’s own properties
Maternal mystery: A historically updated reconstruction of the hypotheses about Leonardo’s mother’s identity
* * * * * * *
Coverage highlights:
Leonardo da Vinci was a genius. New DNA tests could finally explain why
Times of London — United Kingdom (687,323)
Leonardo da Vinci’s family tree: Historians chart the Italian polymath’s descendants back to 1331 – spanning 21 generations and involving over 400 individuals
Daily Mail – United Kingdom (53,982,906)
Six descendants of Leonardo da Vinci discovered
La Razón Digital – Spain (12,760,706)
Leonardo da Vinci has six living heirs, investigations on the Y chromosome
ANSA Italian – Italy (11,283,174)
Corriere Della Sera – Italy (22,696,469)
Leonardo Da Vinci has 6 living descendants, says genetic study
Terra – Brazil (25,320,022)
500-year-old mystery: Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA traced through 15 generations
Interesting Engineering via MSN.com – United States (110,190,075)
DNA analysis has revealed up to six male descendants of Leonardo da Vinci who are still alive today.
La Vanguardia – Spain (14,307,516)
Decoding Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA: Revealing the genius’s mystery after 500 years
Báo Mới – Vietnam (13,599,612)
Six living descendants of Leonardo Da Vinci share Y chromosome, study finds
SAPO – Portugal (6,086,249)
Tracing Leonardo da Vinci’s family tree reveals six living descendants
National Geographic Español – Spain (5,651,075)
Genetic code of Leonardo da Vinci’s living relatives analyzed
derStandard.at – Austria (4,802,463)
Spectacular art discovery: The “Unicorn Dragon” – an early Leonardo da Vinci?
Der Spiegel – Germany (14,825,731)
Six Living Relatives Of Leonardo Da Vinci Have Been Identified Using DNA, Claims New Book
IFL Science – Canada (3,965,818)
Six living descendants of Leonardo Da Vinci share a Y chromosome
Europa Press – Spain (5,395,190)
Full coverage summary, click here
News release in full, click here
]]>Of the 18 science news releases produced in 2021, 16 were environment-themed: food waste, e-waste, oceans, biodiversity, dams, and floods. And one announced 14 living male relatives of Leonardo da Vinci, advancing a project investigating his DNA.
2 minute slideshow: Click here
These releases generated over 9,200 news articles, published at thousands of online news sites in scores of countries and dozens of languages, ~33 billion potential public impressions in all, according to the Meltwater news search engine, which estimates actual impressions via online news sites at 825 million. Millions of additional impressions were also generated via print newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and social media.
With thanks to the researchers and collaborators behind these stories, and to the many journalists who covered them, the following releases were the most noted last year.
]]>Paper offers foundation to advance search for Leonardo’s DNA
The surprising results of a decade-long investigation by Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato provide a strong basis for advancing a project researching Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA.
Their extensive study, published by the journal “Human Evolution” (Pontecorboli Editore, Florence), documents with new certainty the continuous male line, from father to son, of the Da Vinci family (later Vinci), from progenitor Michele (born 1331) to grandson Leonardo (6th generation, born 1452) through to today — 21 generations in all, including five family branches — and identifies 14 living descendants.
The work fills gaps and corrects errors in previous genealogical research into Leonardo’s family, while offering new discoveries and family tree updates.
This text deepens and enormously expands the discovery announced in Vinci, Italy, in 2016 by the same Vezzosi and Sabato of numerous living but indirect descendants including only two males in direct line, up to the 19th generation, from a single branch of the Vinci family.
It also provides for the first time the documentary data and information sources over seven centuries to the present day registry office, with work on additional family branches ongoing.
Leonardo himself had at least 22 half-brothers but no children; a new unpublished document shows that “Paolo di Leonardo da Vinci da Firenze” was a case of homonymy. The five family branches are traced from Leonardo’s father, ser Piero (5th generation), and half-brother Domenico (6th). Since the 15th generation, data have been collected on over 225 individuals. The study, with the collaboration of the living descendants, contributes to the work of the Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage Association.
This extraordinary, authoritative 690-year genealogical investigation is fundamental to affiliated scientific work Vezzosi and Sabato have underway with the international Leonardo da Vinci DNA project, supported by The Richard Lounsbery Foundation. The project involves the J. Craig Venter Institute of La Jolla, California and several other high-profile universities and research centers, including the Department of Biology of the University of Florence, directed by David Caramelli.
The Y chromosome, passed on to male descendants, is known to remain almost unchanged through 25 generations. Comparing the Y chromosome of today’s male relatives with that of their ancestors in ancient and modern burial sites would both verify the uninterrupted family line and certify Leonardo’s own Y chromosome marker.
Questions potentially probed once Leonardo’s DNA is confirmed include reasons behind his genius, information on his parents’ geographical origins, his physical prowess, premature aging, left-handedness, diet, health and any hereditary diseases, and his extraordinary vision, synaesthesia and other sensory perceptions.
Comparison of biological data could also potentially help verify the authenticity of artwork and materials handled by Leonardo, thereby pioneering links between biology and art with broad implications for the world’s art market in terms of artistic attribution and materials.
###
Leonardo Da Vinci DNA Project
Founded by anthropologists Brunetto Chiarelli and Henry de Lumley in 2014, goals of the project include obtaining and sequencing DNA of Leonardo to understand better his extraordinary talents, notably his visual acuity, through genetic associations. Three-dimensional images of Leonardo could possibly be created if sufficient genome sequence data becomes available.
