The first official key art for Starz’ upcoming series Da Vinci’s Demons was released today.
The series was created by David S. Goyer and “presents a never-before-seen portrayal of one of the most infamous historical figures of all time… Leonardo da Vinci.”
The art, seen below, features da Vinci (played by Tom Riley), “an artist, inventor, swordsman, dreamer and idealist, with one of his famed inventions sketched behind him. Da Vinci’s flying machines have fascinated and inspired people for centuries and are a symbol of his genius and iconoclasm. ”
“Leonardo was a transformational figure—the original Renaissance man and the kind of genius that only emerges every thousand years or so,” said series creator David S. Goyer. “What I like about this image is that it embodies a lot of the show’s themes. It’s aspirational. The triumph of the human spirit over ignorance and repression—the audacity of imagination.”
The press release notes how this show differentiates itself from other versions of Da Vinci’s story. “While the Da Vinci depicted in the history books was renowned for his works of art and inventions that included the calculator, army tank, diving suit, solar power and many more, Da Vinci’s Demon’s depicts a 25-year-old da Vinci on the cusp of greatness, with intellect and talents that are almost superhuman. In the series, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time, tortured by his unsurpassed intellect. He begins to not only see the future, but invent it.”
Goyer co-wrote The Dark Knight trilogy as well as the upcoming Superman film Man of Steel.
Da Vinci’s Demons premieres Friday, April 12 at 10 PM ET/PT on Starz.