Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a rare individual in many ways. He was not only a brilliant painter and inventor but also one of the few vegetarians of Renaissance Italy. Leonardo copied out the following rules for hygiene, turned into verse, in one of his notebooks:

If you would be healthy, observe this advice:
Eat only when hungry, and light fare suffice.
Chew all your food well, and this rule always follow:
Well-cooked and simple be all that you swallow.
On leaving the table, a good posture keep,
And after your luncheon do not yield to sleep.
Let little and often be your rule for wine,
But not between meals or when waiting to dine.
Visits to the privy should not be postponed. . . .

Source: Bramly, S. 1991. Leonardo: The Artist and the Man. New York: HarperCollins.

Table of Contents -- 1/4/97