Leonardo da Vinci Quotes by Walter Isaacson

The Annunciation shows Leonardo, still in his early twenties, experimenting with light, perspective, and narratives involving human reactions. In the process, he made some mistakes. But even the mistakes, which came from innovating and experimenting, heralded his genius.

That, in a nutshell, was Leonardo’s signature talent: the ability to convey, by marrying observation with imagination, “not only the works of nature but also infinite things that nature never created.” Leonardo believed in basing knowledge on experience, but he also indulged his love of fantasy. He relished the wonders that can be seen by the eye b