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"No official document for the liberation of Caterina exists, but something important must have happened at Vanni's death in 1451," Vezzosi said. The man who would father Leonardo da Vinci did not move into his inherited home right away because Agnola, Vanni's widow, still lived there. It's likely, scholars now believe, that Ser Piero agreed to allow Agnola to remain in the house until she died in exchange for the slave girl Caterina's freedom. Indeed, records show that Agnola hired a new servant after Vanni's death. Meanwhile, no trace exists of the slave girl after 1451; she simply disappeared from documents. According to Cianchi's research, Ser Piero did not move into his inherited house until Agnola's death, but there are no records of other inhabitants in the home. A few months later, on April 15, 1452, Leonardo was born in Vinci. It is known that his mother Caterina married Acchattabriga di Piero del Vaccha da Vinci only a few months after she gave birth. "The hypothesis that it is the same Caterina that lived in Vanni's house is very strong," Vezzosi said. The claim is supported by recent research suggesting the Italian genius was of Arabic descent, following analysis of his fingerprint. "It was common in Renaissance Florence to own slaves from the Middle East and the Balkans. At the time of Leonardo's birth there were more than 550 slaves in Florence, meaning that all the wealthy families had slaves in their houses. The girls were baptized and renamed. The most popular names were Maria, Marta and Caterina," Agnese Sabato said. If little is known about Caterina's life -- except that her husband might have had a temper (the name Acchattabriga means "ready to pick a quarrel" ) -- researchers have been able to draw a much clearer picture about the private life of Ser Piero. "Documents tell us that just after Leonardo's birth, Ser Piero, who was about 26 years old, married a young girl named Albiera Amadori. He then married other three times," Elisabetta Ulivi, author of the book on da Vinci's family tree, said. Ser Piero had at least 16 children -- eight of whom were born in the last 20 years of his life. Da Vinci seemed to have had a difficult relationship with his half-sisters and brothers. "Many of Leonardo's travels to Florence were indeed associated with family issues. He had several fights related to money and inheritance," Vezzosi said. Related Links: The Mirror of The Sacred Scriptures and Paintings Rossella Lorenzi's blog: Archaeorama |
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