Da Vinci’s mother was a slave and was freed by the genius father

The deed of release of Catherine was found in Florence

The mother of the genius Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Caterina di Meo Lippi, was a slave for several years of her life, and her deed of freedom was signed by the notary Piero da Vinci, father of the discovered Italian researcher Carlo Vecce.

Presenting his book “Il Sorriso di Caterina” this Tuesday (14th), Vecce reported that he had found “the act of liberation from slavery” in the State Archives of Florence and that his search began because rumors circulated that the mother of the genius was a slave girl advertised.

The young woman’s freedom was granted nearly seven months after da Vinci’s birth on November 2, 1452 – the boy was born on April 15.

“A bit by chance, a few years ago, these new documents appeared and I began to study them to prove that this slave Caterina was not Leonardo’s mother. But, in the end, all the evidence points in the opposite direction, especially this document of liberation,” he explained.

According to Vecce, “the notary who freed Caterina is the same person who loved her when she was still a slave and by whom she had her son”.

History has always emphasized that Da Vinci was an “illegitimate” son of Piero and Caterina, referred to only as a simple peasant girl who was orphaned at the age of 15. Initial searches indicated that the woman was from the Middle East, but little was known about her actual life.

From Vecce’s analysis it emerged that Caterina was born in the Caucasus area, and then moved to the Azov Sea region, still part of Russia. She was taken to Byzantium shortly before its fall into the hands of the Turks, and from there she went to Italy: Venice, Florence and then to Vinci. The young girl became a maid at the age of 15 and she was a slave for another local family, a man named Donato. She was “lent” to Piero’s family to be “caregiver” for one of the notary’s daughters, Maria. Caterina was paid about 18 florins a year, a figure believed to be quite high for victims of slavery because she was “substantially Piero’s sex slave”.

When this Donato died, in 1466, he left the Monastery of San Bartolomeo di Monte Oliveto as a gift, which was portrayed by Leonardo as an adult in the work “Annunciation”. Catherine, on the other hand, probably died in 1495 “in the arms of her son”, the first of her six that she had in her entire life. .

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.