Leonardo da Vinci: A Memory of Childhood

Author: Li Xuetao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: However, no matter what the actual circumstances of Leonardo's life were, we cannot give up our efforts to psychoanalyze him until we achieve success in other areas. We must define the scope of psychoanalysis in biographies as a whole; otherwise, any phenomenon that remains unexplained will be seen as a failure. The data for psychoanalysis comes from a person's life experiences: on one hand, the accidental factors of events and the influence of the environment, and on the other hand, the individual's reactions after being reported. Based on an understanding of psychological mechanisms, we actively study an individual's nature, discover their original psychological motivations, and explore their subsequent transformation and development. If we achieve this and take into account the character and fate of this individual, as well as the interplay of internal and external forces, then we can explain their way of life. If this still does not yield any definitive results—as may be the case with Leonardo—then the responsibility does not lie with the errors or imperfect methods of psychoanalysis, but with the inaccuracy and incompleteness of the available materials about this individual. Therefore, it is the biographers who are to blame for forcing psychoanalysis to make such judgments based on such insufficient material. However, even if we have very rich historical data and are certain in our application of psychological mechanisms—two crucial points in psychoanalysis—psychoanalytic research cannot fully explain why a person necessarily becomes who they are rather than someone else. In the case of Leonardo, we are forced to adopt the view that theness of his illegitimate birth and his mother's excessive tenderness had a decisive influence on the formation of his character and his later fate: the sexual repression that emerged after childhood led him to sublimate his libido into a desire for knowledge, and as a result, his sexual life remained stagnant for the rest of his life. But it is not the case that sexual satisfaction in childhood always leads to such repression. In other individuals, this repression may not occur at all, or it may only manifest to a very small degree. We must acknowledge that there is a degree of freedom that psychoanalytic methods cannot resolve. Similarly, one cannot view the outcome of this repression as the only possible result. Perhaps another person did not successfully sublimate their repressed libido into a desire for knowledge. He was subjected to the same influences as Leonardo but had to endure permanent intellectual defects and an inescapable tendency toward obsessive-compulsive psychoses. Psychoanalytic methods cannot explain two of Leonardo's characteristics: his extremely unique tendency toward repressive sexuality and his remarkable ability to sublimate primal desires. The transformation of libido and its sublimation are the last issues that psychoanalysis can address. Subsequent questions are left to biological research to complete. We must seek the causes of repressive tendencies and sublimation abilities in the physiological basis of personality formation, because psychological structures arise later from physiological structures. Since artistic talent and ability are closely related to sublimation, we must also acknowledge that the essence of artistic achievement remains a mystery to us, as well.