Leonardo Da Vinci. Pioneer of Fashion and Style reveals the Renaissance genius’s impact on the design industry, beauty, and multidisciplinary innovation
Leonardo da Vinci’s Hidden Role as a Fashion and Beauty Innovator
“Leonardo Da Vinci. Pioneer of Fashion and Style” reveals the Renaissance master’s enduring impact on the design industry, beauty, and multidisciplinary innovation
Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate Renaissance icon, remains celebrated worldwide as an inventor, painter, and visionary artist. Yet his fascination with beauty and cosmetics is a story few know, one that positions him as a true pioneer of style centuries ahead of his time. Exploring ideas that would go on to inspire today’s industry, Leonardo showed how art, science, and aesthetics could merge to create innovation.
This unexpected link between Leonardo da Vinci and the world of beauty was recently uncovered by scholar Maria Pirulli, through research commissioned by Istituto Marangoni for its 90th Anniversary. Her findings reveal a captivating truth: Leonardo didn’t just paint beauty—he invented it.
This topic was explored during the presentation of the essay “Leonardo Da Vinci. Pioneer of Fashion and Style,” which brought together researcher Maria Pirulli and an illustrious panel: Stefania Valenti (Managing Director of Istituto Marangoni), Alessandra Carra (Managing Director of Feltrinelli), Alessandra Gallone (Senator and Advisor to the Ministry of University and Research), and Pietro Cesare Marani (Italian art historian and curator).
The presentation took place at Palazzo Turati, the new home of Istituto Marangoni Milano in Via Meravigli, 7
From lipstick to waxing and even blonde hair dye, the Italian artist brought his formulas to the courts of Milan, establishing himself as a visionary of Italian style. The most refined Italian ladies of the time—Caterina de’ Medici, Lucrezia Borgia, Isabella d’Este— rose as the original muses, shaping a new aesthetic ideal defined by harmony and uniqueness.
Leonardo da Vinci: Master of Multidisciplinary Innovation
The pages of “Leonardo da Vinci. Pioneer of Fashion and Style” reveal how Leonardo laid the foundations for what is now known as the AFAM method—an integrated and multidisciplinary approach in which art, science, and technology merge to create a comprehensive, ever-evolving education. On this point, Senator Alessandra Gallone stressed the importance of training young professionals with a versatile, forward-thinking mindset.
“The concept of multidisciplinarity is fundamental today, particularly in higher artistic education, which owes its origins to the Leonardo da Vinci model—a figure who, beyond being an inventor, engineer, architect, scientist, and scholar, was above all an artist” – Alessandra Gallone, Senator
Senator Gallone observed how Leonardo’s model continues to inspire every field—from education to business—where artistic sensitivity and a sense of responsibility have become the hallmarks of success in today’s ever-changing world.
The new book on Leonardo Da Vinci includes the extensive exploration on beauty and fragrances carried on by Researcher Maria Pirulli
As she explained, “Possessing this forma mentis means being able to shape a new kind of individual, capable of giving life to a new humanism—scientific, technological, artistic, and economic—essential for driving innovation.”
Alessandra Gallone added that this is precisely the spirit Istituto Marangoni seeks to instil in its students, nurturing “a well-made mind rather than a well-filled one,” echoing the words of the influential French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne.
Branding, Governance, and Innovation in Renaissance Milan
Istituto Marangoni’s Stefania Valenti focused on two key themes: first, Leonardo da Vinci’s visionary approach to innovation and his pioneering design process; second, the significant entrepreneurial transformation taking place in Milan at the time.
“The entire book brings us back to the concept of innovation. Innovation, in some way, is born from curiosity, and from the imagination that Leonardo was able to stimulate” – Stefania Valenti, Group Managing Director of Istituto Marangoni
Valenti emphasised that imagination and creativity, supported by technique, practice, and science, lie at the heart of Leonardo’s work, as the book highlights.
As she noted, “For Leonardo, there was no boundary between creativity and idea. Whenever he wished to realise a project, he would even invent the machine and the entire system necessary to bring it to life.”
