Bronze statue of Donatello's "David"

While everyone seems to have extremely strong opinions about the man, no one - biographer or historian - has conclusive evidence about whether Leonardo was straight, gay, bi-sexual or asexual. My best guess is that his sexual preferences changed according to his age, his social setting, and the emotional and political pressures brought to bear upon him.

Probable self-portrait of Leonardo from Adoration of the Magi

As a young apprentice in Andrea Verrocchio's bottega, Leonardo was surrounded by lots of "pretty boys" who had little or no money to spend on whores, so homosexual behavior was perhaps more a necessity than a choice. When Leonardo was nineteen, he and three other Florentine youths (two of whom were relatives of the Medici) were arrested by the church's vice squad - the Officers of Night - on a charge of "sodomy." In those days, sodomites could be burned at the stake. But the infamous trial that ensued proved nothing, and charges were later dropped.

Once he was a bit older, there was every reason to think Leonardo visited female, as well as male prostitutes. It seems clear that the sodomy trial had an effect on the budding artist's sexuality - putting him off it for a time. The scandal seemed to traumatize this exquisitely sensitive young man. Once an outgoing, fancily clad man-about-town, he became quite reclusive and solitary.