{"id":1034,"date":"2021-07-08T10:27:44","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T02:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/?p=1034"},"modified":"2021-07-08T10:28:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T02:28:25","slug":"new-research-uncovers-leonardo-da-vincis-living-descendants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/uncategorized\/new-research-uncovers-leonardo-da-vincis-living-descendants\/","title":{"rendered":"New Research Uncovers Leonardo Da Vinci\u2019s Living Descendants"},"content":{"rendered":"

After years of research into historical documents, a new family tree for Renaissance master\u00a0Leonardo Da Vinci<\/a>\u00a0has been completed, which revealed the artist to have at least 14 living male descendants. These new findings are likely the final hurdle in beginning the process to sequence the artist\u2019s DNA.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0new paper<\/a>\u2014titled\u00a0\u201cThe New Genealogical Tree of the Da Vinci Family for Leonardo\u2019s DNA. Ancestors and descendants in direct male line down to the present XXI generation\u201d\u2014was published in\u00a0Human Evolution<\/em>\u00a0this week and is\u00a0the result of an historical investigation, begun in 2016, by leading Leonardo expert and art historian Alessandro Vezzosi and historian Agnese Sabato.<\/p>\n

While the research for this paper formally began five years ago, Vezzosi, who grew up in the Italian town of Vinci, started tracing Leonardo\u2019s descendants in 1973. He began collaborating with Sabato in 1993. Over the past several decades, the two have combed through\u00a0690 years of private and public historical documents to create a family history.<\/p>\n

The team was careful to make sure they had the best possible documentation before contacting those they believe to be the living descendants, with whom they are now in contact.<\/p>\n

In an email, Sabato said,\u00a0\u201c[I felt] happy, both for the fruit of so much work and for having made known to these descendants the origin of their family. It was like discovering, piece by piece, the design of a lost ancient mosaic. It was the joy of giving these people back a story that had always been theirs but which they did not know.\u201d<\/p>\n

These possible descendants have themselves become collaborators with the research team, collecting and verifying information and reaching out to other family members. As of now, the research team has collected data on 225 individuals from the family spanning 21 generations, beginning with Michele Leonardo of the 14th century.<\/p>\n

The family tree project constitutes the first phase in \u201cThe Leonardo Da Vinci DNA Project,\u201d an international effort headed by physical anthropologists Brunetto Chiarelli and Henry de Lumley to discover and sequence Leonardo\u2019s DNA. That project kicked off in 2014 after Chiarelli realized, in conversation with some colleagues, that improvements in\u00a0DNA sequencing<\/a>\u00a0and the skills of fellow researchers had advanced enough to make genome sequencing for Leonardo\u2019s DNA possible.<\/p>\n

Jesse Ausubel<\/a>, an environmental scientist, director of the Program for the Human Environment at New York\u2019s Rockefeller University and team member of the Da Vinci DNA Project told\u00a0ARTnews<\/em>\u00a0that there is a lot to learn from Leonardo\u2019s genetics. \u201cIn particular I\u2019m interested in his visual acuity,\u201d Ausubel said. \u201cMost humans can see 40 to 50 frames a second, but if you look at [Leonardo\u2019s] drawing of flying dragonflies and moving water it appears he had exceptional temporal resolution, perhaps seeing at 70 to 80 frames a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

By sequencing his genome, scientists would be able to confirm if this was the case. \u201cBut of course,\u201d Ausubel adds, \u201cIf we want to sequence the genome we first need to be sure about the genetic material we\u2019re using.\u201d<\/p>\n

To accomplish the sequencing, researchers will need to gather genetic material from the artist\u2019s family line. Though the artist never had any children, he did have 22 half brothers on his paternal side. The Da Vinci DNA<\/a> Project will build on the research effort by Vezzosi and Sabato. By tracing the line of male descendants from the past to the present, researchers hope to isolate the Y chromosome in living descendants today. (The Y chromosome can go basically unchanged across 25 generations.)<\/p>\n

Over the next 6 to 12 month, Y chromosomes identified from living descendants will be checked against existing biological materials of Leonardo himself, which will be collected from his notebooks and his tomb. (There are doubts as to whether or not the bones buried there are Leonardo\u2019s.) Genetic materials will also be collected from Leonardo\u2019s father\u2019s tomb in Florence. At this point genetic testing may be possible, allowing us to peer into the mysteries and legends of Leonardo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of research into historical documents, a new family tree for Renaissance master\u00a0Leonardo Da Vinci\u00a0has been completed, which revealed the artist to have at least 14 living male descendants. These new findings are likely the final hurdle in beginning the process to sequence the artist\u2019s DNA. The\u00a0new paper\u2014titled\u00a0\u201cThe New Genealogical Tree of the Da […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"\nNew Research Uncovers Leonardo Da Vinci\u2019s Living Descendants - Investable Art Auctioneer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After years of research into historical documents, a new family tree for Renaissance master\u00a0Leonardo Da Vinci\u00a0has been completed, which revealed the artist to have at least 14 living male descendants.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/uncategorized\/new-research-uncovers-leonardo-da-vincis-living-descendants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Research Uncovers Leonardo Da Vinci\u2019s Living Descendants - 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