New TV Series Will Show Leonardo da Vinci as the Gay Man He Was

The mind behind Amazon's The Man in the High Castle is creating a series about Leonardo da Vinci that will portray the genius as a gay man.

High Castle showrunner Frank Spotnitz and writer Steve Thompson (Sherlock) are teaming up for Leonardo, a series being produced by Italy's RAI and Lux Vide, Varietyreports.

"He was a real outsider for those times. He was an illegitimate child, gay, vegetarian and left-handed," RAI head of drama Eleonora Andreatta told Variety. Her words match a description from a recent biography by Walter Isaacson.

Homosexuality played a large role in da Vinci's life; when he was 24, he was arrested on a charge of sodomy, which was eventually dropped. He also had no known romances with women.

Several other artists who have been portrayed as straight were actually queer, such as Michelangelo and Frida Kahlo.

The drama, which will be produced in English, will have eight parts and examine the artist's life through the eyes of "a girl called Caterina, who was one of his models," who "will allow us to get inside his soul and his secrets," Andreatta said .

Each episode will dive into the history behind one of da Vinci's masterpieces, she explained, "but the personal and adventurous aspects of his life prevail over the purely artistic ones."

The creators hope to release the series next year, which is the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death.