Da Vinci's Big Idea
The Microcosm and the Macrocosm
The iconic Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci was more than one of history’s greatest artists. He was also a medical researcher, an inventor, and an engineer.
For Leonardo, though, these streams of thought weren’t separate from one another. They were linked by a key idea — an idea that shaped his life’s work, and still has the power to change the way you see the world.
Read on to learn what Leonardo Da Vinci’s foundational idea was, and how you can still live it out today…
You’ve seen Leonardo’s iconic Vitruvian Man before, but do you truly understand what it means?
This Saturday, we explain how a simple notebook sketch attempted the impossible: to understand Man’s place in the universe.
Join the premium list to read it — and get extra Saturday content from us every week: deep-dives, exclusive interviews and our best writing…
The Cosmos and The Creature
While experimenting on and dissecting the human body, Da Vinci noticed that its patterns reflected something else: the natural world. The branching patterns of blood vessels, for example, reminded him of tributaries flowing into rivers. When he discovered atherosclerotic veins in the body of an old man, he compared them to the dried-up remnants of an old orange.
But then Da Vinci went far beyond obvious comparisons. He brought his analytic mind to bear on his observations, comparing the size of different parts of branching systems — like tree branches and blood vessels — and comparing their angles.
These observations led Da Vinci to a belief that pervaded every aspect of his work — that human beings are not merely part of the cosmos, but a miniature representation of it.
Human bodies, Leonardo theorized, are a microcosm of the created world, and the world is a vast reflection of the human body.
Analogy and Art
The “macrocosm-microcosm analogy” drove Da Vinci’s scientific inquiry. He used it as a framework to study both the human body and the natural world.
But this concept was far more than a tool for elucidating medical insights. In fact, it would soon become the defining idea of the Renaissance.
Humanism, which formed the philosophical core of the Renaissance, saw and celebrated human potential. Seeing human beings as a microcosm of the cosmos was a natural fit with this philosophy. If human beings were not just one creature among many, but a miniature instantiation of the glory of the cosmos, then human life contained even more potential for greatness and achievement.
This analogy shaped Da Vinci’s approach to art. The idea that a human being represents all of creation drove him to study the body with burning curiosity. His relentless inquiry into human physiology, especially muscular anatomy, yielded stunningly lifelike images in his paintings and portraits.
Da Vinci also wove the relationship between humans and the natural world into his paintings symbolically. In paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Virgin of the Rocks, bodies of water flow in and around his subjects. By placing these portraits in such close proximity to the natural world, Da Vinci draws on the symbolism of nature and connects them to the cosmos.
Modernity, Machines, and Meaning
Da Vinci was a man on the cusp of modernity. It’s no surprise that he turned a scientific, almost mechanistic lens on the human body, seeking to understand how the technology of the body worked.
Yet this quintessential Renaissance man didn’t limit himself to a technological perspective, nor even to a medical or artistic one.
Rather, Da Vinci brought all these perspectives together into a unified whole. His integrated way of viewing the world, so lacking in our fragmented modern age, provides something that the modern world can’t — a fulfilling place for humanity in the cosmos.
The microcosm-macrocosm analogy isn’t just interesting from a scientific perspective. More importantly, it provides a meaningful connection between humanity and the world we find ourselves in.
It was this connection that inspired the incredible flourishing, beauty, and advancement that came out of the Renaissance. And who knows? Perhaps a new kind of renaissance is in store for those who rediscover it…
This Saturday, we break down Leonardo’s iconic Vitruvian Man. How a simple notebook sketch attempted the impossible: to explain Man’s place in the universe…
Join the premium list to read it — and get extra content from us every week: deep-dives, exclusive interviews and our best writing.
Art of the Week
One of Da Vinci’s most well-known works is also one of his most mysterious. On a technical level, the lady’s face and hands reflect the artist’s detailed knowledge of physiology — knowledge which is leveraged here to convey a sense of movement as the woman strokes the ermine.
Yet this painting also represents an aspect of Da Vinci’s works that goes beyond technique. Like the Mona Lisa, the portrait conveys a haunting, ethereal aura. The woman’s expression seems straightforward at first glance, yet it draws the viewer in for a second look and hints at a more subtle meaning.
The painting itself is a mystery revealed. The woman is Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Da Vinci’s longtime patron of Duke Ludovico Sforza. Originally, she was the sole subject of the painting — recent research shows that the ermine was added in afterwards.
Duke Sforza was known as “the white ermine,” and the animal’s symbolic inclusion might have been requested by the couple as their relationship became more public over time. It could also allude to Cecilia’s last name, as the Ancient Greek word for “ermine” was galê.
Or, it might simply be testament to the restless creativity of an artist who never ceased to find new ways to enhance his creations…
The Microcosm/Macrocosm is not unique to DaVinci. It was prevalent throughout the Middle Ages, and is also deeply seated in Chinese philosophy (that's what the Yin-Yang is communicating).
he was ahead of his time