Leonardo: Son of a Slave?

[_Banbha_]

Da Vinci Fingerprint Reveals Arab Heritage?


Leonardo da Vinci may have had an Arab heritage, according to Italian researchers who have isolated and reconstructed the Renaissance master's fingerprint.

The fingerprint represents the only biological trace of the Florentine genius, said Luigi Capasso, an anthropologist at Chieti University.

"It is actually the first evidence of Leonardo's corporeality," Capasso told Discovery News....

More Here (http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/10/28/leonardoprint_his.html?category=animals)

Apparently Leonardo's Father owned a an slave who was a young Arab woman. His mother was always assumed to be a local peasant girl.

Interesting investagation into finding the fingerprint and speculation as to his Mother's possible identity.

[ModernKnight]

I'm skeptical about the ability to tell which regions had what fingerprints and I'm skeptical about how they determined which fingerprints were Leonardo's.

I don't buy it.

[_Banbha_]

I'm skeptical about the ability to tell which regions had what fingerprints and I'm skeptical about how they determined which fingerprints were Leonardo's.

I don't buy it.

I'm skeptical about it too; most especially about the fingerprints determining region. Some of the fingerprints were found in the paint itself along with documents, etc., forming more of a probability than definitive proof. Still that part is interesting.

I think it's just as likely he was the son of his fathers' enslaved Arab woman as a local peasant as it's assumed most of the time. I wonder if or why his Mother's identity has always been downplayed beyond the condition his illegitamacy; which was not so unusual in unions between social classes. It seems so to me. :hahugh: