I have a bizarre and completely unprovable theory Leonardo Da Vinci was a trans woman based largely on a recognition of my own behaviours and desires as a trans person and the convoluted history of the Mona Lisa.
Many people have posited that the picture, while supposedly a commissioned portrait of a patron, is actually a self portrait of the artist but your run of the mill scholarship tends to be a little stumped why he would do that… But look at the history of the painting and it was in his possession for a very long time “unfinished”. Layers of the painting show jewelry had been added and subtracted from the painting over time becoming more austere as both portait and painter aged. The title of the painting originally basically translated to “the happy one” supposedly for that enigmatic smile… but what if this painting was actually “the happy one” smiling at the artist who struggled in their own body gaining what wistful euphoria there was to be had meeting the eyes of his ideal physical form, carried around as a wish and temporary escape from the mirror.
Da Vinci had a complicated sexuallity as we know it. As best we can figure he was repulsed by heterosexual intercourse but adored the male form sexually. He had a number of very strong friendships with women but he tended to not render their forms sexually in his art preferring to focus on male genetalia… But his art also featured numerous themes of sexes with poses, characteristics and so on intermixed into androgyny or with subversive femininity. He veiwed women as paragons of grace, dignity and quite frankly I think he pined for motherhood.
As a trans person who has decided for reasons not to physically transition I know that wistfulness. Staring at the genderswap snapchat filters of yourself during a moment of low spirits or the pictures of youth where you actually properly passed as your gender and thinking “if only”.
At the end of his life the Mona Lisa was not passed on to it’s supposed commissioner but instead to Leonardo’s long time apprentice and known gay lover. Perhaps a final sentimental bequeathal of a cherished object
The more I read and see of the artist’s works and life the more I see a distinct queer identity emerge. Perhaps not worth much to scholarship but the idea that maybe the most popular and highly valued picture in the world could be of a trans woman’s encapsulated self conceptualization and the true self portrait of a genius hidden from veiw only by the veil of cis blindness that cannot recognize the distinct behaviour patterns and dearly held desires of trans people… Would be immensely satisfying.
Ii always thought LDV was odd and couldn’t recognize what about it was odd because he was brilliant, skilled and contributed to humanity significantly. I knew there was something different about him that just couldn’t put my finger on it. But never got down to analyze it.
This bit you’ve put forward make so much sense. So so much sense. Thank you! You’re brilliant as well for understanding the apparently-not-so-obvious obvious thing we all miss!
Thank you, it’s my own weird headcannon. History is often very good at sweeping queerness under the rug particularly when someone is admired.
I think it’s his fairly deep friendships with women that I wish I knew about. I know that for many of us there’s a sort of external recognition factor of “these are my people” where we best empathize and folks of our birth sex can feel a little alien by comparison. Misogyny can be a fairly limiting factor in self exploration though and the options available to women in his time were generally fairly dismal.
I have a bizarre and completely unprovable theory Leonardo Da Vinci was a trans woman based largely on a recognition of my own behaviours and desires as a trans person and the convoluted history of the Mona Lisa.
Many people have posited that the picture, while supposedly a commissioned portrait of a patron, is actually a self portrait of the artist but your run of the mill scholarship tends to be a little stumped why he would do that… But look at the history of the painting and it was in his possession for a very long time “unfinished”. Layers of the painting show jewelry had been added and subtracted from the painting over time becoming more austere as both portait and painter aged. The title of the painting originally basically translated to “the happy one” supposedly for that enigmatic smile… but what if this painting was actually “the happy one” smiling at the artist who struggled in their own body gaining what wistful euphoria there was to be had meeting the eyes of his ideal physical form, carried around as a wish and temporary escape from the mirror.
Da Vinci had a complicated sexuallity as we know it. As best we can figure he was repulsed by heterosexual intercourse but adored the male form sexually. He had a number of very strong friendships with women but he tended to not render their forms sexually in his art preferring to focus on male genetalia… But his art also featured numerous themes of sexes with poses, characteristics and so on intermixed into androgyny or with subversive femininity. He veiwed women as paragons of grace, dignity and quite frankly I think he pined for motherhood.
As a trans person who has decided for reasons not to physically transition I know that wistfulness. Staring at the genderswap snapchat filters of yourself during a moment of low spirits or the pictures of youth where you actually properly passed as your gender and thinking “if only”.
At the end of his life the Mona Lisa was not passed on to it’s supposed commissioner but instead to Leonardo’s long time apprentice and known gay lover. Perhaps a final sentimental bequeathal of a cherished object
The more I read and see of the artist’s works and life the more I see a distinct queer identity emerge. Perhaps not worth much to scholarship but the idea that maybe the most popular and highly valued picture in the world could be of a trans woman’s encapsulated self conceptualization and the true self portrait of a genius hidden from veiw only by the veil of cis blindness that cannot recognize the distinct behaviour patterns and dearly held desires of trans people… Would be immensely satisfying.
That’s an interesting take and sure makes sense to me. And I recognize it in a way.
Ii always thought LDV was odd and couldn’t recognize what about it was odd because he was brilliant, skilled and contributed to humanity significantly. I knew there was something different about him that just couldn’t put my finger on it. But never got down to analyze it.
This bit you’ve put forward make so much sense. So so much sense. Thank you! You’re brilliant as well for understanding the apparently-not-so-obvious obvious thing we all miss!
Thank you, it’s my own weird headcannon. History is often very good at sweeping queerness under the rug particularly when someone is admired.
I think it’s his fairly deep friendships with women that I wish I knew about. I know that for many of us there’s a sort of external recognition factor of “these are my people” where we best empathize and folks of our birth sex can feel a little alien by comparison. Misogyny can be a fairly limiting factor in self exploration though and the options available to women in his time were generally fairly dismal.
Leonardo da Vinci