April 15
 Leonardo da Vinci's Birthday
 
Image:Leonardo self.jpg   Leonardo da Vinci was the prototype of the Renaissance man - a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist and writer. He was the  illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci.and spent his life working in Milan, Rome, Bologna, and Venice, and spent his final years in France at the home given him by King Francis I in whose arms he allegedly died.

Leonardo kept his private life secret. Within his own lifetime his extraordinary powers of invention, his "outstanding physical beauty", "infinite grace", "great strength and generosity", "regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind" as described by the historian Vasari attracted the curiosity of others. Many authors have speculated on various aspects of Leonardo's personality. His sexuality has often been the subject of study, analysis and speculation,. most notably and unfortunately by Sigmund Freud. Freud's ill-conceived psychoanalytical treatise on the relationship of Leonardo da Vinci's sexuality to his art and other expressions of his genius postulated  that Leonardo was impotent - which may be Freud's best example of psychobabble.

Leonardo's chalk self-portrait

We can gain same insight into Leonardo's sexuality fran both his art and his writing. Leonardo basically considered all sex as an act of rape and not of mutual sexual satisfaction. Leonardo further believed that it was man's essential nature to rape and cause pain, while women were essentially forced to suffer the rape with patience and resignation.

In nearly all of Leonardo's major paintings of women there is a certain smile. One can see it in the Mona Lisa, The Lady am the Ermine, and in so many of his madonnas - a smile of resignation of being a woman in a male-dominated society. Leonardo's belief in essential sexuality of the male as rapist is also the primary reason why so many of his male figures are so androgynous when compared to the overtly sexual males of Michelangelo.  Leonardo divorced sexuality from his male subjects to make them safe to love.

Leonardo has been portrayed only in a few films and TV documentaries. Some of the most interesting have been by Patrick Godfrey in Ever After (1998), and Philippe Leroy (as the adult Leonardo) in an impressive three-part documentary The Life Of Leonardo Da Vinci (1972).

The Italians and the French have both created many eponymous culinary tributes to Leonardo although  the majority of them are meat dishes, which are an inappropriate choice since Leonardo was a vegetarian in his later life, occasionally making an exception at court banquets and eating a lit­tle fish. The most authentic of these tributes is Tagliatelle alla Leonardo da Vinci , an historically appropriate choice considering that tagliatelle was created for Lucrezia Borgia, the sister of Cesare Borgia, who offered Leonardo post as his chief military engineer.

Tagliatelle alla Leonardo da Vinci
 
Ingredients
 
3 large tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 lb spinach
8 basil leaves
1 clove minced garlic


 		 1 cloves minced garlic
1lb tagliatelle
1/4 lb butter
1 TB grated lemon zest
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


 
Instructions
 
  1. Heat oven to 350º F. Cut tomatoes in half. Scoop out seeds. Place on a lightly greased baking dish or glass pie plate. Bake tomatoes 10 minutes. Drizzle 1 teaspoon oil  and a dash of salt over each tomato half and return to oven and bake about 15 minutes or until tomatoes are tender. Allow to cool for a minimum of 15 minutes.
  2. Chop baked tomatoes into small pieces and set aside.
  3. Rinse spinach several times to remove grit. Place in a saucepan, cover with water, and cook over medium heat until limp (about 6 - 8 minutes). Drain. Place cooked spinach in a towel am squeeze out excess moisture. Remove and mince basil leaves and add to spinach
  4. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
  5. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a saucepan aver low heat. Cook garlic far 1 minute. .Add minced spinach/basil mixture. Add salt and power am lemon zest. Set aside.
  6. Drain pasta. Add spinach mixture and tomatoes and cheese. Toss and serve immediately.