Painter, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect

One of the most famous examples of the interconnection between art and science is the work of Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci.

While his Mona Lisa is probably the most famous portrait ever painted, Da Vinci’s scientific drawings, recently on exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science, are smaller in scale and intricately detailed and annotated. They demonstrate that he was no less skilled as an inventor and researcher. 

In 2001, it was proven that Da Vinci was a brilliant bridge engineer when artist Vebjorn Sand built the da Vinci-Broen bridge in Norway using the artist’s never-realized plans for a bridge meant to stretch across the Golden Horn in Istanbul. 

The plan for the bridge was rejected by the Ottoman Sultan, who commissioned it, stating it as an architectural impossibility, and today, the bridge was built 499 years after da Vinci designed it, proving the Sultan wrong.

In 2001, it was proven that Da Vinci was a brilliant bridge engineer when artist Vebjorn Sand built the da Vinci-Broen bridge in Norway using the artist’s never-realized plans for a bridge meant to stretch across the Golden Horn in Istanbul. 

The plan for the bridge was rejected by the Ottoman Sultan, who commissioned it, stating it as an architectural impossibility, and today, the bridge was built 499 years after da Vinci designed it, proving the Sultan wrong.

While da Vinci conducted his experiments and studies, other artists were keen to observe and document a rapidly evolving body of scientific knowledge. For instance, Rembrandt’s painting The Anatomy Lesson depicts a scientist with a partially dissected corpse and a crowd of interested spectators eager to understand the workings of the human body. 

Among the most compelling examples of the artist as a recorder of scientific progress are the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby, who worked at the close of the 18th century and was part of a small circle of intellectuals known as the Lunar Society (so-called because they met on the night of the full moon, so their horses could see the way home).

His ideas were so different and practical as an artist because of his knowledge of science, which he used to construct and create his structures and paintings.