Scientists from The Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project (LDVP) reports that by analyzing the drawing Holy Child and other Renaissance artifacts, such as letters written by a relative of da Vinci, discovered certain Y chromosome DNA sequences that appear to belong to a genetic group of people with common ancestors from Tuscany, where the genius and Renaissance master was born in 1452. The discoveries were first reported in: Sciencemay be the first time scientists have identified da Vinci’s own DNA.
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Historical artifacts can collect DNA from the environment and potentially provide useful information about the people who created and used them. However, collecting this material on such valuable items without damaging or contaminating them is a convoluted challenge. Today, decisions about the authorship of a work depend on expert opinion – for example, on how the brushstroke was created.
Therefore, LDVP researchers used an extremely gentle swabbing method to collect biological material. They then extracted miniature amounts of DNA, which provided useful information. “We recovered heterogeneous mixtures of inhuman DNA,“ states testpublished in the preprint journal bioRxiv, “and, in a subset of samples, rare male-specific human DNA signals.”
Da Vinci’s tip
Based on the analysis, the researchers concluded that they most closely matched the broad E1b1b lineage on the Y chromosome (sections of which are passed almost unchanged from father to son), which is now commonly found in southern Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is said that some of the DNA may have come from Leonardo da Vinci himself.
“For multiple independent swabs from Leonardo da Vinci-related sites, the obtained Y chromosome marker data suggested assignment within the broader E1b1/E1b1b clade,” the study says. The results also indicate a mixed contribution of DNA related to the source materials, but this is consistent with contemporary methods.
“Collectively, these data demonstrate the feasibility, as well as the limitations, of combining metagenomics and human DNA marker analysis for cultural heritage science,” the paper says, “providing an essential workflow for future conservation science research and hypothesis-driven research on origins, authentication, and procedural history.”
Further investigation
Although the research demonstrated an novel approach, it was admitted that it did not provide conclusive evidence. Although the data suggests that the DNA may belong to da Vinci, arguing that any trace of DNA in the artifacts actually belongs to him is very complicated. “Establishing a clear identity… is extremely complex,” said David Caramelli, an anthropologist at the University of Florence and a member of the LDVP Science.
This is because scientists cannot verify the genetic sequences of the artifacts by comparing them to DNA known to have been taken from Leonardo da Vinci himself; still no confirmed samples. Moreover, da Vinci had no known direct descendants, and his burial site was disturbed in the early 19th century. Encouraged by the first clue about da Vinci’s DNA, LDVP scientists now hope to persuade the custodians of Leonardo’s works and notebooks to allow them to continue collecting samples that could solve the case.
This story originally appeared on WIRED Italy and was translated from Italian.