Aidan Turner: I am glad Leonardo da Vinci’s sexuality is reflected in new series
Aidan Turner (Ian West/PA)
Aidan Turner has said he is “glad” that a new historical drama about Leonardo da Vinci will reflect the artist’s sexuality.
The TV series Leonardo stars the Poldark actor as the Renaissance polymath, who is depicted in the Amazon Prime production as having male lovers.
Some historians have argued that da Vinci was gay.
Aidan Turner as Leonardo da Vinci (Lux Vide/PA)
Turner told Leonardo: The Official Podcast: “It’s such a huge part of who he was and his motivation for doing so much and for feeling … I mean, you’re right, you’re looking at his paintings slightly differently.
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?
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Leonardo – how to watch Poldark star Aidan Turner s new da Vinci drama
All eight episodes are out now. 16/04/2021
Poldark star Aidan Turner is returning to our screens as the iconic artist Leonardo da Vinci in Amazon Prime Video s new drama
Set in the late 1400s with beautiful backdrops of Italy,
Leonardo will recount the artist s extraordinary life through the stories behind some of his most famous works, and ultimately uncover some of the mystery behind da Vinci while showing his personal struggles.
The series is presented as a murder-mystery with the renowned genius being suspected of murdering his close friend and muse Caterina da Cremona (played by
Leonardo, which depicts world-famous painter da Vinci as queer, is premiering on Amazon Prime Video this month.
The eight-part series, which stars
Poldark heartthrob Aidan Turner as the renaissance artist, is streaming on Prime Video from Friday, 16 April.
It will tell the story of the 15th-century Italian artist’s career, his personal life including his relationships with other men, as well as his relationship with his father and his muse Caterina da Cremona. In one scene, da Vinci makes out with a younger male model, before the camera cuts away to the authorities, who are tipped off about the passionate clinch.
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