Completed pilot studies confirm the ability to identify useful biological material from centuries old works of art and other kinds of relics and samples. The project also investigates the microbial flora located on and within artworks. Using 16S sequencing, the project has demonstrated a novel finding that there are differing bacterial communities when comparing artwork on wood and canvas, and microbes on stone/marble/plaster sculptures. It has also demonstrated that there are specific genera known for having oxidative positive strains present on paintings on wood and paintings on canvas that could potentially be responsible for deterioration and fading. More generally the Project seeks to stimulate fruitful interactions between, on the one hand, geneticists, molecular biologists, and microbiologists, and, on the other hand, historians, art historians, artists, and other experts in cultural heritage.
Funding for this project is provided by The Richard Lounsbery Foundation and by the Achelis and Bodman Foundation.
Related news releases: here and here.
About the authors
Alessandro Vezzosi
Leonardist and art historian. He is originally from Vinci, where he founded the Leonardo Da Vinci Ideal Museum in 1993, with the Archives of fingerprints and Leonardisms, and with the project for “Leonardo’s Garden”. He is the author and curator of countless exhibitions, publications, conferences and lectures on Leonardo, as well as on Michelangelo and Raphael, the Garden of Pratolino, “and places of memory, contemporary art and design, from the United States to Japan.
His books have been translated into 19 languages ??(from Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance, New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1997 to Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings in Detail, New York, Prestel, 2019).
He began in 1973 the research on the locations and spaces and descendants of Leonardo, for what has been configured since 2000 as a search for Leonardo’s DNA. museoideale@gmail.com
Agnese Sabato
Agnese Chairs the Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage Association. She graduated in Modern History from the University of Florence. She collaborates in the organization of exhibitions, conferences, educational activities and institutional initiatives of the Leonardo Da Vinci Ideal Museum (including the “Fingerprint Archive”), and in books and study notebooks. She has published contributions on the history of slaves in Florence and on the myth and image of Leonardo. She has been working since 1993 researching the genealogy and living descendants of the Da Vinci, in collaborations with the Leonardo Da Vinci DNA Project since 2015. leonardodavinciheritage@gmail.com
Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage Association
The Association aims to protect and enhanceLeonardo’s cultural heritage and the spaces and locations related to his life and work. Born as an idea in 2017, the non-profit (Third Sector) Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage Association was established formally in January 2019 to spread in Italy and abroad the knowledge of Leonardo’s life – through research, publishing and exhibition activities; strengthen research, dissemination, documentation and information activities on his life story, with particular reference to the genealogy of his family; safeguard the privacy of his descendants; to promote studies, research and scientific examinations relating to the DNA of Leonardo and his relatives; safeguard his moral and ethical heritage, while respecting and protecting his cultural heritage.
The project is curating creation of the “GeniaDaVinci” database, which will collect the thousands of documents collected for this study and the family tree in progress, to make them accessible to scholars and the general public.
A volume of the new paper in Italian will be published soon with full iconography.
Human Evolution
Angelo Pontecorboli Editore – Firenze
ISSN 0393-9375 — ISSN ONLINE 1824-310X
A scientific journal founded in 1969 by Prof. Brunetto Chiarelli, University of Florence.
Managing Editor: Angelo Pontecorboli.
Human Evolution publishes scientific articles on the physical, sociological and cultural evolution of Humankind.
There are numerous disciplines involved in the study of human evolution which the magazine tries to address. Particular attention is paid to molecular evolution, genetics and DNA.
Human Evolution is published in English in Florence, Italy in one volume per year divided into four issues. http://www.pontecorboli.com – http://www.pontecorbolipress.com info@pontecorboli.it
* * * * *
Media coverage highlights
Newswires
ANSA, Italy
1) Caccia al Dna di Leonardo, trovati 14 discendenti viventi https://www.ansa.it/canale_scienza_tecnica/notizie/biotech/2021/07/06/caccia-al-dna-di-leonardo-trovati-14-discendenti-viventi_2104ab1a-944d-4fc0-b66e-bb3195d176ca.html
2) 14 living descendants found in hunt on for Leonardo’s DNA
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2021/07/06/hunt-on-for-leonardos-dna-14-living-descendants-found_9b2a48d6-6372-413e-89b8-e416930856ce.html
3) Portuguese: Pesquisa encontra 14 descendentes vivos de Leonardo Da Vinci
https://epocanegocios.globo.com/Mundo/noticia/2021/07/pesquisa-encontra-14-descendentes-vivos-de-leonardo-da-vinci.html
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy
Leonardo da Vinci ha 14 discendenti viventi
https://www.agi.it/scienza/news/2021-07-06/leonardo-vinci-14-discendenti-viventi-13167044/
Agencia EFE, Spain
Leonardo Da Vinci tiene hoy 14 descendientes masculinos vivos
