Just to let you know I haven’t disappeared!

We explore the fascinating intersection between one of the world’s most famous relics and one of its most brilliant minds: Leonardo Da Vinci and the Shroud of Turin. Was Da Vinci somehow connected to this mysterious cloth? Could he have had the knowledge, access, and motive?

🕯️ What You’ll Hear:

• The scientific investigation into the Shroud of Turin by the STURP team in 1978 and why their results only deepened the mystery.
• The carbon dating shock: how the Shroud was traced back not to 1st century Jerusalem, but medieval Europe.
• The curious photographic qualities of the Shroud and the theories involving camera obscura and silver sulphate.
• The intriguing possibility that Leonardo Da Vinci had the knowledge and opportunity to create such a sophisticated hoax.
• A dive into Leonardo’s Milan years: his commissions, his pupils (including the infamous Salaì), and unfinished masterpieces.
• The story behind The Last Supper, Vitruvian Man, and Leonardo’s move to the French court under Francis I.
• Reflections on Leonardo’s final years and his legacy as a polymath, artist, engineer, and relentless thinker.

📍Locations & Highlights:

• Milan – Leonardo’s court years and commissions under Ludovico Sforza.
• Kraków – Home to the portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, Lady with an Ermine.
• Rome, Florence, Amboise – Key stages of Leonardo’s later life.

🔍 Big Questions:

• Could Da Vinci have created the Shroud?
• What does the Vitruvian Man really represent?
• Was Salaì the inspiration behind some of Leonardo’s most enigmatic figures?

Early Life & Education

• Born illegitimate, Leonardo spent his youth sketching and observing nature.
• After moving to Florence, he entered the prestigious workshop of Andrea Verrocchio, where he learned not only painting but also the chemistry behind pigments and the mechanics of sculpture and engineering.

🎨 Artistic Breakthroughs

• By 1472, Leonardo was a member of the painters’ guild and began producing original works.
• His first known portrait was of Ginevra de’ Benci, and his collaboration on Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ was so impressive that legend claims the master retired his brush.

⚙️ Engineering Mindset

• Leonardo’s early involvement in lifting Brunelleschi’s massive dome sphere sparked a lifelong fascination with machines and mechanics.
• He later designed fantastical inventions, from machine guns and tanksto automated kitchen spits and submarines, many adapted from earlier ideas but improved with Leonardo's obsessive precision.

🕵️ Scandal & Rejection

• In 1476, Leonardo was accused (and acquitted) of sodomy, a charge that tainted his reputation.
• He also struggled with feelings of inadequacy due to his illegitimacy and lack of formal education, despite building a massive personal library.

🤹 From Florence to Milan

• Tired of Florence’s politics and unfinished commissions (like The Adoration of the Magi), Leonardo headed to Milan in 1481.
• His application letter to Ludovico Sforza emphasized military engineering over painting—positioning himself as the Renaissance’s ultimate multi-hyphenate.

🎭 Court Entertainer & Inventor

• In Milan, Leonardo served as engineer, party planner, set designer, and even hairstylist.
• He dabbled in robotics, stage effects, and was inspired by thinkers like Ibn al-Haytham, whose work on optics laid the groundwork for Leonardo’s legendary camera obscura prank.

👂 Tune in to discover how a restless, illegitimate boy turned into one of history’s most enigmatic polymaths—blending art, science, scandal, and a flair for the theatrical.