Leonardo da Vinci was indisputably a genius , but his remarkable esthetic vision may have been the result of seeing the universe other than in more way than one . A raw paper argues that he had strabismus , a vision disorder where the eyes are misalign and do n’t look toward the same place at the same time . This disorder , ocular neuroscientist Christopher Tyler argues , may have helpedthe artistrender three - dimensional epitome on flavorless canvas with an excess level of skill .
Tyleris a professor at City , University of London who has write a numeral of studies on optics and art . In this study , publishedinJAMA Ophthalmology , he examined six different graphics from the period when Leonardo was working , includingYoung John the Baptist , Vitruvian Man , and a ego - portrait by the artist . He also analyzed while by other artists that are thought to have used Leonardo as a model , like Andrea del Verrocchio’sYoung Warriorsculpture . Leonardo served as the lead help in the latter creative person ’s studio apartment , and in all probability served as the model for several of his works . Leonardo was also a admirer of Benedetto da Maiano , and possibly serve well as a example for his 1480 carving of John the Baptist . Tyler also looked at the recently auctionedSalvator Mundi , a painting that not all expertsbelievecan be attributed to Leonardo . ( However , at least one scientific squad that examine the painting saysit ’s legit . )
With strabismus , a person ’s eyes seem to aim in different directions . Based on the eyes in Leonardo ’s own portraits of himself and other graphics modeled after him , it seems likely that he had intermittent squint . When he loosen his eye , one of his eyes drift outward , though he was probably able-bodied to align his eyes when he focused . The regard in the portrait and sculptures seems to be misaligned , with the left-hand eye consistently stray outward at around the same angle .
“ The exercising weight of convergency evidence propose that [ Leonardo ] had intermittent exotropia — where an eye turns outwards — with a resulting ability to change to monocular imagination , using just one optic , ” Tyler explained in apress release . “ The condition is rather commodious for a mountain lion , since viewing the domain with one centre allows direct comparison with the flat range of a function being draw or painted . ” This would have given him an assist in depicting profoundness accurately .
Leonardo is n’t the first notable artistwhose visionresearchers have marvel about . Some havespeculatedthat Degas ’s increasingly uncouth pastel work in his late year may have been assign to his degenerating middle , as the rough edges would have appeared smoother to him because of his blurred vision . Others havesuggestedthat Van Gogh ’s “ yellow point ” and the vivacious colour ofStarry Nightmay have been influenced by yellowing vision due to his role of foxglove , a medicine he withdraw for epilepsy .
We can never truly know whether a long - utter artist ’s workplace was the result of visual result or plainly a singular aesthetic vision , but looking at their artistry through the lens of medicine supply a new way of see theirprocess .
