Episode list

This first episode examines the first half of Leonardo's life, from his birth near Florence to his famous achievements in the great cities of the Italian Renaissance, Florence and Milan.

The year is 1500. Leonardo da Vinci is 48 years old and has been forced to leave Milan - his home for the past 18 years. He travels east, towards Venice, a city under threat of invasion from the Turkish fleet. Leonardo suggests the Venetians implement his idea for an underwater army - men in scuba gear who will attack from underwater. The Venetians remain unconvinced and never put his ideas to the test. 500 years later we take up Leonardo's designs and, with the aid of diving experts, put them to the test in the Venetian lagoon. Presenter Alan Yentob trails Leonardo in his return to Florence, the city of his youth, following rejection by the Venetians. We find him absorbed in his scientific research, particularly anatomy. He's also seen drawing the famous Virgin and Child with St. Anne. Leaving Florence in 1502 we find him in the company of the notorious Cesare Borgia. Alan visits Imola, a town which Leonardo mapped out for Cesare, creating a unique and prized map of the time. Returning to Florence, we are presented with the rivalry between Leonardo and another emerging artistic great, Michelangelo. Throughout his life we see Leonardo fascinated by the concept of flying and flying machines - his notebooks providing enduring evidence of this preoccupation. But would any of them have worked? Alan travels to Tuscany and watches a glider being built from one of Leonardo's designs before it's put to the test. After initial problems the pilots take their cue from Leonardo's observations of birds - a tail is added and success ensues.

This third programme in the series on Leonardo da Vinci begins by stating that the Mona Lisa is the most famous image in the history of art - but how and why has it become so famous? To answer this, we begin by examining the history of painting. Presenter Alan Yentob, travels to the Loire Valley, France, where in 1516 Leonardo entered the court of King Francis I, bringing the Mona Lisa with him. Alan is amazed to discover that the King kept this priceless painting in his bathroom. We follow the journey of this painting as it passes through the possession of the French Royal Family to Napoleon, for whom it was a favourite, until the revolution in 1789 when it entered the Louvre.