Interview With Author Mario Taddei
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Leonardo da Vinci studio since 1999, many years. And yet, every time I pick up one of its five thousand codes, I always find something new to study and discover. I have written numerous books on Leonardo, with famous publishers who then distributed my books all over the world. The most famous book is about Leonardo’s machines that I made in 2004, I find this book in all bookstores in the world and it makes me very angry. It will seem strange, because usually scholars never deny what they write, but what I wrote in that book I find now obsolete and outdated, the research I did and Leonardo’s machines that I rebuilt in 3D like the automobile, The bridges, the bombards, the flying machine, the helicopter, the boat with poles, the armed wagon etc .. I find them, copied in all the museums of the world. I recognize my studies and my machines because I have always added something and modified Leonardo’s drawings and at times I have discovered things that no scholar had done before. However, all these machines are not exactly Leonardo’s, in fact I later discovered that all these subjects are actually already existing machines that Leonardo copied, studied and tried to improve. I then moved on to study Leonardo da Vinci directly from his writings, thanks to the teachings of Carlo Pedretti, and here I found the great surprise. Leonardo’s real machines and real projects are hidden in thousands of virtually unknown pages. In fact, they are sketchy, unfinished and difficult to interpret drawings. For this reason they have been “abandoned”. In the last hundred years it has been more convenient for museums and for many curators to copy Leonardo’s usual machines without ever delving into the historical truth. My task, my mission and my passion is to rediscover these projects, study them, understand them and also create models from life, as well as on the computer. In recent years I have therefore studied and discovered new Leonardo machines, exhibited all over the world and my work is only at the beginning.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The last book I published is entitled “How to become Leonardo da Vinci”. A strong and ambitious title, I know. Title that also attracts criticism and suspicion. But that hides a real and difficult truth. The inspiration and birth of this book comes from the animated discussions I have often had during some conferences, presentations and meetings with ignorant, snooty and narrow-minded people. I have even had to argue with directors, scholars, former friends and former associates with a mentality that I do not consider worthy of a scholar, a popularizer or a person who deals with culture. They not only thought that it is impossible to become like Leonardo but they denied hope to their own children and students! Unfortunately these people are more busy thinking about money and power rather than the beauty of art and science that must be available to every human being.
But let’s take a step back: I’ve been studying Leonardo da Vinci for over 30 years. I have made exhibitions all over the world, built hundreds of machines and created multimedia software, books and research to introduce the greatest genius and artist of all time to the general public.
In the lessons and in contact with the public, however, I have always happened to meet people convinced that there is only one of Leonardo, and many others, disheartened, wondered how it was possible that such a “great” and unattainable person existed . Not to mention the people with whom I have often quarreled, convinced that Leonardo can only be born and it is not possible to become like him. How much more wrong and dangerous! Wrong because Leonardo’s history and true knowledge will surprise us, only ignorance creates unreachable myths, dangerous because with an attitude of this type we kill in the birth, in our children and in our students, the desire to become the new Leonardo! I have finally published this book which has a revolutionary and powerful message: everyone can become Leonardo, certainly not easy, but it is possible.
In more than a hundred small chapters, written in a simple and understandable way, I searched and found the basic principles that led Leonardo to be what we know.
It will be surprising to find, for example, that there are ugly drawings, that Leonardo had copied some things, made mistakes and his other machines do not work. In short, there are explanations, techniques, principles and real secrets that can help us along the path of knowledge and art.
Becoming Leonardo is possible and what we have to do is not to clip the wings of our children, potential geniuses, who only need encouragement, guidance and help.In this book I try to give my contribution up to the point of art and technology digital contemporary usable as a tool for modern Da VInci.
If only one of the children (aged 6 to 99) who will read this book will understand how to become Leonardo, and will not be afraid to try, I will have contributed to a better future for all of us.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I write books on Leonardo I always let myself be guided by his creative spirit. I have long ago decided to write simply and directly, as if I had to explain things to a guy. For many years I have been following and reading academic research, with heavy, formal and unnecessarily complicated language. I understand, understand and accept the formal academic rules that are now mandatory for the world of professors. But this has distanced them from their primary purpose, scientific and artistic dissemination. Academic books are now full of citations and self-citations between professors without adding any useful information to the topic treated. Serious books on Leonardo therefore become more and more useless and distant from young readers who should be the first to be inspired and guided by science and art. When I write then I also let myself be carried away by continuous discovery: that is a process by which, by treating a topic and analyzing a drawing or a work, infinite new ways of development and study are opened. I know where I’m starting from, but I never plan to arrive. The journey, in art and science, is more beautiful and fascinating than the arrival.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a child I read science and science fiction books. When I started painting then I became passionate about art. I bought art books and therefore also by Leonardo da Vinci. I then realized that reading Leonardo’s books referred to thousands of manuscripts, but I could neither buy nor find them in the library. I then discovered that there were luxurious and very expensive editions of Leonardo’s codices. It was a real injustice for a boy not to be able to access Leonardo’s manuscripts just because the publishers had decided to speculate on such important works. I decided that something had to be done, so year after year I designed and built the virtual Atlantic code of 2004. I proposed to Microsoft and jointly to publish it, but it was not easy to reach the right people. In the end, in collaboration with the Ambrosiana and the magazine Focus, I managed to publish my most impressive work: The virtual Atlantic code, giving everyone the opportunity to virtually leaf through Leonardo’s codes!
What are you working on now?
I continue to study Leonardo’s manuscripts, there are still too many to study. Each of these tells of studies and creations that can inspire artists and scientists even today. I create works of digital art, NFT and work as an architect of the Metaverse (www.neoart3.net) and I am always inspired by nature and the science that Leonardo da Vinci studied. I am creating a series of books, the multimedia Vincentian readings, where I will collect all my studies. At the same time I also work in my laboratory where I build both Leonardo’s Renaissance machines and prototypes and art objects with 3D printers.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For years I have relied on publishers who published my works. I have found bitterly that authors are always mistreated. Apart from the cases of the most famous authors who are courted by publishing houses, but only to make more money certainly not out of sincere admiration for their work, for the rest the publishing houses always seem to want to exploit the authors in a brazen and disrespectful way. I have been publishing books since 2003 and often when I go abroad I find new editions of my books without ever having heard of them from the publisher, let alone receive the compensation. I have continued for many years but things have not improved, even in the last few years I have written successful books on Leonardo without the publisher even making a regular contract. Technology and the internet have now come to the rescue of every author who can even publish with Amazon and use social networks to promote his works. Finally an incredible and powerful freedom. Of course it is not easy since there are hundreds of sites and social networks but slowly it is possible to take advantage of the technology to become known all over the world.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
The new authors must never give up, it is difficult but as Leonardo teaches only perseverance and obstinacy can lead us to the goal. We must inform ourselves, never believe the first editor or the first specialist who seems to be able to help us. However, as I always write in my books on Leonardo, he too had problems and struggled to sell his art, only after a long time did he become famous.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up!
What are you reading now?
I read more and more ancient books on art and science. I have found that all books in the end always tell about things already said and things already written. Going back to the sources it is possible to discover a lot and it is also surprising to discover the errors of scholars who have limited themselves to copying other texts before them!
What’s next for you as a writer?
There is always something new to explore and discover. We must always be curious and open to new points of view.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Ordinary people always think about bringing famous, romantic books or books that they have already read anyway! It’s useless. Let’s face it: you need history, art, technology and science … so you can start a fantastic new journey to create a new civilization on this desert island.
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