The Tragedy of a Man Ahead of His Time, Leonardo da Vinci

It’s hard to see things with such clarity, things that are so obvious to you, when you’re the only one who’s can see them. This is a misfortune suffered by the few privileged minds who seem to be born before time reaches their level. This is reflected in the book Leonardo da Vinci or the Tragedy of Imperfection written by the notable Carlos Blanco. The book presents a fierce look at Leonardo da Vinci.

Carlos Blanco introduces us to Leonardo da Vinci, a man who suffered a terrible tragedy, because he was born with the gift of knowing everything within his reach, and much more. This insatiable thirst for knowledge led him to misery, although along the way he was capable of producing some of the most important works in the history of humanity.

Carlos Blanco, author of Leonardo da Vinci or the Tragedy of Imperfection

Before delving completely into the passionate life of Leonardo da Vinci, it would be interesting to know a little more about the author of the book, Carlos Blanco.

Carlos Blanco has a doctorate in theology and philosophy, and he also has a degree in chemistry. He has published a bunch of books, including Marvelous Minds that Changed Humanity in 2007, and Consciousness and Self in 2013.

Blanco feels the constant urge for knowledge, which led him to become an avid reader and researcher. He even belongs to the Spanish Egyptology Association.

Carlos Blanco offers a course through La Mente es Maravillosa (the Spanish version of Exploring Your Mind), which introduces you to the vast, complex ins and outs of the brain’s amazing neuronal networks. It’s called El Poder de la Mente (The Power of the Mind), an incredible voyage into the complex world of your own consciousness. After taking this course nothing will be the same again.

Leonardo da Vinci and the search for perfection

In Blanco’s book, we learn about a da Vinci that is largely unknown to the general public. The author has tried to enter into the mind of the genius, a complicated and arduous feat, to offer a passionate tale about the brilliant philosophical and poetic evolution of the famous Renaissance artist.

It’s unsurprising to find truly joyful passages in the book about the triumphs of da Vinci – an educated man with strong convictions – in contrast with the misfortune of being able to see a horizon that, even today, many people still aren’t capable of perceiving after 400 years of evolution since he was alive.

Blanco unravels the virtues and tragedies of da Vinci in a daring literary game that combines different genres, emulating the artist himself, who was capable of creating true gems in any field, whether it was painting, writing, or even engineering.

However, the search for perfection has vicious gray areas. A man with limitless intelligence and imagination can be inhibited by the boundaries of society and the world in which he lives.

As a man with such a thirst for constant wisdom, how much might he have enjoyed the technology we have today? What heights could he have reached if he had been born a few years from now? How misunderstood would he have been if he had proclaimed his ideas and inventions today?

Leonardo da Vinci, a visionary genius

However, Leonardo da Vinci, despite his the challenges of his genius, never let himself be overpowered by his time or the limitations and restrictions that came with it. With the vast frontiers of engineering, and with limited technology, he was able to design machines that could only see the light thanks to advances that appeared hundreds of years later.

Without a doubt, da Vinci was a genius with a sense of creativity that few people throughout the history of civilization possessed. Only an absolute genius can see beyond the limits of their own time.

Who doesn’t know at least some of the great creations thought up by his brilliant mind? His many works, like “The Last Supper” or the “Mona Lisa,” address theories about the properties of water, the nature of light, the mysteries of the human body, or plate tectonics.

Seeing how much da Vinci could create with the rudimentary technology of the Italian Renaissance, what would his brilliant mind have been capable of if he was born today? He probably would have reversed dozens of scientific theories and brought humanity beyond its borders.

Leonardo da Vinci, a man and his genius

However, Leonardo da Vinci, in the time he was born, was never fulfilled, and he would always suffer the tragedy of frustrated knowledge. As much as you learn, as much as you find the answers to the most complex questions, the reality is that new questions will always appear with no solution in sight.

This is the great tragedy that Carlos Blanco covers in his book. Carlos Blanco has rendered a sincere and affectionate tribute to a man who never conformed, and always sought excellence: Leonardo da Vinci. With every answer he found, he formulated new questions. And that was his great virtue, but also his enormous tragedy.