https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2021/07/06/leonardo-da-vinci-tiene-hoy-14-descendientes-masculinos-vivos/
HINA, Croatia
Talijanski znanstvenici su pronašli četrnaest potomaka iz obitelji Da Vinci
https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/svijet/talijanski-znanstvenici-su-pronasli-cetrnaest-potomaka-iz-obitelji-da-vinci-15086074
NTB, Norway
14 etterkommere etter Da Vinci identifisert
https://www.abcnyheter.no/nyheter/verden/2021/07/06/195771041/14-etterkommere-etter-da-vinci-identifisert
Deutsche Presse Agentur, Germany
Ahnenforscher finden die Nachfahren von Leonardo da Vinci
https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/panorama/buntes-kurioses/id_90396954/ahnenforscher-finden-die-nachfahren-von-leonardo-da-vinci.html
SDA, Switzerland
Ahnenforscher finden 14 lebende Nachfahren von Leonardo da Vinci
https://www.suedostschweiz.ch/wirtschaft/2021-07-06/ahnenforscher-finden-14-lebende-nachfahren-von-leonardo-da-vinci
ATS, Switzerland
Caccia al DNA di Da Vinci: trovati 14 discendenti viventi
https://www.cdt.ch/cultura-e-societa/caccia-al-dna-di-da-vinci-trovati-14-discendenti-viventi-LN4395184
PAP, Poland
Włochy: Naukowcy odkryli 14 żyjących potomków Leonarda da Vinci
https://www.wnp.pl/rynki-zagraniczne/wlochy-naukowcy-odkryli-14-zyjacych-potomkow-leonarda-da-vinci,480078.html
IndoAsian News Service, India
Leonardo Da Vinci: New family tree spans 21 generations, 690 years
https://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a1175959.html
News sites
The Guardian, United Kingdom (96,922,151)
Leonardo Da Vinci project finds 14 living male descendants
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jul/06/leonardo-da-vinci-project-finds-14-living-male-descendants
Daily Mail, United Kingdom (potential impressions, 76,039,119)
Leonardo da Vinci’s family tree: Historians trace the Italian polymath’s descendants across 690 years and 21 generations – and find 14 living male relations https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9758023/Genealogy-Historians-trace-da-Vincis-descendants-14-living-male-relations.html
Telegraph, United Kingdom (26,938,178)
Leonardo: new DNA analysis discovers 14 living descendants of Renaissance master
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/07/06/leonardo-new-dna-analysis-discovers-14-living-descendants-renaissance/
Sky News, United Kingdom (22,833,616)
DNA researchers hope to uncover secret of Leonardo Da Vinci’s genius from 14 living descendants
https://news.sky.com/story/dna-researchers-hope-to-uncover-secret-of-leonardo-da-vincis-genius-from-14-living-descendants-12349981
London Evening Standard, United Kingdom (17,101,838)
Scientists trace 14 living relatives of Leonardo Da Vinci in hope of discovering genetic code of his genius
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/leornardo-da-vinci-relatives-italy-trace-study-b944424.html
Corriere Della Sera, Italy (23,710,111)
Firenze, caccia al Dna di Leonardo: trovati 14 discendenti diretti del genio del Rinascimento
https://www.corriere.it/cronache/21_luglio_06/firenze-caccia-dna-leonardo-trovati-14-discendenti-diretti-genio-rinascimento-29f24d0e-de3f-11eb-a77a-c19811af1134.shtml
La Repubblica, Italy (26,167,236)
Impiegati, geometri e artigiani tra i discendenti in vita di Leonardo: così scopriremo il suo Dna https://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2021/07/06/news/l_eredita_di_leonardo_da_vinci_trovati_col_dna_14_discendenti_viventi-309128027/
La Stampa, Italy (11,506,699)
1) Caccia al Dna di Leonardo, trovati 14 discendenti che abitano vicino a Vinci
https://www.lastampa.it/cultura/2021/07/06/news/caccia-al-dna-di-leonardo-trovati-14-discendenti-che-abitano-vicino-a-vinci-1.40468250
2) Impiegati, geometri e artigiani tra i discendenti in vita di Leonardo: così scopriremo il suo Dna https://www.lastampa.it/tecnologia/2021/07/06/news/l_eredita_di_leonardo_da_vinci_trovati_col_dna_14_discendenti_viventi-309128027/
Tiscali, Italy (3,507,240)
Caccia al Dna di Leonardo, trovati 14 discendenti viventi
https://notizie.tiscali.it/esteri/articoli/Caccia-Dna-Leonardo-00001/
La Vanguardia, Spain (30,694,248)
Quedan 14 descendientes masculinos vivos de Leonardo da Vinci
https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20210706/7581425/leonardi-da-vinci-descendientes-vivos-estudio-adn-arbol-genealogico.html
EL MUNDO, Spain (29,304,872)
Leonardo da Vinci tiene 14 descendientes masculinos vivos
https://www.elmundo.es/cultura/2021/07/06/60e42dfbfdddff4d398b45ea.html
ABC, Spain (24,576,184)
Hallan catorce descendientes vivos de Leonardo da Vinci
https://www.abc.es/cultura/abci-hallan-catorce-descendientes-vivos-leonardo-vinci-202107061410_noticia.html
El Periodico, Spain (12,428,962)
El árbol genealógico de Da Vinci se completa: todavía hay 14 descendientes vivos del artista
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/ciencia/20210706/arbol-genealogico-leonardo-da-vinci-14-descendientes-vivos-11887178
Российская газета (Rossiyskaya Gazeta), Russia (24,429,436)
Обнародованы данные проекта по исследованию ДНК Леонардо да Винчи
https://rg.ru/2021/07/06/dnk-leonardo-da-vinchi.html
ThePrint, India (11,618,364)
‘Youngest Leonardo da Vinci descendant’ born in 2020, study to decode his genius finds 13 others https://theprint.in/science/youngest-leonardo-da-vinci-descendant-born-in-2020-study-to-decode-his-genius-finds-13-others/690170/
Full coverage summary here
News release in full, here
]]>DNA science may help restore, preserve historic works, unmask counterfeits; The trait elite baseball hitters share with Leonardo da Vinci: A ‘quick eye’ with higher ‘frames per second’ — a function of training, genetics, or both?
