Leonardo da Vinci – the artist , scientist , and prototypal polymath of the Renaissance – may still have descendants living among us . In a new book , researchers from the Leonardo DNA Project have put together the clear view yet of the belated genius ’s family tree diagram and even claimed they have found six of his last phratry relatives through genetical analysis .
by nature , bold claims like these necessitate bold evidence , so it ’s saucy to take these tantalizing assertions with a apprehension of caveat .
The book – Genìa Da Vinci . Genealogy and Genetics for Leonardo ’s DNA – by Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato of the Leonardo da Vinci Heritage Association documents an elaborate fellowship tree of da Vinci trace back nearly 700 years , spanning 21 generation , and involving over 400 individuals .
By turn over deep into historical archive , the researchers were able to rebuild long - drop off outgrowth of Leonardo ’s family tree . In doing so , they identified 15 living male - crease descendants linked to both his father and his half - brother , Domenico Benedetto .
For the next phase , the researchers deform to deoxyribonucleic acid analytic thinking . David Caramelli , who head the Leonardo DNA Project and leads the Biology Department at the University of Florence , team up with forensic anthropologist Elena Pilli to quiz the genetic cloth of six of these men .
Remarkably , all six shared matching segments of the Y chromosome , the marker passed down through the male line of work . This , they say , confirm that the da Vinci male line of descent has remained genetically unplowed for at least 15 generations .
Bear in mind , the body of work is not peer - reviewed research , and the full content of the book have not yet been bring out ( it ’s being revealed to the world at a demonstration on May 22 , 2025 ) .
Confirmed DNA fromLeonardo district attorney Vincihimself has never been identified . The team analyse pearl fragments that were recover from a tomb in the Church of Santa Croce in Vinci , think to contain some of Leonardo ’s relatives , including his gramps Antonio , uncle Francesco , and several half - brothers : Antonio , Pandolfo , and Giovanni . Just one of these specimen has undergo a preliminary genetic analysis , which forms the basis of the new book .
" Further detailed analyses are necessary to learn whether the DNA extracted is sufficiently preserved . Based on the result , we can proceed with analysis of Y chromosome fragments for compare with current descendants , ” Caramelli , who is also President of the University Museum System , said in astatement .
Furthermore , the character identified in the book after da Vinci ’s death are unbelievable to be unmediated descendants of Leonardo himself , as he is not believe to have had any child . Historians and biographers widely speculate that he was homosexual . In 1476 , when Leonardo was 23 years old , court record show he wasaccused of anal intercourse , but the case was force out due to deficient evidence .
While this does n’t whole dominate out the possible action of him make young , it does make it more unconvincing , plus there ’s no save evidence that this is the vitrine . However , we do recognize that Leonardo did have a hell of a lot of half - siblings , including 22 half - brother by some accounting , which allow for some way tosnoop around his family treeand trace whether living relatives are still around today .
Da Vinci conk in 1519 CE , 350 years before DNA started to be discover and over 450 years before the first full deoxyribonucleic acid genome was sequence . Nevertheless , his work shows that he had a swell pastime in biology and the possibleness of heritable traits .
“ Leonardo questioned the origins of human life sentence not only biologically : in his subject field on generation , innovation becomes a complex act where nature , emotion , and fate intertwine – foretell themes now key to the genetics – epigenetics debate , ” explain Sabato .
If he were still around today , it ’s dependable to say he ’d have an pastime in this project .
“ Our end in reconstructing the Da Vinci family ’s lineage up to the present day , while also maintain and treasure the places connected to Leonardo , is to enable scientific research on his deoxyribonucleic acid , ” remarked Vezzosi . “ Through the recovery of Leonardo ’s DNA , we trust to sympathize the biological roots of his sinful visual visual acuity , creativity , and possibly even facial expression of his health and causes of last . ”
