Leonardo da Vinci

"Ezio! So good to see you! How can I be of service?"

―Leonardo’s greeting to Ezio

Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, botanist and writer in the Italian Renaissance.

He befriends Ezio Auditore early on in the plot of Assassin's Creed II and they remain as such for the remainder of the game. His main role is to decipher codex pages that are found throughout Italy, some of which turn out to be design sketches that he uses to make upgrades to Ezio’s Hidden Blade. He also invented the Flying Machine that Ezio uses when he sets out to assassinate Carlo Grimaldi.

Biography

Early Life

Leonardo's concept art

Leonardo da Vinci was born illegitimately to Messer Piero da Vinci – an Italian notary – and a peasant woman named Caterina in 1452 and was raised in Tuscany. By age 14, he was apprenticed to Verrocchio, the owner of the alleged finest workshop in Florence where he collaborated with the great painter on his ‘’Baptism of Christ’’.

At 20, Leonardo was titled a master by the Guild of Saint Luke and opened his first workshop in Florence where he continued to collaborate with his old master. During his time there, he also befriended the Auditore family.

Florence

Early on in Assassin’s Creed II, Leonardo meets Ezio when he accompanies his mother to pick up some paintings from Leonardo’s workshop. On the way back to the Palazzo Auditore, Leonardo and Ezio converse about his work, which sparks the lifelong friendship between the two.

After the execution of Giovanni, Federico, and Petruccio Auditore, Leonardo meets Ezio again, greeting him with a brotherly embrace. He is then requested to repair the Hidden Blade and is immediately fascinated by its sophisticated design despite its age. After what is apparently several hours of work (as Ezio is shown to have fallen asleep), Leonardo finally finishes the repairs. Just before handing the weapon over, Leonardo claims that Ezio’s ring finger must be removed because “the blade is designed to ensure the commitment of whoever wields it.” It is shown that he was simply joking, however, as the blade had been modified so that the removal of the finger was no longer necessary. Immediately after this, a Florentine guard takes Leonardo into the yard for interrogation, throwing him to the ground and kicking him several times to find out Ezio's whereabouts. Ezio promptly sneaks up behind the guard and assassinates him with his new weapon.

File:Leonardo workshop.jpg

Leonardo looking over designs in his workshop.

Leonardo is not seen again until 1478 when Ezio visits him with another codex page attained from his Uncle Mario. He deciphers the page and, while Ezio practices the new Assassination Techniques, constructs a second hidden blade to be put at his friend’s disposal. This is when Ezio inquires about Francesco de’ Pazzi which prompts Leonardo to discreetly tell him that he needs to seek out La Volpe (“the fox”). After this, Leonardo appears at several instances that are unrelated to the story, since Ezio simply visits him to decipher codex pages in between memories.

After Ezio stops the Pazzi conspiracy, he receives another codex page from Lorenzo de' Medici and again visits Leonardo in order to have it deciphered. He is again astonished by the blade design, as it has been developed to allow the wielder to inject poison into their enemies.

Leonardo meets Ezio again in the Apennine Mountains after the fall of the Pazzi Conspirators. He is faced with the problem of a broken wagon wheel and asks Ezio to lift the carriage, causing him to notice the contraption in the back. This is the first conversation in which Leonardo mentions his Flying Machine. Amused by Leonardo’s idea, Ezio offers to drive, and they set off for Romagna. During the trip, the wagon is attacked by the soldiers of Rodrigo Borgia, threatening their lives all the way through the Mountains. At the end of the trail, Leonardo takes the reins and leaves Ezio to deal with the soldiers. They meet back up at the docks in Romagna where they are scheduled to set sail for Venice after Ezio goes through an ordeal involving Caterina Sforza.

Venice

Upon arrival in Venice, Leonardo and Ezio are given a tour of the city by a baggage handler named Alvise before being led to his new workshop. He and Ezio part ways there with a brotherly embrace.

Ezio again consults Leonardo for his expertise, but this time for something other than decryption. He inquires about Leonardo’s Flying Machine that he learned of on the way to Romagna in order to invade the Palazzo Ducale so that he can rescue the Doge from Templar Carlo Grimaldi. After many test flights, Leonardo deems the machine useless and flies into a fit of rage, but is then inspired by a piece of burnt paper floating from the fire. He concludes that in order for Ezio to reach his destination, they must light a dozen fires across the city which will cause the air to rise, therefore lifting the machine.

