"LEONARDO", A NEW SERIES MADE FROM BEAUTY

Leonardo Da Vinci died 500 years ago, a genius who transcended his time and his attentive and curious way of going through life, serves as an example for nowadays life. Focusing on Leonardo’s art and his personal relationships is how Frank Spotnitz ("The X-Files", "Man in the High Castle", "The Medici") and Steve Thompson ("Sherlock", "Doctor Who") began to create and write the series "Leonardo". "Each of Leonardo’s personal relationships was very important because he was very isolated at the beginning of his life and his career and as he warms up and as he engages more in human relationships, his life becomes more important than his art," explained Thompson in an exclusive interview with Señal News.  

“The key of the serie is about Leonardo's life person versus his art because he was somebody who was born as an illegitimate child, who had no proper family really and who lost himself in his work, in his art as a perfectionist", added Spotnitz. "And we noticed that Caterina da Cremona's character became a way of accessing Leonardo as a person, giving the audience insights into this genius." he asserted.

"Frank and Steven had three really simple but efficient dramaturgical ideas, the first one, I think, was the fact that every episode is dedicated to a Leonardo’s masterpiece, because he gives us a huge amount of material through them the second idea was the character of Caterina da Cremona, which was brilliant and the third idea was the modern mystery. They didn't make a simple biopic," commented Luca Bernabei, producer from LUX Vide. 

The ambitious fiction "Leonardo" is produced by Lux Vide and Sony Pictures Television in co-production with Rai Fiction, Big Light Productions, Alfresco Productions, in association with France Télévisions and with RTVE. The series premiered on Rai 1 in Italy and it has got 28.2% reaching almost 7 millions viewers. "The premiere of the series was something really touching for us because we have been working a lot in order to not make something boring. It’s tricky talking about art, talking about Renaissance, and to be fresh and interesting for all the targets of the audience," affirmed Bernabei. "What was interesting to me was that young audiences were watching the show 'Leonardo' and it is so important to me to communicate beauty, because beauty will save the world, and will save us even from covid," he indicated.

EIGHT EPISODES: EIGHT MASTERWORKS
Each episode is dedicated to a Leonardo's masterpiece and considering that the Italian genius made a lot of amazing things during his life, "the criteria was no to choose the most famous pieces of work, the criteria was to choose the masterpieces with the most interesting stories attached to them," pointed out Thompson.

"Leonardo" is starred by the Irland actor Aidan Turner ("Poldark", "The Hobbit"). "We have been seeking for the perfect Leonardo around the world and finally we found Aidan Turner, who is almost a maniac of professionalism, and he is very precise," admitted Bernabei. Giancarlo Giannini ("Family Novel", Catch 22) plays Leonardo's master, Andrea del Verrocchio; Matilda De Angelis ("The Undoing", "The Boys of the Zecchino d’Oro", "Anything Can Happen") is Caterina da Cremona, his mysterious muse and dearest friend; Freddie Highmore ("The Good Doctor", "Bates Motel") is Stefano Giraldi, a young investigator of the Podestà in charge of solving the mystery at the center of the story; Carlos Cuevas ("Merlì") in the role of Salaì, plays Leonardo's apprentice and trusted friend, and James D’Arcy ("Homeland", "Broadchurch") performes as Ludovico Sforza duke of Milan.

"Leonardo" is worldwide distributed by Sony Pictures Television and has been sold to Amazon for the UK and Ireland. "We will soon announce a really big and important partner in North and South America," anticipated Bernabei.

Tacking into account the many Leonardo's masterpieces, it is possible that audiences expect a second season. "We were determined to create a fantastic series that stands out in its zone but if people want more we have a tonne of his life we didn't touch," mentioned Spotnitz. 

A GENIUS OF ALL TIMES
Leonardo Da Vinci relentlessly curious. "He looked into the world and asked all sort of questions and that curiosity means he unlocked many secrets that are fascinating to us now," said Thompson. "That curiosity and those questions are still relevant today." he added.

"Leonardo is a hero for all times because he is a towering genious who was interested in everything but he seems specially moving right now, we are living such a fractured, distress time, nationalism, fake news and people turning against each other, he was a guy who was dedicated to, I think, the best values of Western civilization, which were beauty and truth and for me it is a reminder about what we should all honor and respect, he is the best part of who we are," completed Spotnitz.

By Romina Rodríguez