Researcher: Da Vinci the Creator of a 500 Year Old Handmade Skull

BlameTheWizards

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Researcher: Da Vinci the Creator of a 500 Year Old Handmade Skull



The artificial skull, found in 1987 in an antique shop, nearly matches an unpublished sketch da Vinci made centuries ago and is made with materials the Renaissance inventor created himself.

When you think of Leonardo da Vinci, you probably conjure up images of the Vitruvian Man, the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper or maybe those flying machines you flew around in Assassin's Creed II. You probably don't imagine the guy hard at work crafting a replica human skull, but evidence indicates that may have been a grim pastime for the famous Renaissance man.

Wired's UK site <a href=http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-06/13/leonardo-da-vinci-skull>reports that a Belgian researcher recently published several findings based on an artificial skull he examined, and there's some compelling evidence to paint it as the work of Leonardo himself. The skull, originally discovered in an antique store by a German couple in 1987, bears a striking similarity to unpublished sketches made by da Vinci and kept at Britain's Royal Collection at Windsor, according to the researcher, one Stefaan Missine. Further, the jawless, hollow skull is created from "mistioni," a special stone mixture created by none other than da Vinci himself and which he used to create other objects such as artificial pearls.

"All roads lead to Leonardo," Missine told Wired. The skull replicates that of a 50-year old male and contains numerous physical deformities, such as a hump above the nose and a bulging forehead. However, it also contains the attention to detail you'd expect from the master crafter, such as optic canals which eye sockets to the brain's cranial cavity. Missine hypothesizes to Wired that the skull could have been part of da Vinci's search for the seat of the soul, or "Sensus Communis."


Source: <a href=http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-06/13/leonardo-da-vinci-skull>Wired

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Adam Jensen_v1legacy

I never asked for this
Sep 8, 2011
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Leonardo da Vinci was such an amazing figure. An incredible artist, engineer and scientist. A rare type of person even by today's standards.
 

Remus

Reprogrammed Spambot
Nov 24, 2012
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I await this discovery to make an appearance in the Starz series. Maybe the skull would be a replica of a soldier that was blown to bits by a repeating pipe organ cannon array. BTW, while sad that this show might be some people's first exposure to the historic figure, it is at least better than, say, an ambidextrous sword-wielding turtle.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
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BlameTheWizards said:
When you think of Leonardo da Vinci, you probably conjure up images of the Vitruvian Man, the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper or maybe those flying machines you flew around in Assassin's Creed II. You probably don't imagine the guy hard at work crafting a replica human skull, but evidence indicates that may have been a grim pastime for the famous Renaissance man.
I dunno. Didn't he work on designs for a tank too? Painter, artisan, designer... Creating a skull sounds like yet another incredible achievement for his time to me.