After being accused of the murder of the Doge, Ezio comes to Leonardo asking for a Carnevale mask so that he won’t be noticed as the most wanted man in Venice. He also bears another codex page, much to Leonardo’s interest, as he discovers it contains plans for a small firearm that can be concealed on Ezio’s wrist. After testing the Pistol, Leonardo gives Ezio the mask he requested and points him in the direction of Sister Teodora and Antonio so that he may plot to assassinate the new Doge: the Templar Marco Barbarigo.

Leonardo and Ezio meet again briefly outside the workshop, just after Ezio discovers the Templar ship is returning the next day. Leonardo points out several key facts that he discovered piecing together the markings on the backs of the codex pages such as the arrival of a prophet on the day the Piece of Eden is brought to the floating city (Venice).

In the Battle of Forli DLC, Ezio, Mario, and Niccolò Machiavelli visit Leonardo so that he might be able to make sense of the Apple which they have successfully obtained from the Spaniard. To their dismay, he cannot learn any more about it than and, following its accidental activation, it is decided that it should be taken to Forli to be kept out of Templar hands. Mario also asks him to come and stay at the Auditore Family Villa. This marks the last of Leonardo’s major appearances in the game, as he is only seen painting in the Villa, unless asked to decipher codex pages.

Legacy

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A depiction of an elderly Leonardo da Vinci

He later worked in Rome and Bologna and spent his last years in France, at the home awarded him by Francis I. He took his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, with him when he retired to France in 1513. He died May 2, 1519. The exact cause of his death is unknown, but could presumably have been a blood infection, due to him suffering from Gout.

Leonardo is renowned primarily as a painter. Two of his works, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time, their fame approached only by Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings survive, the small number due to his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques and his chronic procrastination. Nevertheless, these few works, together with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams and his thoughts on the nature of painting, are an invaluable contribution to later generations of artists, only rivalled by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo. Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a calculator, the double hull and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or even feasible during his lifetime, but some of his smaller inventions, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded. As a scientist, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, civil engineering, optics and hydrodynamics.

Characteristics and personality

His portrayal in Assassin's Creed II depicts Leonardo da Vinci as a cheerful and optimistic man. Ezio is his best friend, and as such, he treats him like a brother and has taken great risks for trying to protect him, even though he says later in the game that courage is not his strong suit.

Despite being an accomplished and respected artist, as well as deeply curious about the world's wonders, Leonardo da Vinci was also a chronic procrastinator. Most of his commissioned works took years longer than anticipated and many were never even finished. It is possible that this was because he did not feel his work to be important enough to devote his life to, as when he meets Ezio, he complains that it lacks purpose and he wishes to do something which has more impact on the world, such as architecture. Regardless, when Leonardo is intrigued by something, he becomes insatiably curious and often impossible to communicate with, as demonstrated when Ezio brings him Altaïr's codex pages for decryption.

Leonardo was also likely a homosexual. This theory is supported by the fact that in 1476, he was accused of sodomy. It is also speculated that Salai, his assistant for many years, was his lover. His painting St. John the Baptist was one of many paintings in which Salai was the model used, and upon his death in 1519, he left the Mona Lisa to him.

Trivia

thumb|250px|Leonardo da Vinci - Genius Inventor

• All of Leonardo's modifications on previously existing assassin gear are from designs detailed in Altaïr's codex, which only he and Giovanni Auditore can decipher and translate. It is probably from these that Leonardo designed some of his other inventions.
• Like other main characters, Leonardo's appearance does not change throughout the 23 years he is shown in the game, from his first encounter to the decoding of the codex in the villa in 1499.
• Unless it is a codex page or something important to the story, such as the design for two hidden blades, the cut-scene is the same when Ezio visits Leonardo each time (even after Leonardo moves to Venice).
• Interestingly, in author Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, it is suggested that Leonardo da Vinci was the Grand Master of a secret society known as The Priory of Sion, an organization that was allegedly connected with the Knights Templar.
• Historically, Leonardo would later become a close friend and military engineer for Cesare Borgia, son of Rodrigo Borgia.
• When Ezio accidentally activates the Piece of Eden in the Battle of Forlì DLC, it does not seem to affect Leonardo while Niccolo can be seen in pain, possibly hinting that Leonardo is resistant to the Pieces of Eden. This experience may have provided him with the images of his later inventions.
• If those who are resistant to the Pieces of Eden's effects are descendants of Those Who Came Before, that would mean that Leonardo is one as well.
• Ezio uses a wheel-lock firearm, based on a design found in the Codex pages, which historically wasn't developed until just after the time-frame of the game; historically, Leonardo designed some of the first wheel-lock firearms.
• Leonardo had no surname; "da Vinci" means "of Venice," identifying his homeland.