A new study of the microbial settlers on old paintings, sculptures, and other forms of art charts a potential path for preserving, restoring, and confirming the geographic origin of some of humanity’s greatest treasures.
Genetics scientists with the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), collaborating with the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project and supported by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, say identifying and managing communities of microbes on art may offer museums and collectors a new way to stem the deterioration of priceless possessions, and to unmask counterfeits in the $60 billion a year art market.
Manolito G. Torralba, Claire Kuelbs, Kelvin Jens Moncera, and Karen E. Nelson of the JCVI, La Jolla, California, and Rhonda Roby of the Alameda California County Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory, used small, dry polyester swabs to gently collect microbes from centuries-old, Renaissance-style art in a private collector’s home in Florence, Italy. Their findings are published in the journal Microbial Ecology .
The genetic detectives caution that additional time and research are needed to formally convict microbes as a culprit in artwork decay but consider their most interesting find to be “oxidase positive” microbes primarily on painted wood and canvas surfaces.
These species can dine on organic and inorganic compounds often found in paints, in glue, and in the cellulose in paper, canvas, and wood. Using oxygen for energy production, they can produce water or hydrogen peroxide, a chemical used in disinfectants and bleaches.
“Such byproducts are likely to influence the presence of mold and the overall rate of deterioration,” the paper says.
“Though prior studies have attempted to characterize the microbial composition associated with artwork decay, our results summarize the first large scale genomics-based study to understand the microbial communities associated with aging artwork.”
The study builds on an earlier one in which the authors compared hairs collected from people in the Washington D.C., and San Diego, CA. areas, finding that microbial signatures and patterns are geographically distinguishable.
In the art world context, studying microbes clinging to the surface of a work of art may help confirm its geographic origin and authenticity or identify counterfeits.
Lead author Manolito G. Torralba notes that, as art’s value continues to climb, preservation is increasingly important to museums and collectors alike, and typically involves mostly the monitoring and adjusting of lighting, heat, and moisture.
Adding genomics science to these efforts offers advantages of “immense potential.”
The study says microbial populations “were easily discernible between the different types of substrates sampled,” with those on stone and marble art more diverse than wood and canvas. This is “likely due to the porous nature of stone and marble harboring additional organisms and potentially moisture and nutrients, along with the likelihood of biofilm formation.”
As well, microbial diversity on paintings is likely lower because few organisms can metabolize the meagre nutrients offered by oil-based paint.
“Though our sample size is low, the novelty of our study has provided the art and scientific communities with evidence that microbial signatures are capable of differentiating artwork according to their substrate,” the paper says.
“Future studies would benefit from working with samples whose authorship, ownership, and care are well-documented, although documentation about care of works of art (e.g., whether and how they were cleaned) seems rare before the mid-twentieth century.”
“Of particular interest would be the presence and activity of oil-degrading enzymes. Such approaches will lead to fully understanding which organism(s) are responsible for the rapid decay of artwork while potentially using this information to target these organisms to prevent degradation.”
“Focusing on reducing the abundance of such destructive organisms has great potential in preserving and restoring important pieces of human history.”
Biology in Art
The paper was supported by the US-based Richard Lounsbery Foundation as part of its “biology in art” research theme, which has also included seed funding efforts to obtain and sequence the genome of Leonardo da Vinci.
The Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project involves scientists in France (where Leonardo lived during his final years and was buried), Italy (where his father and other relatives were buried, and descendants of his half-brothers still live), Spain (whose National Library holds 700 pages of his notebooks), and the US (where forensic DNA skills flourish).
The Leonardo project has convened molecular biologists, population geneticists, microbiologists, forensic experts, and physicians working together with other natural scientists and with genealogists, historians, artists, and curators to discover and decode previously inaccessible knowledge and to preserve cultural heritage.
Related news release: Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA: Experts unite to shine modern light on a Renaissance master http://bit.
Measuring Leonardo da Vinci’s “quick eye” 500 years later.
Could he have played major-league baseball?
Famous art historians and biographers such as Sir Kenneth Clark and Walter Isaacson have written about Leonardo da Vinci’s “quick eye” because of the way he accurately captured fleeting expressions, wings during bird flight, and patterns in swirling water. But until now no one had tried to put a number on this aspect of Leonardo’s extraordinary visual acuity.
David S. Thaler of the University of Basel, and a guest investigator in the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University, does, allowing comparison of Leonardo with modern measures. Leonardo fares quite well.
Thaler’s estimate hinges on Leonardo’s observation that the fore and hind wings of a dragonfly are out of phase — not verified until centuries later by slow motion photography (see e.g. https:/
To quote Isaacson’s translation of Leonardo’s notebook: “The dragonfly flies with four wings, and when those in front are raised those behind are lowered.”
