Post Description

This film follows Leonardo da Vinci from his illegitimate birth to the 
unveiling of his masterpiece The Last Supper in Milan in 1497.

BBC Leonardo 1 of 3 The Man Who Wanted To Know Everything

Learning his craft at the heart of the Renaissance movement in Florence, 
Leonardo survives arrest to win the patronage of the powerful tyrant Ludivico 
Sforza, Duke of Milan. While working for Sforza, he paints Madonna of the 
Rocks, works out why the sky is blue and becomes the first person to properly 
dissect a human body. He also becomes a practical engineer. The programme 
builds and tries out two designs from that period - an armoured war vehicle and 
a parachute.

BBC Leonardo 2 of 3 Dangerous Liaisons 

Dramatised reconstruction of the life of Leonardo da Vinci. Following 
Leonardo's journey from Milan to Venice in 1500, where he proposes to the Doges 
a novel form of warfare, a crack team of underwater divers to help sink the 
invading Turkish fleet. Would such a thing have been possible in the 16th 
century? 

Spurned by the Venetians, Leonardo designs war machines for the bloodthirsty 
tyrant Cesare Borgia before returning to Florence, where his lifelong obsession 
with flight culminates in the design of a flying machine, which we build and 
test. But it is in Florence, while painting the Mona Lisa, that he becomes 
locked in a bitter rivalry with the sculptor Michelangelo, which will end in 
his undoing.

BBC Leonardo 3 of 3 The Secret Life Of The Mona Lisa

She has her own bodyguards and lives in Paris in a humidified, air-conditioned 
box protected by triplex bullet proof glass. Despite this she is visited by six 
million tourists every year. She is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Alan Yentob 
tells the story of how the Mona Lisa came to be the most famous work of art in 
the world. It's a tale full of notoriety, glamour and intrigue as the Mona Lisa 
is abducted, vandalised and exploited across the centuries. 

With the help of leading scholars and original research Alan also finally 
solves the central mystery of the Mona Lisa - who she is and why she's smiling.