Leonardo da Vinci

I suppose that many of us would choose to have known Leonardo da Vinci of all possible historical figures. I count myself most unfortunate, therefore, to have missed the opportunity when I read in the first lines of the June BJGP1 that ‘It’s almost exactly half a century since Leonardo da Vinci made his beautiful drawings of the heart valves’. I would have been 19 at the time, by your reckoning, and would have saved what I could from my student allowance to hasten over to Italy for the privilege of sitting at the feet of the great man. Pity, opportunity missed … sadly.