I don’t know about you, but during the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death in 2019 what for me really seemed to be missing was a schlocky TV drama about the great man. Here, finally, our wish has been granted.
Leonardo would seem to follow on from the success of programmes such as
The Borgias and
Medici: Masters of Florence, both of which are also set in 15th-century Italy. However, what something like
Medici had going for it – in the first series at least – was a genuine interest in the political machinations of Renaissance Florence. The same level of interest cannot be found in the world conjured in
Leonardo da Vinci, as played by Aidan Turner in new period drama
Leonardo, is a man out of his time. He imagines the world from above, sees pioneering cinematic compositions on blank walls, designs war machines that will not be fully realised by other minds until centuries later. Yet this Leonardo is also erratic, and hamstrung by his quest for perfection.
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It is true that the painter often delayed and procrastinated, taking years to complete many of his famous works and leaving countless more unfinished. Bringing humanity to the universally accepted fact of Leonardo’s genius is a new drama, written by Frank Spotnitz and Steve Thompson. But how do you create a 21st-century drama that conveys the ground-breaking nature of Leonardo’s work?
Leonardo. Production still courtesy of Amazon Prime.
A TV series about the life and career of Leonardo da Vinci will be the latest period piece to hit Amazon Prime, the streaming service that disappointingly shows
Bosch, which is somehow not about the Dutch Old Master Hieronymus.
Fortunately, there will be no such confusion surrounding
Leonardo although the plot does revolve around the artist becoming a lead suspect in a murder case in Milan, where he famously painted
The Last Supper. Beyond this fictitious framing device, each episode will also feature the creation of one of his masterpieces.
Irish actor Aiden Turner, who played the title character in the BBC series