500th Anniversary of the Year of Flight

500th Anniversary of Leonardo’s
Study of the Flight of Birds (1505)

Leonardo illustrated the most accurate study of birds in flight until the development of the camera. This led to the design and model of Leonardo’s famous glider. As a result, NASA has designated Leonardo Da Vinci to be the Father of Aviation.

The Da Vinci Man combines Leonardo’s two greatest passions: the squaring of the circle and the flight of man. With the Da Vinci Man, Leonardo gives wings to all humanity (see chapter 30). The squaring of the circle indicates how each human rises from materiality (arms outstretched) to spiritual grace (arms uplifted, creating wings). Are we really human angels in disguise? Is this Leonardo’s greatest secret?

“The outstretched arms and legs of a man form a square and a circle: the square symbolizes the solid physical world and the circle the spiritual and eternal. [Cosmic] Man bridges the gap between these two worlds.”