Thaler challenged himself and friends to try seeing if that’s true, but they all saw only blurs.
High-speed camera studies by others show the fore and hind wingbeats of dragonflies vary by 20 to 10 milliseconds — one fiftieth to one hundredth of a second — beyond average human perception.
Thaler notes that “flicker fusion frequency” (FFF) — akin to a motion picture’s frames per second — is used to quantify and measure “temporal acuity” in human vision.
When frames per second exceed the number of frames the viewer can perceive individually, the brain constructs the illusion of continuous movement. The average person’s FFF is between 20 to 40 frames per second; current motion pictures present 48 or 72 frames per second.
To accurately see the angle between dragonfly wings would require temporal acuity in the range of 50 to 100 frames per second.
Thaler believes genetics will account for variations in FFF among different species, which range from a low of 12 in some nocturnal insects to over 300 in Fire Beetles. We simply do not know what accounts for human variation. Training and genetics may both play important roles.
“Perhaps the clearest contemporary case for a fast flicker fusion frequency in humans is in American baseball, because it is said that elite batters can see the seams on a pitched baseball,” even when rotating 30 to 50 times per second with two or four seams facing the batter. A batter would need Leonardo-esque FFF to spot the seams on most inbound baseballs.
Thaler suggests further study to compare the genome of individuals and species with unusually high FFF, including, if possible, Leonardo’s DNA.
Flicker fusion for focus, attention, and affection
In a companion paper, Thaler describes how Leonardo used psychophysics that would only be understood centuries later — and about which a lot remains to be learned today — to communicate deep beauty and emotion.
Leonardo was master of a technique known as sfumato (the word derived from the Italian sfumare, “to tone down” or “to evaporate like smoke”), which describes a subtle blur of edges and blending of colors without sharp focus or distinct lines.
Leonardo expert Martin Kemp has noted that Leonardo’s sfumato sometimes involves a distance dependence which is akin to the focal plane of a camera. Yet, at other times, features at the same distance have selective sfumato so simple plane of focus is not the whole answer.
Thaler suggests that Leonardo achieved selective soft focus in portraits by painting in overcast or evening light, where the eyes’ pupils enlarge to let in more light but have a narrow plane of sharp focus.
To quote Leonardo’s notebook, under the heading “Selecting the light which gives most grace to faces”: “In the evening and when the weather is dull, what softness and delicacy you may perceive in the faces of men and women.” In dim light pupils enlarge to let in more light but their depth of field decreases.
By measuring the size of the portrait’s pupils, Thaler inferred Leonardo’s depth of focus. He says Leonardo likely sensed this effect, perhaps unconsciously in the realm of his artistic sensibility. The pupil / aperture effect on depth of focus wasn’t explained until the mid-1800s, centuries after Leonardo’s birth in Vinci, Italy in 1452.
What about selective focus at equal distance? In this case Leonardo may have taken advantage of the fovea, the small area on the back of the eye where detail is sharpest.
Most of us move our eyes around and because of our slower flicker fusion frequency we construct a single 3D image of the world by jamming together many partially in-focus images. Leonardo realized and “froze” separate snapshots with which we construct ordinary perception.
Says Thaler: “We study Leonardo not only to learn about him but to learn about ourselves and further human potential.”
Thaler’s papers (at https://bit.ly/2WZ2cwo and https://bit.ly/2ZBj7Hi) evolved from talks at meetings of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project in Italy (2018), Spain and France (2019).
They form part of a collection of papers presented at a recent colloquium in Amboise, France, now being readied for publication in a book: Actes du Colloque International d’Amboise: Leonardo de Vinci, Anatomiste. Pionnier de l’Anatomie comparée, de la Biomécanique, de la Bionique et de la Physiognomonie. Edited by Henry de Lumley, President, Institute of Human Paleontology, Paris, and originally planned for release in late spring, 2020, publication was delayed by the global virus pandemic but should be available at CNRS Editions in the second half of the summer.
Other papers in the collection cover a range of topics, including how Leonardo used his knowledge of anatomy, gained by performing autopsies on dozens of cadavers, to achieve Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile.
Leonardo also used it to exact revenge on academics and scientists who ridiculed him for lacking a classical education, sketching them with absurdly deformed faces to resemble birds, dogs, or goats.
De Lumley earlier co-authored a 72-page monograph for the Leonardo DNA Project: “Leonardo da Vinci: Pioneer of comparative anatomy, biomechanics and physiognomy.”.
* * * * *
Coverage highlights
Torralba
Agence France Presse: Microbes Could ‘help Save Old Masters’ And Catch Forgers, click here
Agencia EFE: Identificar microbios en obras de arte abre la puerta a una mejor preservación, click here
Thaler
Agencia EFE: La rapidez visual “súper desarrollada” de Da Vinci podría explicar la sonrisa de la Mona Lisa, click here
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5-MAY-2016
The Leonardo Project: Illuminating the art, life, characteristics, talents, and brilliance of one of humanity’s most extraordinary figures
A team of eminent specialists from a variety of academic disciplines has coalesced around a goal of creating new insight into the life and genius of Leonardo da Vinci by means of authoritative new research and modern detective technologies, including DNA science.
