Leonardo

Leonardo is shown as a gay man. The season includes his sodomy case, his feelings for Jacopo, and his bond with Salaì. His need to hide this part of himself shapes his work and his relationship with Caterina. The theme returns across the season, but the show also spends much time on art, rulers, war, and murder.

The show presents period laws and church-linked power as threats to Leonardo's sexuality. The show also gives Caterina an independent voice while men treat women as property or tools. These ideas recur around Leonardo's arrest, workshop, and court life. The story does not use modern activist speeches or broadly attack Christianity or Western institutions.

The show presents the real Leonardo as gay, even though the historical evidence is limited and debated. It turns the old sodomy charge into a major part of his life story and adds male romances with Jacopo and Salaì. It invents Caterina da Cremona as a key friend and muse, then builds a false murder case around her. These changes control the season's opening, ending, and view of Leonardo.

A few Italian conservative users said the show used gay and straight stereotypes and pushed an LGBTQ agenda. One small post said political correctness had gone too far. Vittorio Sgarbi attacked the gay kiss and said the show made Leonardo's sexuality into a banner, though he also focused on historical errors. No large English-language boycott, review-bombing campaign, or major right-wing backlash was reported.

Steve Thompson has publicly discussed racism, the Windrush scandal, and racial justice. Gabbie Asher often writes dramas about women's lives. Frank Spotnitz has a lower activist profile, and his identity-related comments mainly concern Jewish history and Nazi persecution. The directors and most producers have little documented activist or DEI-focused work.