Leonardo [antikvár]

BIRTH CERTIFICATE Above: Giorgio Vasari, Portrait of Leonardo, from The Lives, 1568 edition. Top; house of Leonardo da Vinci at Anchiano (locality of Vinci, Florence). At center: the Museo Leonardiano in Castello Guidi, Vinci (Florence). Above: seal of the Town of Vinci (14"' century), Florence, Bargello National Museum. The early years at Vinci It was the night of April 15, 1452. At Vinci, a country town between Florence and Pistoia, surrounded by the green Tuscan iiiils, a woman was about to give birth. Her name was Caterina and she was not married. The fattier of the baby was Ser Piero da Vinci, twenty-five years old, a notary by profession, following the tradition of his family, one of the town's oldest and most prominent, notaries for generations and property owners in the town and its vicinity. As time was then calculated, with the hours of the night starting from sunset, it was the third hour of a Saturday - three hours after 7 in the evening - when Caterina gave birth to her son Leonardo in a house located in the village of Anchiano. It was thus 10 o'clock at night as time is now calculated. The event was punctually recorded by the infant's paternal grandfather, Ser Antonio da Vinci: «A grandson was born to me, the son of my son Ser Piero, on the day of April 15, a Saturday, at the third hour of the night. He was named Li-onardo. He was baptized by the Priest Piero di Bartolomeo da Vinci, Papino di Nanni Banti, iVleo di Tonino, Piero di IVIalvolto, Nanni di Venzo, Arigho di Giovanni Tedescho, Monna Lisa di Domenicho di Brettone, Monna Anto-nia di Giuliano, l\lonna Niccholosa del Barna, Mon|n]a Maria, the daughter of Nanni di Venzo, Monna Pippa di Previchone». The surprising number of five godfathers and five godmothers of a certain rank at Leonardo's baptism indicates that the birth of an illegitimate son must not have been a problem in those days, considering that even the Pope - Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia were the children of Alexander VI - had natural sons and daughters without even trying to keep it a secret. The child Leonardo was calmly acknowledged by Ser Piero and went to live with his father in the family home, where he spent his childhood and adolescence; without however, the "happy end" of a marriage between his parents. This was probably because Cateri- 10