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*The Life of Leonardo da Vinci*
The Life of Leonardo da Vinci
	Italian 1977 poster
Genre	Historical drama
Created by	Renato Castellani
Starring	Philippe Leroy
Narrated by	Giulio Bosetti (and onscreen presenter)
Theme music composer	Roman Vlad
Country of origin	Italy; Spain; France
Original language	Italian
Production
Running time	270 min (five 54-minute episodes)
Production companies	RAI; Televisión Española; ORTF; Istituto Luce
Original release
Release	24 October 1971 (Italy)
Release	2 May 1974 (France)

La Vita di Leonardo Da Vinci — in English, The Life of Leonardo da Vinci — is a 1971 Italian biographical drama miniseries created by Renato Castellani. The series is based largely on the biography of Leonardo elaborated by Giorgio Vasari in his Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori, dramatizing the life of the Italian Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), starred by Philippe Leroy. It features a number of famous historical figures from the 15th and 16th centuries have been presented in the series.

in 1972, The Life of Leonardo da Vinci became the first wholly non-English language series to win a Golden Globe and be nominated for one of the three Outstanding Series categories; the latter still the only series to be nominated this feat until Squid Game in 2022, which was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series.^[1]

Synopsis

Each episode tells a part of the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci, from his birth to his death in France in the arms of King Francis I. The particularity of the series is to stage the narrator in the 20th century who moves through the places of the story, and compares the events of the artist's life with the sources of the time.

Cast

Philippe Leroy as Leonardo da Vinci
Riad Gholmie as Francis I of France
Giampiero Albertini as Ludovico Sforza
Renzo Rossi as Sandro Botticelli
Bruno Cirino as Michelangelo
Marta Fischer as Isabella of Aragon
Enrico Osterman as Niccolò Machiavelli
Mario Molli as Andrea del Verrocchio
Carlo Simoni as Francesco Melzi
Bianca Toccafondi as Isabella d'Este
Bruno Piergentili as Salaì (Gian Giacomo Caprotti)

Production

The miniseries was written and directed by Renato Castellani, produced by RAI, Televisión Española, ORTF and Istituto Luce, and Castellani wrote the screenplay. It was filmed entirely on location in Italy and France. The total runtime of the five episodes is nearly five hours.

The final credits feature Ornella Vanoni singing Leonardo's famous aphorism, the musical basis for which was created by the Romanian composer Roman Vlad. The piece was recorded under the title "La canzone di Leonardo".

Release

In Italy, the series was broadcast in five episodes from October 24 to November 21, 1971, on Programma Nazionale. It was made in color, even though the Italian government had not yet adopted this technique at the time. Later, the series was distributed in the United States by CBS under English-language dubbing, which aired it from August 13, 1972 to September 10, 1972.^[2] In Quebec, the series was broadcast from September 7, 1973 on Radio-Canada Television, and in France from May 2, 1974 on the second channel of ORTF and rebroadcast in April 1980 on the first channel.

Color broadcasts in Italy officially began only in 1977: for the occasion, the series was re-broadcast to allow the public to see it in color.

Dubbing error

In the English-dubbed narration, Ludovico Sforza's Milan is said to have fallen in 1499 to the French King Louis VII (reigned 1137–1180). The reference should be to Louis XII (reigned 1498–1515).

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1973	Golden Globe Awards	Best Television Special		Won	^[3]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Drama/Comedy – Limited Episodes	RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana	Nominated	^[4]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Drama/Comedy – Limited Episodes)	Philippe Leroy	Nominated	^[5]