I found da Vinci in the shadows
This is a true story of how at the end of each Saturday yoga class as I lay in Savasana and stare at the ceiling I feel a tug on a little string that ties me to Leonardo da Vinci.
What do you think of?
When you think of Leonardo da Vinci, what comes to mind?
Perhaps a painter? Perhaps an inventor? Perhaps an image of this lil lady, Lisa Gherardini, better known as Mona Lisa.
For me, it’s the details.
Da Vinci was one of humanity’s greatest scientific minds, an insanely curious person and obsessive learner through observation and experimentation.
He went deep on many topics but two that I found most interesting were his dives into the study of water (I stand behind this pun) and bringing to light the intricacies of shadows (I stand behind this one as well).
Here is a water study of his from the early 1500s. More on this study housed by the Royal Collection Trust here.
He also did extensive study into light and shadows which built upon understanding of previous Arabic scholars.
Light is the expeller of darkness. Shadow is the suppression of light.
Observability
This may seem obvious, trite, or both but to me, water seems much more observable than light and shadow.
In my own mind that is due to its physical presence, the fact that it’s inanimate but moves or that it holds the mystic (scientific) property of shape-shifting (phase changes).
We interact with water in a much more tangible and cognitive way than with light and shadow, outside of the generality of it being day and night.
Do you think this is true? Is it all in my head?
Discovering for yourself what you know to be true
I started this post to tell you that each Saturday I feel a little kindred connection with Leonardo da Vinci.
During the last minutes of yoga class our instructor closes the window shades so the room becomes darker. There are soft lights present coming in from multiple angles. The instructor asks us to close our eyes as we lay in Savasana (corpse pose, AKA laying flat on your back being still).
I am mostly obedient in being still but sometimes I find I am more relaxed with my eyes open.
It is in this relaxed state that I stare at the ceiling and observe the shadows cast on the ceiling from the supporting columns in the room. I look at the air vent with its many openings and observe the angles of shadow and light.
When I stare at the point where the column meets the ceiling I see a deeper, darker more defined shadow and when I trace the shadow out further from the object obstructing the source of light, it becomes less dense, less sharp at the edges.
The first time it happened I was surprised by the observation. The second time it happened I realized that I already knew this principle to be true academically, but noticing it first hand in a spontaneous way had a very different impact.
It was in this moment of personal observation of a small detail, of a known concept, that I felt the little string that is thousands of miles long and hundreds of years old tug at me.
I have a newfound understanding that small observations that don’t necessarily seem to warrant our attention are the source of connection that ties me to da Vinci. In these moments I smile.
Primed for Observation
Since this initial observation and sensation I have been thinking more about how and when we are primed to truly appreciate the world around us and how the act of observation is so subjective to the individual.
I think we are primed for a certain level of sensory openness and observation when traveling to a new place as we know each site, sound and smell could be novel.
These experiences I often find allow you to take in the macro, but due to sensory overwhelm or a limited amount of time do not allow you to observe the micro.
There is nothing inherently wrong with macro observation but I often times that the deeper appreciation is in the micro.
Many visitors to art galleries will walk through the halls and observe paintings from a distance, taking in the whole image. I will get as close to the painting as the guards allow me and obsess over the tiny detail often specifically around the tonality of the paint which creates the perception of shape through dark and light.
Parting Thoughts
Is this post actionable? Should it be?
I don’t know. I think what I take from this time of reflection is that I will start to look for more joy in micro observations. To let them continue to be serendipitous but to see if I can intentionally increase my awareness and observation in my daily life and not contain these moments to 5 minutes of Saturday Savasana or visits to the art galleries.
Resources
There were two books I was thinking about while writing this post:
Walter Isaacson’s Biography of Leonardo da Vinci link here . Isaacson is a genius in his own right and provides a wonderful telling of the master’s life.
The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found traces a series of academic texts from antiquity through the Renaissance whose discovery and circulation lead to the Renaissance. It covers the cities and scholars who stewarded these texts throughout time and place and whom without, we would certainly not be living in this version of our modern world!
It’s good to be writing again.
