Decoding da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance genius. Not only did he paint masterpieces of art, but he was an obsessive scientist and inventor, dreaming up complex machines centuries ahead of his time, including parachutes, armored tanks, hang gliders, and robots. On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, with the help of biographer Walter Isaacson, NOVA investigates the secrets of Leonardo’s success.

To master Mona Lisa's form, da Vinci carefully studied the human eye and mouth—and he dissected at least 30 human bodies.

Modern-day anatomy experts find inspiration in drawings from Leonardo da Vinci’s cadaveric dissections. But they also recognize what he got wrong.

An engineer used powerful lights, cameras, and computer software to digitally remove the varnish from the "Mona Lisa," allowing people today to see the painting as Leonardo da Vinci created it.