The Leonardo Project is in pursuit of several possible physical connections to Leonardo, beaming radar, for example, at an ancient Italian church floor to help corroborate extensive research to pinpoint the likely location of the tomb of his father and other relatives. A collaborating scholar also recently announced the successful tracing of several likely DNA relatives of Leonardo living today in Italy (see endnotes).
If granted the necessary approvals, the Project will compare DNA from Leonardo’s relatives past and present with physical remnants — hair, bones, fingerprints and skin cells — associated with the Renaissance figure whose life marked the rebirth of Western civilization.
The Project’s objectives, motives, methods, and work to date are detailed in a special issue of the journal Human Evolution, published coincident with a meeting of the group hosted in Florence this week under the patronage of Eugenio Giani, President of the Tuscan Regional Council (Consiglio Regionale della Toscana).
Born in Vinci, Italy, Leonardo died in 1519, age 67, and was buried in Amboise, southwest of Paris. His creative imagination foresaw and described innovations hundreds of years before their invention, such as the helicopter and armored tank. His artistic legacy includes the iconic Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
The idea behind the Project, founded in 2014, has inspired and united anthropologists, art historians, genealogists, microbiologists, and other experts from leading universities and institutes in France, Italy, Spain, Canada and the USA, including specialists from the J. Craig Venter Institute of California, which pioneered the sequencing of the human genome.
The work underway resembles in complexity recent projects such as the successful search for the tomb of historic author Miguel de Cervantes and, in March 2015, the identification of England’s King Richard III from remains exhumed from beneath a UK parking lot, fittingly re-interred 500 years after his death.
Like Richard, Leonardo was born in 1452, and was buried in a setting that underwent changes in subsequent years such that the exact location of the grave was lost.
If DNA and other analyses yield a definitive identification, conventional and computerized techniques might reconstruct the face of Leonardo from models of the skull.”
In addition to Leonardo’s physical appearance, information potentially revealed from the work includes his ancestry and additional insight into his diet, state of health, personal habits, and places of residence.
Beyond those questions, and the verification of Leonardo’s “presumed remains” in the chapel of Saint-Hubert at the Château d’Amboise, the Project aims to develop a genetic profile extensive enough to understand better his abilities and visual acuity, which could provide insights into other individuals with remarkable qualities.
It may also make a lasting contribution to the art world, within which forgery is a multi-billion dollar industry, by advancing a technique for extracting and sequencing DNA from other centuries-old works of art, and associated methods of attribution.
Says Jesse Ausubel, Vice Chairman of the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, sponsor of the Project’s meetings in 2015 and 2016: “I think everyone in the group believes that Leonardo, who devoted himself to advancing art and science, who delighted in puzzles, and whose diverse talents and insights continue to enrich society five centuries after his passing, would welcome the initiative of this team — indeed would likely wish to lead it were he alive today.”
Leonardo’s fingerprints
In the journal, group members underline the highly conservative, precautionary approach required at every phase of the Project, which they aim to conclude in 2019 to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death.
For example, one objective is to verify whether fingerprints on Leonardo’s paintings, drawings, and notebooks can yield DNA consistent with that extracted from identified remains.
Early last year, Project collaborators from the International Institute for Humankind Studies in Florence opened discussions with the laboratory in that city where Leonardo’s Adoration of the Magi has been undergoing restoration for nearly two years, to explore the possibility of analyzing dust from the painting for possible DNA traces. A crucial question is whether traces of DNA remain or whether restoration measures and the passage of time have obliterated all evidence of Leonardo’s touch.
In preparation for such analysis, a team from the J. Craig Venter Institute and the University of Florence is examining privately owned paintings believed to be of comparable age to develop and calibrate techniques for DNA extraction and analysis. At this year’s meeting in Florence, the researchers also described a pioneering effort to analyze the microbiome of a painting thought to be about five centuries old.
If human DNA can one day be obtained from Leonardo’s work and sequenced, the genetic material could then be compared with genetic information from skeletal or other remains that may be exhumed in the future.
Organizations participating in the Leonardo Project include:
- The Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris
- The International Institute for Humankind Studies, Florence
- The Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology and Paleogenetics, Biology Department, University of Florence
- Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, in Vinci, Italy
- J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California
- Laboratory of Genetic Identification, University of Granada, Spain
- The Rockefeller University, New York City
Initial support comes from the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Washington D.C.
Says Eugenio Giani, President of the Regional Council of Tuscany: “The fact that a team of eminent scholars from different academic disciplines and parts of the world has united with the common objective of furthering investigation into one of the greatest geniuses is positive and very important.”
“As President of the Tuscan Regional Council, I am pleased to host in our headquarters a meeting that shows key aspects our current state of knowledge of Leonardo da Vinci. My hope, as a Florentine and Tuscan, is that all this will help outline a portrait of Leonardo as faithful as possible to reality, bringing out the true bond that he had with Florence, starting from the properties of his family in the city. Scientifically, the chance to create, through new research and technology, a new vision of the life of Leonardo starting from a study of DNA is very important.”
Compiled by Project collaborator Claire Stypulkowski, the collection of five journal articles trace the path Leonardo took from his Italian birthplace to his final days serving the King of France. They outline the efforts to date, detailing the history and evidence regarding Leonardo’s life and his remains in Amboise, the research and high-tech investigation of his father’s tomb in Florence, and the tracing of family descendants.
Says Brunetto Chiarelli of the International Institute for Humankind Studies and editor of Human Evolution: “We are proud to share with the public the details of this exciting endeavor.”
