The Grotesque Side of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci comments in his notebooks that while few are trained in judging portraits, everyone feels entitled to criticise actual people: “whether someone is a hunchback (gobbo), or has one shoulder higher or lower than the other, or too big a mouth or nose, or other defects.” It’s a telling remark, but at first sight some of his most disturbing drawings suggest he shared those prejudices against people who look different.