Controversy about Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mother, Allegedly a Slave and Not Italian

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Carlo Vecce (right) wrote a book about Leonardo Da Vinci’s mother (left). Photo/Daily Mail

JAKARTA – The book The Smile of Caterina caused a stir because it told that Leonardo Da Vinci’s mother, Caterina, turned out to be a slave and not Italian. The book, written by a Renaissance scientist from the University of Naples, Carlo Vecce, said that Caterina was a woman who came from the Caucasus.

CNN mentioned, Carlo Vecce found an important document about Leonardo Da Vinci while writing the book. The document turned out to belong to Leonardo Da Vinci’s father, Ser Piero.

In that document Ser Piero mentioned having freed a slave girl from the Italian businessman, Monna Ginevra. The document also states that the slave is named Caterina and has worked with Monna Ginevra for two years.

It is also stated in the document that Caterina was a slave brought from the Caucus region in Central Asia to be traded to Italy.

“I found documents about a slave named Caterina five years ago and it became an obsession for me,” said Carlo Vecce.

“I then searched and found supporting documents. In the end, I was able to find the most likely proof of the hypothesis. We can’t say for sure, we’re not looking for absolute truth, we’re looking for the ultimate.”

Carlo Vecce plans to continue his research in Moscow, where he believes he can find more documentation of the Italian slave trade and Caterina’s life. However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the research plan to stop.

“The more I progressed, the more sense the story made,” explained Carlo Vecce.