Leonardo da Vinci's Mother: A Slave from the Caucasus

New research by Italian historian Carlo Vecce claims that Leonardo da Vinci's mother was stolen from present-day Russia and enslaved, and was freed from slavery by da Vinci's father, who was himself a well-known trader of enslaved people. The humble origins of the mother of the great renaissance artist have long been contested by scholars and art historians. The newly discovered document shows that Caterina was officially freed from slavery seven months later, in November 1452.