Was Leonardo DaVinci gay?

Well it is said that he looked a bit gay in his portraits. He was meant to be the person in the famous drawing, THe Virtruvian Man. THey also think that THe Mona Lisa was a self-portrait. Please post some links and responses

Link
When he was twenty-four years old, Leonardo was arrested, along with several young companions, on the charge of sodomy.

No witnesses appeared against them and eventually the charges were dropped

"Yet while no definite proof exists of Leonardo's homosexuality, there are plenty of indications, in his drawings as well as in his writings, that he was attracted to males, and, as Freud puts it, 'doubtful whether he ever embraced a woman with love'." Serge Bramly, Leonardo: Discovering the Life of Leonardo Da Vinci(1991) p. 119

Source

Although allegations of Leonardo da Vinci's homosexuality were never substantiated, rumors continued to circulate among those who analyzed his depiction of young boys in his paintings, his portrayal of an effeminate John in The Last Supper, and the fact that he had several young male proteges and no wife and kids

So I guess there are some people who believe it. To bad there is no real way to ever no before

Great question actually. I have worked in the arts in the past and so I always wondered if this was true.

I did some research and I can't tell you either way. There was good arguments on both sides. He did have some young protege's as understudies and there was one that was very close to him but no proof or suggestion from him as to what was or was not going on. Maybe others can add to this since I am relying on memory right now.

Heres what I founmd on Wikipedia

"Leonardo kept his private life secret. He claimed to have a distaste of physical relations: his comment that "the act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions", was later interpreted by Sigmund Freud, in an analysis of the artist, as indicative of his "frigidity".[4]

In 1476, while still living with Verrocchio, he was accused anonymously of sodomy with a 17 year-old model, Jacopo Saltarelli, a youth already known to the authorities for his sexual escapades with men. After two months of investigation he was acquitted, ostensibly because no witnesses stepped forward though others claim it was due to his father's respected position.[5] For some time afterwards, Leonardo and the others were kept under observation by Florence's Officers of the Night - a Renaissance organization charged with suppressing the practice of sodomy, as shown by surviving legal records of the Podestà and the Officers of the Night.

Leonardo's alleged love of boys was a topic of discussion even in the sixteenth century. In "Il Libro dei Sogni" (The Book of Dreams), a fictional dialogue on l'amore masculino (male love) written by the contemporary art critic and theorist Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Leonardo appears as one of the protagonists and declares, "Know that male love is exclusively the product of virtue which, joining men together with the diverse affections of friendship, makes it so that from a tender age they would enter into the manly one as more stalwart friends." In the dialogue, the interlocutor inquires of Leonardo about his relations with his assistant, il Salaino, "Did you play the game from behind which the Florentines love so much?" Leonardo answers, "And how many times! Keep in mind that he was a beautiful young man, especially at about fifteen."[6]


Leonardo's servant and assistant, Caprotti il Salaino by an anonymous artist (1495)Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno,[7] nicknamed Salai or il Salaino ("The Little Unclean One" i.e., the devil), was described by Vasari as "a graceful and beautiful youth with fine curly hair, in which Leonardo greatly delighted." Il Salaino entered Leonardo's household in 1490 at the age of 10. The relationship was not an easy one. A year later Leonardo made a list of the boy’s misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton." The "Little Devil" had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions, and spent a fortune on apparel, among which were twenty-four pairs of shoes. Nevertheless, il Salaino remained his companion, servant, and assistant for the next thirty years, and Leonardo’s notebooks during their early years contain pictures of a handsome, curly-haired adolescent.

Il Salaino's name also appears (crossed out) on the back of an erotic drawing (ca. 1513) by the artist, The Incarnate Angel, at one time in the collection of Queen Victoria. It is seen as a humorous and revealing take on his major work, St. John the Baptist, (based on Salaino's appearance) also a work and a theme imbued with homoerotic overtones by a number of art critics such as Martin Kemp and James Saslow[8] Another erotic work, found on the verso of a foglio in the Atlantic Codex, depicts il Salaino's behind, towards which march several penises on two legs.[9] Some of Leonardo's other works on erotic topics, his drawings of heterosexual human sexual intercourse, were destroyed by a priest who found them after his death [citation needed].

In 1506, Leonardo met Count Francesco Melzi, the 15 year old son of a Lombard aristocrat. Melzi himself, in a letter, described Leonardo's feelings towards him as a sviscerato et ardentissimo amore ("a deeply passionate and most burning love").[10] Salai eventually accepted Melzi's continued presence and the three undertook journeys throughout Italy. Melzi became Leonardo's pupil and life companion, and

how the hell does someone " look gay " ???????

with respect to the theory that the mona lisa was a self portrait - that , if true indicates that he was effeminate

effeminate and homosexual are not interchangable .

but as he has been dead fo over 500 years , does it matter ?

his artworks and still some of the most important cultural treasures in the world - and will remains so regardless of that ever sexuality he may have practiced .

the " logic " < sic > of ` he looks gay ` ergo ` he is a homosexual ` is frankly ignorant , juvenile idiocy

and the fact that he had several young male proteges

Not at all amazing given that at the time women were not permitted in activities outside the home. Except of course "those other kinds of women."

a fictional dialogue on l'amore masculino

Why is it that people are always ready to base and propigate slanders on fiction?
From this fiction to Dan Browns fiction . Is reading comprehension that lacking a skill?

Who cares if he was gay ?

I look at what he accomplished in his life and the impact he had on future generations and all I think is that he was a great human being.

I can gaze upon the statue of David and admire the form of the male body.
I can also appreciate the sculpture without wanting the subject in a sexual way, and don't care if he was getting some action on the side in the studio while he did the carving.

It really means nothing if he was gay or not, his contribution to our world deserves to be respected.

everyone is gay to a degree.