The year is 1500. Leonardo da Vinci is 48 years old and has been forced to leave Milan - his home for the past 18 years. He travels east, towards Venice, a city under threat of invasion from the Turkish fleet. Leonardo suggests the Venetians implement his idea for an underwater army - men in scuba gear who will attack from underwater. The Venetians remain unconvinced and never put his ideas to the test. 500 years later we take up Leonardo’s designs and, with the aid of diving experts, put them to the test in the Venetian lagoon. They work!

Presenter Alan Yentob trails Leonardo in his return to Florence, the city of his youth, following rejection by the Venetians. We find him absorbed in his scientific research, particularly anatomy. He's also seen drawing the famous Virgin and Child with St. Anne.

Leaving Florence in 1502 we find him in the company of the notorious Cesare Borgia. Alan visits Imola, a town which Leonardo mapped out for Cesare, creating a unique and prized map of the time. Returning to Florence, we are presented with the rivalry between Leonardo and another emerging artistic great, Michelangelo.

Throughout his life we see Leonardo fascinated by the concept of flying and flying machines - his notebooks providing enduring evidence of this preoccupation. But would any of them have worked? Alan travels to Tuscany and watches a glider being built from one of Leonardo's designs before it's put to the test. After initial problems the pilots take their cue from Leonardo’s observations of birds - a tail is added and success ensues.

Towards the end of his life we follow Leonardo as he travels to the Vatican, where he continues his remarkable investigations into anatomy. Incurring the wrath of the Pope, being accused of necromancy, he leaves the Vatican in shame. Before his leaving however, there is time to bring one of Leonardo’s dreams to life. He made numerous sketches of robots - or automated human figures. Alan is amazed to discover that the designs actually work, and a full scale robot can be built from his remaining sketches.

We leave Leonardo, as he travels north to France under the patronage of King Francis I. But he doesn’t continue on his travels alone, he takes with him the Mona Lisa.

Content last updated: 20/04/2003