Entertainment
Aidan Turner glad Leonardo da Vinci’s sexuality is addressed in new Amazon series
Aidan Turner has shared his pride in his new Leonardo da Vinci series shedding light on the scholar’s sexuality.
The new show, which will air on Amazon Prime, will lift the lid on the painter and mathematician’s personal life, including the belief that he had male lovers.
The artist, who lived from 1452 to 1519, became a historical figure for his art work, scientific theories, architecture and engineering works, but his sexuality has often been a source of debate.
Speaking on Leonardo: The Official Podcast and companion to the series, Aidan explained: ‘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.
‘You know that there’s something almost tortured in some of it.
‘You can see something else and feel something else, something more visceral about it.’
‘Once you realise that sexuality is such a huge part of any person, you know, to even contemplate not discussing the sexuality of a person is just mind-boggling,’ he said.
‘So I’m glad that’s something that, even from the early drafts of the scripts .. that that was present in our story.’
While many historians believe that da Vinci was celibate, others believe that he was gay, with Florentine courts holding record of him being accused alongside four other men of sodomy in 1476.
However, the case was thrown out due to lack of proof, and no other public historical records exist.
At the time, sodomy carried the punishment of the death penalty.
The new eight-part series takes a deeper look into the life of da Vinci, with each episode focusing on a different painting created by the polymath.
Through the paintings, we are told about the backstory behind it, including what was happening in da Vinci’s life at the time.
Leonardo launches on Amazon Prime Video this Friday.
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