Leonardo da Vinci had a mild form of squint that left the world flat for him. This is what contributed to a special "transfer" of reality to paper and canvas, according to doctors who published an article in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.
“Many famous artists, from Rembrandt to Picasso, suffered from strabismus, as indicated by their self-portraits and other maps. According to art critics today, squint helped them to paint better, as the work of the “wrong” eye was suppressed, and they saw the world in two dimensions,”says Christopher Tyler from City University London (UK).
Christopher Tyler, examining the painting "Savior of the Earth" by Leonardo da Vinci and the sculpture "David", cast by Andrea del Verrocchio, drew attention to one common feature.
Both Jesus and David, whose role was played by da Vinci himself, looked at the world around them in an unusual way. By examining the position of their eyes and calculating the position of the pupil, the British doctor revealed that the great artist suffered from a mild form of strabismus.
The artist's left eye was calculated to be tilted outward by about 10 degrees compared to the right eye in each of these works. This interfered with his “3D” binocular vision when he was not focusing, and made him squint when looking at distant objects.
This feature of da Vinci's vision, according to Tyler, allowed him to "check" what was written with the outside world, switching between three-dimensional and two-dimensional vision. This can explain the extraordinary "depth" of his work and an excellent sense of perspective, summed up the ophthalmologist.