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A rich portrayal of Leonardo Da Vinci is displayed in Star Trek: Voyager, in the episode “Concerning Flight” (Season 4, Episode 11). How close to life is this? The character seems full of specific details, knowledge, subtle traits of personality and means/modes of reasoning plausibly present in the real historical figure.

General information that I’ve found seems to match the portrayal, and not to contradict it. Although I lack historical background.

Janeway, Leonardo Da Vinci and Tuvok

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    Well, he speaks modern English for starters. I'm reasonably sure that's wrong.
    – Valorum
    May 6, 2017 at 12:20
  • I think that can be adjusted for :) Although it's a good point. Also, this post was off topic on History/SE so I moved it here.
    – alan2here
    May 6, 2017 at 12:31
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    I have doubts (although admittedly no proof) da Vinci was a slider...
    – Jon Clements
    May 6, 2017 at 13:11
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    I figured he was a leftover dwarf...
    – NKCampbell
    May 6, 2017 at 16:29
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    @alan2here + Valorum: Also, John Rhys Davies, who portrays Da Vinci in these episodes of Voyager, was a regular cast member on Sliders, which is likely the joke Mr Clements was making - That "Da Vinci" was really Professor Arturo in disguise.
    – Steve-O
    May 6, 2017 at 18:07

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Well, they left out the part where he was likely gay. Not that it had bearing on the plot. Did they talk about him being a vegetarian?

Also he worked collaboratively A LOT. This whole image of him alone in his studio--for the day, that was just weird. The dude was EXTREMELY social--always at parties, dinner, and social events. He knew everyone, and worked with nearly all the artists of his day. His studio was not some quiet contemplative place. He spent time drawing in the streets, picking up commissions from lords (my favorite is the mechanical lion).

It just weirds me out that his studio has nothing but Captain Janeway there...

We have evidence of this, Benvenuto Cellini wrote the first autobiography. He was an artist, and the account of his own life, and the kind of hustling needed in order to make $$ as a artist and draftsperson is pretty interesting. Cellini, like a lot of other artists writing in his day, mentions DaVinci--and gotta say he gets mentioned a bunch in documents of the day.

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    I seem to recall that he was extremely secretive, moving from place to place, writing his journals in code, etc etc. How does that square with your picture of him as a collaborative worker?
    – Valorum
    May 6, 2017 at 16:20
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    But the fact that he needed to write his journals in code would mean that many people had easy access to them, right?
    – Mr Lister
    May 6, 2017 at 16:46
  • @MrLister - Again, I can only base this on my memories of various documentaries but I believe the consensus of opinion was that he was a paranoid misanthrope who moved regularly in order to confound his creditors and disgruntled customers alike.
    – Valorum
    May 6, 2017 at 20:55
  • I could have reason to change the accepted answer if you post a contradictory answer and it is upvoted more. Seems their is a major mistake either in this answer or its comments.
    – alan2here
    May 7, 2017 at 12:07
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    @alan2here Not that Wikipedia is the be-all-end all, but, the entry covers his friendships, the many pupils he took in, and the collaborations (most notably in mathematics). Notice too that the guy was a celebrity IN HIS LIFE TIME, not some cloistered genius muttering to himself in a lonely studio. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
    – Erin Thursby
    May 22, 2017 at 23:47
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"Secrets of the Dead" The Mona Lisa Mystery

and, Leonardo: The Man Who Saved Science

Leonardo did not 'invent' everything he drew or made, he studied everything and then took the ideas he read about and made them work, and or enhanced them. No one claims he wasn't brilliant.

The STV episodes with Da Vinci were fun -- I love John Rhys Davies as an actor and the character he created was rich and interesting -- but only fairly accurate.

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  • This doesn't answer the question asked in any meaningful way.
    – Valorum
    May 6, 2017 at 16:19
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    This really just disparages Da Vinci and does not address the core of the question regarding the portrayal of Da Vinci,.
    – Giacomo1968
    May 6, 2017 at 16:23
  • @Valorum The question: "How accurate is the portrayal of Leonardo Da Vinci in Star Trek: Voyager?" The answer: "only fairly accurate". And, "Leonardo did not 'invent' everything he drew or made, he studied everything and then took the ideas he read about and made them work, and or enhanced them. No one claims he wasn't brilliant." So I guess we disagree.
    – WRX
    May 6, 2017 at 16:25
  • @JakeGould "I love John Rhys Davies as an actor and the character he created was rich and interesting -- but only fairly accurate." I don't have to post here but IMO, my opinion is as valid as anyone's.
    – WRX
    May 6, 2017 at 16:27
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    @Willow - It answers it, it just doesn't offer any justification for the answer. That's why I've downvoted (not useful) rather than flagging as "not an answer".
    – Valorum
    May 6, 2017 at 16:28

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