Leonardo da Vinci: and A Memory of His Childhood

Leonardo da Vinci and A Memory of His Childhood is a 1910 essay by Sigmund Freud about Leonardo da Vinci's childhood. It consists of a psychoanalytic study of Leonardo's life based on his paintings.Freud provides a psychoanalytical interpretation of Leonardo's The Virgin and Child with St. Anne. According to Oskar Pfister, the Virgin's garment reveals a vulture when viewed sideways. Freud accepted this interpretation (in spite of the outlines resembling rather a duck than a vulture) as a supportive interpretation of his view of a "passive homosexual" childhood fantasy Leonardo wrote about in the Codex Atlanticus. Here, Leonardo recounts being attacked as an infant in his crib by the tail of a vulture.