Behind his works there are many mysteries, now the latest hypothesis in chronological order is that the extraordinary talent of Leonardo da Vinci is also due to a vision disorder.
Behind his works there are many mysteries, now the latest hypothesis in chronological order is that the extraordinary talent of Leonardo da Vinci is also due to a vision disorder.
To hypothesize it is Christopher Tyler, a visual neuroscientist at the City University of London who, together with his team, is convinced that Leonardo da Vinci would have been suffering from strabismus and that precisely this eye disorder would have made him more attentive and able to grasp the nuances and details of landscapes, faces and objects.
During the study some of the painter's works were analyzed, including the Mona Lisa, the Vitruvian Man and the Salvator Mundi. According to Tyler, in the masterpieces there would not be a correct alignment of the eyes, technically there would be an exotropia that is part of the strabismus disorders and alters the three-dimensional vision.
But not only that, many of the portraits resemble Leonardo da Vinci and this would be the demonstration for the neuroscientist, that the painter suffered from this disorder, altered when he was particularly fatigued.
What Made Leonardo da Vinci Such a Great Artist? ‘Crossed Eyes’ May Have Helped https://t.co/ybFT7IZa62 https://t.co/GA5oXyiqcm #doglover #lovedogs #puppies pic.twitter.com/L49JmsP6eG
— Manfred Rosenberg (@4PawShop) 19 ottobre 2018
But what does squinting have to do with painting and why would Leonardo have been favored by this visual disturbance? Tyler explains it in his own study:
“When the eyes are straight there is a stereoscopic vision and this allows us to perceive the sense of depth. In the presence of strabismus, the brain trains itself to ignore the signals of the lazy eye and manages to get back a more static image, much easier for the artist to work with ”.
And yet:
“Many artists have been diagnosed posthumously with strabismus on the basis of the alignment of the eyes analyzed in their works and especially in their self-portraits. Among these we find Rembrandt, Dürer, Guercino, Degas and Picasso ”, says Tyler.
In short, this squint would explain his great ability to represent three-dimensional faces also painting the depth of the scenes.
“Thanks to his intermittent exotropy, Leonardo could instead easily switch from a 3D to a 2D vision”.
Read also:
- Discovered the copy of the Last Supper in this abandoned convent in Calabria
- Piombino: the fortress designed by Leonardo da Vinci for sale
Dominella Trunfio