Stefania Valenti (Managing Director of Istituto Marangoni) and Alessandra Carra (Managing Director of Feltrinelli) during the book presentation at Palazzo Turati
Stefania Valenti also pointed out that, in a sense, Leonardo da Vinci anticipated the concept of branding during the Renaissance, recognising the importance of identifying guilds and artisans through logos—even notarised—and thereby laying the foundations for governance. “All of this, in my view, laid the foundations for what would become the concept of luxury,” stated the Group Managing Director of Istituto Marangoni.
Leonardo da Vinci: Science, Scent, and the “Chair of the Soul”
Leonardo da Vinci’s multidisciplinary approach touches on many aspects, including the world of fragrances. During her presentation, Maria Pirulli recalled how a fil rouge connected all of Leonardo’s research. In this context, a clear correlation emerges between science and scent.
“Throughout his life, Leonardo devoted himself to a wide range of studies, exploring perception and the senses in relation to perfumes” – Maria Pirulli, Researcher and Author of “Leonardo da Vinci. Pioneer of Fashion and Style”
Pirulli then explained that Leonardo studied the auditory and phonatory systems and, at one point, focused on the nerves involved in inhalation, which are connected to the sense of smell.
“According to Leonardo, when one inhales a perfume, an essence, or a ‘refragrance’ (as he called it), the nerves carry the sensation to what he described as the ‘chair of the soul’,” she said. “This poetic and evocative expression refers to the region that contemporary neuroscientists identify as the visceral brain—the archetypal seat where ancestral human memories reside.”
Leonardo da Vinci’s Perfumed Artworks
The discussion also turned to the evocative concept of the ‘scent of beauty’. But what does that really mean? Pietro Marani, a leading scholar of Leonardo, draws on the artist’s masterpieces to reveal how sensory impressions, particularly fragrance, permeate Leonardo’s artistic vision.
“The scent of beauty emanates from Leonardo’s most important works, namely his paintings” – Pietro Marani, Italian Art Historian and Curator
In the preface to “Leonardo Da Vinci. Pioneer of Fashion and Style,” Marani references the portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, where a juniper tree rises behind the subject and juniper and laurel intertwine in the background, both rich in fragrance. He notes that a palm, whose oil was used to produce essences, also contributes to the work’s multi-sensory nature.
Pietro Cesare Marani (Italian art historian and curator) discussing his contribution to Leonardo Da Vinci's book on beauty and fragrances published by Marsilio Editori
According to the art historian, observing Leonardo’s works closely opens a gateway to an extraordinary sensory world. As he put it, “Looking at The Virgin of the Rocks, one can almost perceive the smell, the humidity of the stones, the mist, the cold: one senses the damp Milan that Leonardo manages to evoke.”
Merging Technology and Creativity: Lessons from the Renaissance
Alessandra Carra, Managing Director of Feltrinelli, describes “Leonardo da Vinci. Pioneer of Fashion and Style” as a remarkable volume, “because it places all these studies and analyses within the context of the Milanese courts, allowing readers to gain insight into life at the time, with prominent female figures highlighted throughout the text.”
“What emerges as the ‘culture industry’ is that, with the advancement of technology, fields long relegated to the background—such as the humanities and the arts—are finally coming to the fore. The challenge of the future lies in integrating these disciplines, keeping them interconnected rather than separate, and this is the path we must follow” – Alessandra Carra, Managing Director of Feltrinelli
In other words, technology will keep advancing, but its true value lies in the ability to fuse it with humanistic culture.
Journalist and Beauty Expert Francesca Delogu with the event’s guest speakers at the book presentation in Via Meravigli, 7
Why Leonardo da Vinci Still Inspires Beauty and Innovation
Ultimately, beauty endures as a source of wonder, and the innovations of the Renaissance’s greatest Italian genius continue to reveal culture as an interconnected whole. Art, science, and aesthetics converge, inviting visitors to explore beyond traditional boundaries and fostering curiosity, creativity, and a deeper understanding of the world.