science

Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood

Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood rather than just read about it. In short: Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood (German: Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci) is a 1910 essay by Sigmund Freud about Leonardo da Vinci. It consists of a psychoanalytic study of Leonardo's life based on his paintings.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood (German: Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci) is a 1910 essay by Sigmund Freud about Leonardo da Vinci. It consists of a psychoanalytic study of Leonardo's life based on his paintings.

The vulture fantasy In the Codex Atlanticus Leonardo recounts being attacked as an infant in his crib by a bird. Freud cites the passage as:

It seems that it had been destined before that I should occupy myself so thoroughly with the vulture, for it comes to my mind as a very early memory, when I was still in the cradle, a vulture came down to me, he opened my mouth with his tail and struck me a few times with his tail against my lips. According to Freud, this was a childhood fantasy based on the memory of sucking his mother's nipple. He backed up his claim with the fact that Egyptian hieroglyphs represent the mother as a vulture, because the Egyptians believed that there are no male vultures and that the females of the species are impregnated by the wind. In most representations the vulture-headed maternal deity was formed by the Egyptians in a phallic manner, her body which was distinguished as feminine by its breasts also bore the penis in a state of erection. However, the translation "Geier" (vulture), which Maria Herzfeld had used for "nibbio" in 1904 in the first edition of her book Leonardo da Vinci, der Denker, Forscher und Poet, was not exactly the kite Leonardo da Vinci had meant: a small hawk-like bird of prey, common in the Vinci area, which is occasionally a scavenger. This disappointed Freud because, as he confessed to Lou Andreas-Salomé in a letter of 9 February 1919, he regarded the Leonardo essay as "the only beautiful thing I have ever written". The psychologist Erich Neumann, writing in Art and the Creative Unconscious, attempted to repair the theory by incorporating the kite. Erich Neumann rebutted this essay in the first essay in Art and the Creative Unconscious (1959), Leonardo da Vinci and the Mother Archetype. Neumann disagreed with Freud’s psychoanalytic interpretation of Leonardo’s childhood memory and artistic motivations, which viewed Leonardo’s creativity as the result of repressed sexuality and sublimation. Neumann counter-argued that Leonardo’s themes should be understood through the Jungian framework of archetypes, particularly the Great Mother, and the Great Individual archetypes. Neumann further argued that art serves as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind, playing a crucial role in the development of individual and collective consciousness. The book analyzes the creative process in mythological and artistic traditions, viewing it as a key mechanism for psychological integration.

Interpretation of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

Another theory proposed by Freud attempts to explain Leonardo's fondness of depicting the Virgin Mary with Saint Anne in the picture The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. Leonardo, who was illegitimate, was raised by his blood mother initially before being "adopted" by the wife of his father Ser Piero. The idea of depicting the Mother of God with her own mother was therefore particularly close to Leonardo's heart, because he, in a sense, had 'two mothers' himself. In both versions of the composition (the Louvre painting and the London cartoon) it is hard to discern whether Saint Anne is a full generation older than Mary. Freud also points out that, in the painting, the outline of a vulture can be seen. This is connected to the original fantasy involving the vulture in Leonardo da Vinci's crib.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood

In research: Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1910 essays, Essays by Sigmund Freud, Works about Leonardo da Vinci, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood in simple terms?

Why does Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood.