Explore the Life, Art and Mind of Leonardo da Vinci in New Documentary
From the Mona Lisa to The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci created some of the greatest masterpieces in art history, and his contributions to science were equally groundbreaking. A 15th century polymath of soaring imagination and profound intellect, explore one of humankind’s most curious and innovative minds in the two-part documentary, Leonardo da Vinci, premiering on Monday, November 18, at 8pm on ThinkTV16, the station livestreams and the PBS app.
A film from Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, Leonardo da Vinci uses Leonardo’s personal archive of paintings, sketches and writings to offer a rare glimpse into his mind and unravel his life story. Set against the rich and dynamic backdrop of Renaissance Italy, the film marks Ken Burns’ first non-American subject.
“Though we follow Leonardo’s personal journey and explore his artistic and scientific accomplishments, we’re also really focused on what went on in his mind and on understanding the depths of his curiosity. ” said David McMahon in the press release. “Leonardo’s thinking was so unique, and in many ways timeless, that our traditional approach alone would have been insufficient.”
The documentary introduces an innovative filmmaking style, incorporating split screens with images, video and sound from different periods. In addition to Leonardo’s notebooks, his extraordinary achievements come to life through primary and secondary accounts of his life and interviews with modern scholars, artists and inventors. The film weaves together an international group of experts who continue to find a connection between his explorations and life today.
“As we set out to explore Leonardo’s life, we realized that while he was very much a man of his time, he was also interested in something more universal,” said Sarah Burns in the press release. “Leonardo was uniquely focused on finding connections throughout nature, something that strikes us as very modern today, but which of course has a long history.”
As the film explores Leonardo’s impact on future generations, it also finds his work to be the foundation for a conversation we are still having today: what is our relationship with nature and what does it mean to be human?
“No single person can speak to our collective effort to understand the world and ourselves,” said Ken Burns in the press release. “But Leonardo had a unique genius for inquiry, aided by his extraordinary skills as an artist and scientist, that helps us better understand the natural world that we are part of and to appreciate more fully what it means to be alive and human.”
Part 1: The Disciple of Experience
Monday, November 18, at 8pm on ThinkTV16
Encore Presentation at 10pm
Part 2: Painter-God
Tuesday, November 19, at 8pm on ThinkTV16
Encore Presentation at 10pm
The two-part series is followed by another special that offers an exclusive look at the creative process of the film. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon reveal the challenges of telling this 500-year-old story for today’s viewers in Behind the Scenes of Leonardo da Vinci with Ken Burns. Tune in on Monday, December 2, at 9:30pm on ThinkTV14 and Wednesday, December 4, at 9:30pm on ThinkTV16. Watch a preview: https://video.thinktv.org/video/leonardo-da-vinci-ken-burns-official-trailer/.
Leonardo da Vinci is also accompanied by educational materials for middle and high school classrooms, available through PBS LearningMedia. Ignite student curiosity and critical thinking with videos, images and other resources created to explore science and engineering, visual arts and what it means to be a “Renaissance Man.” Learn more: https://thinktv.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/kenburnsclassroom/film/leonardo-da-vinci/.
Interested in learning even more about Leonardo da Vinci? We have a few other PBS programs from NOVA, Secrets of the Dead and Rick Steves’ Europe that explore both the art, the mind and even the home of this Renaissance genius, available to watch on the PBS App:
NOVA: Decoding da Vinci
Not only did Leonardo paint masterpieces of art, but he was an obsessive scientist and inventor, dreaming up complex machines centuries ahead of his time, including parachutes, armored tanks, hang gliders and robots. On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, with the help of biographer Walter Isaacson, NOVA investigates the secrets of Leonardo’s success. Watch it now on the PBS App: https://video.thinktv.org/video/decoding-da-vinci-93ssvo/.
Secrets of the Dead: Leonardo, The Man Who Saved Science
Leonardo da Vinci is well known for his inventions as well as his art. But new evidence shows that many of Leonardo’s ideas were realized long before he sketched them out in his notebooks — some even 1,700 years before. Was Leonardo a copycat? Watch it now with ThinkTV Passport: https://video.thinktv.org/video/secrets-dead-leonardo-man-who-saved-science/.
Rick Steves’ Europe: Art of the Renaissance
Around 1400, Europe rediscovered the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome. This rebirth of classical culture showed itself in the statues, paintings, and architecture of Florence, then spread to Spain, Holland, Germany and beyond. The Renaissance—from Leonardo’s iconic Last Supper and enigmatic Monda Lisa to Michelangelo’s sculpture of David and paintings in the Sistine Chapel—celebrated humanism and revolutionized how we think about our world. Watch it now with ThinkTV Passport: https://video.thinktv.org/video/art-of-the-renaissance-78n7a3/.
Rick Steves’ Europe: France’s Loire – Chateau Country
Along the Loire River Valley, the beautiful French countryside is studded with evocative châteaux. Tour Leonardo’s 1471 home, Château of Clos Lucé, along with four legendary Amboise castles: Chenonceau, Chambord, Cheverny and Villandry. Watch it now with ThinkTV Passport: https://video.thinktv.org/video/rick-steves-europe-frances-loire-chateau-country/.
