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Leonardo da Vinci was a Human scientist and artist in Florence, a city in northern Italy on Earth. Flint the immortal claimed that Leonardo was one of his identities. (TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah")

Living in the 15th and 16th centuries, he was considered a Renaissance man. Vasari thought he was an angel, but Freud thought he had a problem with his mother. His works included such paintings as "The Last Supper" and the "Mona Lisa".

A holographic simulation of Leonardo was among the historical personality profiles studied by The Doctor, in 2373, during his attempt to expand his personality subroutines. By 2377, The Doctor was declaring himself an expert on da Vinci among other Alpha Quadrant artists. (VOY: "Darkling", "Flesh and Blood")

Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager enjoyed visiting the holographic Leonardo on the holodeck. (VOY: "Scorpion", "The Raven", "Scientific Method", "Concerning Flight", "The Omega Directive") On the holodeck of the USS Cerritos, Ensigns D'Vana Tendi, Sam Rutherford and Beckett Mariner shot skeet with a similar holographic simulation of da Vinci. (LD: "Crisis Point")

In her later years as captain of the USS Voyager, Janeway kept a copy of Leonardo's famous self-portrait in red chalk in her ready room. (VOY: "Virtuoso", "The Haunting of Deck Twelve", "Unimatrix Zero", "Endgame")

According to Captain Janeway, James T. Kirk claimed to have met da Vinci, although the evidence was less than conclusive. (VOY: "Concerning Flight")

This apparent reference to Flint implies that Kirk disregarded Flint's request never to tell the Federation about his existence.

Apparently named after him were the Class F shuttlecraft da Vinci, and Da Vinci Falls on Blue Horizon. (TOS-R: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"; DS9: "Second Sight")

Works of art by da Vinci[]

Additionally, an excerpt from the Codex Atlanticus showing wings for flight can be seen in the Enterprise opening credits, and his plan of Imola was reused as a plan the Leonardo hologram drew of a city Tau controlled in "Concerning Flight".

Background information[]

da Vinci's actual birth and death years, 1452 and 1519, were noted in the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 176).

Frequently in Star Trek: Voyager and elsewhere, characters such as Captain Janeway refer to Leonardo da Vinci as simply "da Vinci". This is an inaccuracy, because "da Vinci" is not a surname at all; it simply means "of Vinci" or "from Vinci" (Leonardo's home town) and refers only to where Leonardo was from. As Leonardo was never known to have used a surname in the modern sense, only "Leonardo da Vinci" or "Leonardo" are the correct names to use for him.

In an unused story draft that was named Star Trek: Renaissance and was penned during the writing of Star Trek: First Contact, Leonardo da Vinci signed Data on as his apprentice. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed., p. 322)) The revered inventor eventually became friends with Data, a relationship that resulted in Leonardo arriving at one of his great insights, then adding a drawing of the android to his notebooks. (Star Trek: First Contact, hardback ed., p. 255)

Apocrypha[]

In Pocket Books' series of Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers novels, the hero starship, the Saber-class USS da Vinci, was named for Leonardo.

External links[]

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