Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. He invented prototypes of the submarine, the diving mask and snorkel, the airplane, the parachute, the tank and the hydraulic screw. What he did not invent, as the opening segment of CBS's five-part Life of Leonardo da Vinci amply illustrated this week, was a way of having his own story told well.
In Leonardo's case, of course, the problems are colossal. The artist was a universal genius. He was also literally a secretive bastard, who invented a way of writing (right to left and upside down) to protect his plans and musings from prying eyes....
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