Arguably, the world’s two most famous paintings are da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Certainly these images, and those of the Vitruvian Man, are indelibly etched in the collective consciousness of anyone with an interest in art, science or culture. Though born into an age of great possibilities, da Vinci remained, as Sigmund Freud described him, “Like a man who awoke too early in the darkness, while the others were all still asleep.” His restless mind, forever hopping from one project to another,...