And he underlined this message from the Project’s introductory paper: “The search for Leonardo’s remains at Amboise Castle, for the remains or traces of his family members in Florence, Vinci, and Milan, and for traces of his DNA in his works is fraught with difficulty.”
“Matching Leonardo’s DNA to that of his family presents puzzles that are minutely specific to their history and circumstances, but the tools the investigators use are generic and broadly applicable. We stand to gain not only greater historical knowledge of Leonardo but possibly a reconstruction of his genetic profile, which could provide insights into other individuals with remarkable qualities.”
“The last Plantagenet King of England and the author who gave us Don Quixote are two whose places in history are somewhat better documented now through recent anthropological study. Is Leonardo the next?”
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The Leonardo Project,” a special edition of the journal Human Evolution, is publicly available here: http://bit.
About the authors:
- Jesse Ausubel, Director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University, New York City, is Vice-Chairman of the Richard Lounsbery Foundation. He has co-founded major global research programs including the Census of Marine Life (2000-2010) and the Deep Carbon Observatory (2009 – 2019).
- Ross King is the author of five books on Italian art and history, including Leonardo and The Last Supper (2012) and Florence: The Paintings and Frescoes, 1250-1743 (2015).
- Anne Leader is an art historian and the author of The Badia of Florence: Art and Observance in a Renaissance Monastery (2012).
- Serena Minucci is a geophysicist with the Laboratory of Applied Geophysics at the Centro di GeoTecnologie (CGT), University of Siena
- Tommaso Colonna is Director of the Laboratory of Geophysics and Applied Geophysics, Centro di GeoTecnologie (CGT), University of Siena
- Alessandro Vezzosi is an Art Critic and Leonardo Scholar, and Founder and Director of Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, in Vinci, Italy. On April 15, Mr. Vezzosi and colleagues released “The Family Tree of the Family Da Vinci from the 14th to the 21st Century (© Museo Ideale – Alessandro Vezzosi — Agnese Sabato),” announcing the names of 35 of Leonardo’s living relations, identified through 43 years of multi-disciplinary research. Leonardo had no known offspring but other direct descendants from his father would share Leonardo’s DNA, even 15 generations later.
Leonardo Project, 2nd Meeting Invitees, Tuscany Regional Council Building, Florence
- Jesse Ausubel, Director, Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University; Vice Chairman, Richard Lounsbery Foundation
- Leonardo Belloni, President, Associazione Opera Italia
- Niccolò Cadeo, Architect
- Pietro Cadeo, Director, CadeoArchitettura
- David Caramelli, Full Professor of Anthropology, Department of Biology, Molecular Anthropology/Paleogenetics Unit, University of Florence
- Brunetto Chiarelli, Director of the International Institute for Humankind Studies; retired Professor of Anthropology, University of Florence
- Henry de Lumley, Director, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine
- Eugenio Giani, Presidente del Consiglio Regionale della Toscana
- Martina Lari, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Molecular Anthropology/Paleogenetics Unit, University of Florence
- Anne Leader, Art Historian, Writer
- Jose A. Lorente, Full Professor of Legal & Forensic Medicine, University of Granada and Scientific Director of GENYO – Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research
- Cristina Manetti, Press Relations Officer, Consiglio Regionale della Toscana
- Cesare Marchetti, Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria
- Karen Nelson, President, J. Craig Venter Institute
- Elsa Pacciani, Anthropologist, Soprintendenza Archeologia della Toscana
- Andrea Pelizzari, Architect
- Guido Pelizzari, Architect
- Elena Pilli, Forensic Biologist, Department of Biology, Molecular Anthropology/Paleogenetics Unit, University of Florence
- Rhonda Roby, Professor, J. Craig Venter Institute and Head of Forensic Genomics at Human Longevity, Inc.
- Giovanni Roncaglia, Assistant Archaeologist, Soprintendenza Archeologia della Toscana
- Agnese Sabato, President of Associazione Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci-Museo Ideale
- Thomas Sakmar, Richard M. & Isabel P. Furlaud Professor, Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Signal Transduction, The Rockefeller University
- Claire Stypulkowski, Florence Coordinator, Leonardo Project
- Alessandro Vezzosi, Art Critic and Leonardo Scholar, Founder and Director of Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, Vinci
- Luigi Vigna, Funzionario Restauratore Conservatore, Docente OPD SAFS – Direzione Tecnica Settore Restauro Archeologico – Conservazione Arte Contemporanea , Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze
- Fulvia Zeuli, Architetto Direttore Coordinatore presso Ministero per i Beni Culturali, Soprintendenza Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Firenze,Pistoia e Prato
Leonardo Project, 1st Meeting Attendees, Natural History Museum, Florence, May 5, 2015
- Jesse Ausubel, Director, Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University
- David Caramelli, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Biology, Molecular Anthropology/Paleogenetics Unit, University of Florence
- Guido Chelazzi, President of the Natural History Museum, University of Florence and Full Professor of Ecology
- Brunetto Chiarelli, Retired Professor of Anthropology and Founder of the International Institute for Humankind Studies
- Massimo Cocchi, Professor of Food and Nutrition Sciences, Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy, and Full Professor of Biochemistry of Nutrition at the Università L.U.de.S., Lugano, Switzerland
- Tommaso Colonna, Laboratory of Geophysics and Applied Geophysics at the Centro di GeoTecnologie (CGT), University of Siena
- Eugenio Giani, Councillor, Partito Democratico (Democratic Party), Regione Toscana
- Ross King, Art Historian and author
- Anne Leader, Art Historian, Writer
- Jose A. Lorente, Full Professor of Legal & Forensic Medicine, University of Granada and Scientific Director of GENYO – Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research
- Cesare Marchetti, Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria
- Serena Minucci, Laboratory of Geophysics and Applied Geophysics at the Centro di GeoTecnologie (CGT), University of Siena
- Karen Nelson, President, J. Craig Venter Institute
- Elsa Pacciani, Anthropologist, Soprintendenza Archeologia della Toscana
- Rhonda Roby, Professor, J. Craig Venter Institute and Head of Forensic Genomics at Human Longevity, Inc.
