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Leonardo da Vinci's genius is unquestionable, but his unique artistic perspective might have been influenced by a vision impairment that caused him to see the world in an unusual way. A new paper suggests that he may have had strabismus, a condition where the eyes are misaligned and fail to focus on the same point. Christopher Tyler, a visual neuroscientist, proposes that this condition could have enhanced the artist’s ability to create lifelike, three-dimensional images on a flat canvas.
Tyler, a professor at City, University of London and an expert in optics and art, conducted a study on several of Leonardo's works. Published in JAMA Ophthalmology, the study analyzed six pieces from Leonardo's time, including Young John the Baptist, Vitruvian Man, and a self-portrait. Tyler also examined artworks by other artists influenced by Leonardo, such as Andrea del Verrocchio’s Young Warrior sculpture. Leonardo worked as Verrocchio’s lead assistant and likely modeled for several of his pieces. Additionally, Tyler looked at Benedetto da Maiano's 1480 sculpture of John the Baptist, which may have also featured Leonardo as the model. Tyler also reviewed the recently auctioned Salvator Mundi, a painting that some experts still question the attribution of to Leonardo, though scientific teams have endorsed its authenticity.
Strabismus causes a person’s eyes to point in different directions. Based on the portraits of Leonardo and other artworks influenced by him, it’s likely that he had intermittent strabismus. When he relaxed his gaze, one of his eyes would drift outward, though he likely had control over aligning them when focusing. The gaze in these portraits and sculptures consistently shows the left eye drifting outward at a similar angle.
Tyler explained in a press release, 'The growing body of evidence suggests that [Leonardo] had intermittent exotropia—where one eye turns outward—allowing him to switch to monocular vision, using only one eye. This condition is quite advantageous for a painter, as viewing the world with one eye enables a direct comparison with the flat image being created. It would have helped him achieve greater accuracy in depicting depth.'
Leonardo isn’t the only renowned artist whose vision has been speculated upon. Some believe that Degas’s later, rougher pastel work may have been due to deteriorating eyesight, as the blurred edges would have appeared smoother to him. Others have posited that Van Gogh’s 'yellow period' and the bold hues of Starry Night could have been influenced by the yellowing of his vision, possibly caused by digitalis, a medication he used for epilepsy.
Although we may never know for sure whether the works of long-deceased artists were shaped by visual impairments or simply by their unique artistic perspective, viewing their creations through a medical lens offers a fresh way to understand their artistic process.
