At the end of 2017, Salvator Mundi, considered the Holy Grail of the art world, was auctioned for $450.3 million, becoming the most expensive work in history.
It’s certainly a great recognition for a child born in the 15th century, the illegitimate son of a notable ambassador from the Republic of Florence and a humble young woman named Caterina. However, paintings weren’t the only contribution Leonardo da Vinci made to the world.
Da Vinci embodies, like no other, the word “Renaissance,” as he was not only an excellent artist but also a prolific inventor who ventured into different fields of science. He was a genius, without a doubt. However, what drove this genius?
Walter Isaacson, who wrote the biography “Leonardo Da Vinci,” believes that this genius stems from the experiences he had throughout his life, motivated by an insatiable curiosity. Da Vinci imagined, questioned, learned, and made ordinary things in extraordinary ways. In fact, he often took things that already existed and tried to take the concept as far as he could. He claimed that “Just as iron rusts from disuse, so inactivity destroys the intellect.”
Of course, we can’t replicate their experiences, but we can apply their method and nurture curiosity as a way to develop creativity and see the world in an original way. How can we achieve this?
Stimulating creativity like Da Vinci
Creativity is not a mysterious gift reserved for a chosen few. Leonardo da Vinci embodied this truth better than anyone: a restless observer, endlessly curious, unwilling to accept boundaries between art, science, and imagination. His genius was not a single stroke of inspiration but a lifelong practice of expanding perception. By embracing his habits of inquiry and wonder, we too can awaken a more fertile and inventive mind – one that sees possibilities where others see limits.
1. Observe like a polymath
If we look through the lens of history and analyze the lives of many great inventors and creators, we will find a common thread that repeats itself quite frequently: many of the most important contributions come from people who stood at the intersection of science and art.
This means that, ultimately, deep specialization isn’t enough; human creativity is needed to bring together different, seemingly unrelated fields and perspectives. Da Vinci is one of the greatest examples of this kind of intersection; he was a polymath.
The most interesting thing about this mindset is that Da Vinci and many other great geniuses never considered that there was a distinction, a great separation between the fields. He simply observed, noted, and contextualized things as he saw fit.
The moment we approach knowledge with preconceived ideas and establish rigid distinctions and boundaries between different fields, we are blocking the path to creativity. The world we observe and live in is one; the sciences are a human division to facilitate their study and understanding. But genius is born when we adopt a multidisciplinary and global mindset.
This means that if we want to see the world as it is and discover its wonders, we should broaden our perspective and free ourselves from that bias. The more we know about different fields, the better we understand the world and the better equipped our minds will be to create something wonderful.
2. Question the mundane and the obvious
We have over 4,000 pages of Da Vinci’s famous notebooks, but it’s thought to be only a quarter of the volume he actually wrote. Even so, they provide incredible insight into the genius, containing records of his time in Florence and Milan, revealing his doubts and insecurities, and offering a glimpse into his relationships with friends and collaborators.
However, what is most interesting from a psychological point of view are the questions he posed in those notes. Not only those dealing with transcendent topics but also those that concern seemingly trivial and inconsequential matters. These questions show that Da Vinci was fascinated by literally anything. In his own words:
“Why does thunder last longer than the person who caused it, and why does lightning immediately become visible to the eye, while thunder takes time to travel? How do the various circles of water form around a stone-struck object, and why does a bird hover in the air? These questions and other strange phenomena have engaged my thinking throughout my life.”
Most of us don’t waste time asking these kinds of questions because they seem irrelevant. However, we forget that even the most obvious or smallest things can hold treasure if we explore them deeply. Very few things are interesting when we limit ourselves to the surface; we have to dig deeper.
Many of these questions did not immediately contribute anything to Da Vinci’s works, but they added to the richness with which the artist and inventor saw the world, and that richness contributed to his creations.
There’s a world of worthwhile things out there, but you must seek them out. Return to simplicity, regain the ability to marvel, and a new door to creativity will open before you. Always remember a quote from the genius: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
3. Experiment with the learner’s mindset
Perfectionism is an increasingly common tendency. However, it’s extremely harmful because it fuels fear and doubt, even paralyzing us. For artists, perfectionism halts production and creation. It prevents them from progressing.
There’s no doubt that Da Vinci also had a perfectionist streak. In fact, he didn’t finish some of the works he started, and spent years on others, although this could also be because he became bored relatively easily once he had conceived the work in his mind.
However, this genius didn’t just want to improve his work; he aspired to improve something more. He approached painting as an experiment in progress, knowing he could always master new techniques. It is known that it took him years to finish the Mona Lisa, and he probably didn’t even consider it complete when he applied the final brushstroke. He made adjustments and applied new methods to the painting.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t finish projects by adding ever-increasing details, but rather that we should embrace life as a continually evolving experiment. Reality isn’t static, and neither should our decisions and productions.
We can improve over time by continually experimenting and incorporating new perspectives and ways of doing things. The learner’s mindset is essential for moving away from monotony and embracing the new. When we become stagnant and cling to a single way of thinking or doing things, we die a little every day.
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