A recently discovered note written by his father. Leonardo da VinciPierrot in November 1452 reports that he freed a slave named Caterina.

Carlo Wetze, professor of Italian literature who found the note, claims it was da Vinci’s mother.

The announcement was made around the same time that Veche’s novel Il Sorriso di Caterina (Caterina’s Smile) was published, a fictional account of the life of the great Italian artist’s mother.

Roman Wetze synthesizes several facts agreed by academics and scientists that da Vinci was an illegitimate child of his father and a woman of lower social status, and that his mother’s name was Katerina.

Scientists agree because of yet another discovery, this time by Leonardo da Vinci’s lead researcher Martin Kemp in 2016.

Kemp discovered a 1457 tax return from Leonardo’s grandfather Antonio da Vinci that mentioned members of his family, including Piero’s illegitimate child:born of him and Katerina”. This document allowed Kemp to identify himself as Leonardo’s mother. 15 year old orphanCaterina di Meo Lippi.

These two historical finds – the announcement of Katerina’s release from Pierrot and the tax return – mean that Wetze and Kemp agree on mother’s social background da Vinci, who seems to have played a decisive role in the life of a brilliant artist.

That is, if Leonardo was not an illegitimate child, he could follow in the professional footsteps of his father, who was a notary.

Da Vinci was acknowledged by his father and lived with his grandfather, but since he was an illegitimate child, his education, training and career must have been different. Instead of pursuing a legal career, da Vinci studied with Andrea del Verrocchio, a jeweler and artist. The rest, as they say, is history.

Slavery in Renaissance Europe

Slavery is an integral part of the social structure Renaissance Europe and is widely reflected in legal documents. In fact, many modern scholars have dedicated themselves to better understanding what it meant to be enslaved during the Renaissance and who these slaves were.

This new Wetze document shows how widespread this regime was in Europe at the time. Piero da Vinci, who was wealthy but by no means part of the top economic class at the time, had Fluency not only to “possess” an enslaved woman, but also to free her.

Piero simply followed the social conventions of the time, placing a Circassian slave in his house – Circassian slaves arrived from the northwestern Caucasus and women were famous for their beauty.

Many Circassians were Muslims, and the name Katerina was often given to those who converted to Christianity. Catherine is a reference to Saint Catherine of Alexandriaa Roman who converted to Christianity and became a martyr.

The emancipation of slaves was a social expectation of Christian charity, and often occurred when the “owner” wrote a will, or when the slave “proved” loyalty by his services. How did it turn out? Either with her duration services or – as probably in the case of Katerina – with birth son.

In the case of Katerina, Kemp claims that she was given a small dowry so that she could have a modest wedding. It is more likely that her release followed the birth of Leonardo’s alleged son, although records, at least so far found, provide no further answers.

In addition, Wetze’s article raises questions about the meaning of “slaveryin the context of Renaissance Europe. Slavery, in the most general sense of the term, means the possession of a person not only by his services, but also by his body. A subordinate person like Katerina was considered extremely valuable in Renaissance Europe. The addition of a “slave” to his household staff served Piero da Vinci as a marker of social status. “Belonging” to a Circassian did not indicate that Piero da Vinci had succeeded financially and professionally.

Source: Conversation