- Giovanni Roncaglia, Assistant Archaeologist, Soprintendenza Archeologia della Toscana
- Thomas Sakmar, Richard M. & Isabel P. Furlaud Professor, Laboratory of Chemical Biology & Signal Transduction, The Rockefeller University
- Riccardo Simoni, Psychiatrist
- Claire Stypulkowski, Florence Coordinator, Leonardo Project
- Alessandro Vezzosi, Art critic and Leonardo scholar, founder and director of Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, Vinci
- Agnese Sabato, President of Associazione Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci-Museo Ideale
News release in full: click here
Example coverage:
BBC World Service, Newshour
Newswires / syndicated stories
ANSA, Italy, Caccia al Dna di Leonardo, indizi in tombe e dipinti (Hunt DNA of Leonardo, clues in tombs and paintings), click here; (Portuguese): Grupo quer usar DNA de Da Vinci para entender mente de gênio, click here
Press Association, UK, via the Daily Mirror, Experts hope to extract Leonardo Da Vinci’s DNA from fingerprints in his paintings and notebooks, click here
Europa Press, Spain, Eminencias de distintas disciplinas se unen para esclarecer el talento y las características de Leonardo da Vinci, click here
Agencia EFE, Spain (Spanish), Investigadores Quieren El Adn De Leonardo Da Vinci Para Reconstruir Al Genio (Researchers Want The Dna Of Leonardo Da Vinci To Rebuild The Genius), click here
(Portuguese): Cientistas querem DNA de Da Vinci para “reconstruir” características do gênio, click here
IndoAsian News Service, India, DNA to decode life and genius of Leonardo da Vinci, click here
Xinhua News Service, China [科技与新知]用ＤＮＡ破解“达芬奇密码” (With Technology New Knowledge, DNA, crack “The Da Vinci Code”), click here
Other news organizations
Daily Telegraph, UK, Leonardo da Vinci paintings analysed for DNA to solve grave mystery, click here
International Business Times, UK, Da Vinci’s DNA: Leonardo Project to reveal secrets of Renaissance master, click here
Daily Mail, UK, The REAL da Vinci code: DNA from the Italian master’s paintings will being used to reconstruct his face and trace his relatives, click here
The Independent, UK, Researchers plan to sequence Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA to reveal his true face, click here
Gizmodo, USA, The Brilliantly Insane Plan to Reconstruct Leonardo da Vinci’s Genome, click here
Newser, USA, Scientists Have Big Plans for da Vinci’s DNA But first, they need to find, click here
Ideal, Spain, A por el ADN de Leonardo, click here
Huffington Post, Greece, Ο (γενετικός) κώδικας Ντα Βίντσι: Έρευνα με σύγχρονη τεχνολογία και επιστήμη DNA πάνω στη ζωή του Λεονάρντο ντα Βίντσι (The (genetic) code Da Vinci: Research with modern technology and DNA science on the life of Leonardo da Vinci), click here
Republika Online, Indonesia, Ilmuwan Selidiki Kejeniusan Manusia dari DNA Leonardo da Vinci (Scientists Investigate Human genius of Leonardo da Vinci DNA), click here
KIJK, Netherlands Antilles, Op jacht naar DNA van Leonardo da Vinci (Hunting for DNA Leonardo da Vinci), click here
Bao Mới, Viet Nam, Gian nan săn tìm DNA của danh họa Leonardo da Vinci (Arduous hunt for DNA of artist Leonardo da Vinci), click here
Go News, Italy (translated from the UK Press Association), Si cerca il dna del genio Leonardo tra tombe e dipenti (Looking for the DNA of the Leonardo genius among graves and descendants), click here
Giani: “Alla scoperta del vero legame tra Leonardo e Firenze” (Giani: “Discovering the real link between Leonardo and Florence”), click here
CNO Web-TV, Italy, Il “Leonardo da Vinci Project” e lo studio del DNA di Leonardo, click here
Arte Magazine, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci. Studiosi alla ricerca del Dna del genio (Leonardo da Vinci. Scholars in search of Genius DNA), click here
Nove da Firenze, Italy, Lunedì mattina a palazzo Panciatichi il “Leonardo da Vinci Project” (Monday morning palace Panciatichi the “Leonardo da Vinci Project”), click here
Popular Archeology, USA, Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA, click here
Medical Daily, USA, DNA Model Could Reveal Details About Leonardo da Vinci’s Life, Even Lead To Facial Reconstruction, click here
Coverage summary, click here
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