#156 – Leda & The Swan- Leonardo #44
Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, rapes Leda. Leonardo’s painting of it no longer exists, but we have copies and drawings. Apparently he had no idea what a woman’s breasts looked like.
#155 – Corn Porn – Leonardo #43
Around 1501, Leonardo started work on one of his great masterpieces: The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. It’s the most famous painting of an incest lap dance in history. It involves a gay vulture, corn porn and an Egyptian goddess with an erect penis.
#154 – The Yarnwinder – Leonardo #42
If you’re gonna steal, steal big, that’s what we say. There are dozens of surviving copies of Leonardo’s MADONNA OF THE YARNWINDER. Some done by LDV, others done by his assistants and followers. And there’s been a lot of debate over which one, or which ones, were done by Leonardo. And one of them was even stolen in a brazen daylight heist from a Scottish castle.
#153 – Lady Nutella – Leonardo #41
Leonardo’s lack of interest in finishing Isabella D’este’s portrait tells us a lot about who he was, and what he cared about, on his return to Florence in 1500. Like all good podcasters, he didn’t care about money or fame. He just wanted to work on projects that interested him. And her portrait was not one of those things, despite her fame, power, wealth, beauty, perseverance and love of Nutella.
#152 – One Pink Cape – Leonardo #40
By the time Leonardo finally returned to Florence, in late March 1500, not long after the execution of Savonarola, the city was once again a Republic that celebrated the classics and the arts, but its confidence had been shaken. He was the right man to lead the way.
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