Leonardo Da Vinci

“But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets…” [Daniel 2:28]

It is nearly impossible to discuss the Renaissance without mentioning Leonardo da Vinci. Few, if any, men have been born whose intellect could match the genius of this Florentine man. Leonardo’s artworks, like the “Mona Lisa,” are remarkable for their harmony, soft light, and sharpness of observation. Not only was Leonardo an outstanding artist, but a universal genius in science, architecture, and engineering. His interests were so broad and numerous that it boggles the mind. He observed everything from the properties of herbs to the movements of the heavens.

A century before Galileo, Leonardo was able to find new fundamental knowledge about timekeeping and to connect it with machines, designing clocks that operated by weights, sand, and water. In the fields of anatomy, botany, zoology, geology, hydrology, aerology, optics, and mechanics, he was far ahead of his time. He designed everything from fortifications, weapons, and engines of war, to beautiful gardens, castles, churches, canals, and multi-tier roads. In fact, he wrote a book on the anatomy of horses. He loved all animals and trained them with great kindness and patience. Often, when passing a market where live birds were sold, he would let them out of their cages and then pay the vendor the price. A vegetarian, Leonardo wrote, “I have from an early age renounced the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.”

Leonardo da Vinci was so brilliant one observer noted that he could write a letter with one hand and draw with the other simultaneously! Many know Leonardo da Vinci invented the scissors, but his other ideas were often far ahead of his time and only realized centuries after his death, such as the tank, the helicopter, and the parachute. In fact, in 1999 some Englishmen built a parachute according to Leonardo’s indications and tried it out: it worked perfectly. Looking back on his drawings and designs it almost seems as if he could see into the future.

This naturally makes us wonder, can a man know the future? Not of his own accord. When Daniel spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar about the God of heaven, he explained how only the Lord “reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:22). Man can know the future, but only through the gifts of God.