Art That Embodies Time: An Integrated Hypothesis of Leonardo da Vinci's Creative Philosophy

Leonardo da Vinci’s creative philosophy is reinterpreted through a unified framework centered on the concept of art that embodies time, rather than through fragmented explanations such as perfectionism, unfinished execution, technical experimentation, or patronage constraints. This work proposes an integrated hypothesis in which Leonardo’s tendency to retain works in an unfinished state is understood not as abandonment or dissatisfaction, but as a deliberate strategy to prevent the fixation of meaning through completion, thereby keeping the artwork open to the flow of time. Within this framework, sfumato is redefined not merely as a painterly technique, but as a structural device that dissolves contours, moments, and boundaries, allowing past, present, and future to coexist within a single visual field. The hypothesis further incorporates Leonardo’s habitual use of mirror writing, his dynamic anatomical and mechanical drawings, and his recurrent focus on motion, spirals, air, water, and light. These elements are interpreted as manifestations of a consistent reverse-from-completion cognitive structure, in which a conceived final form precedes the backward construction of components and processes. Although this mode of thinking is universally employed in creation, design, and planning, it has remained largely unarticulated within art historical discourse. Applying this perspective, Mona Lisa, Saint John the Baptist, and The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne are recontextualized as a conceptual trilogy representing the present, the future, and the continuity of time across generations. Together, these works suggest that Leonardo’s ultimate subject was not portraiture or religious narrative alone, but human existence understood through temporal structure. While this study does not claim historical proof or definitive intent, it remains grounded in existing artworks, technical observations, and documented practices. As a hypothesis, it offers a coherent and internally consistent interpretive framework that invites further scholarly examination. It aims to provide a new axis for research in art history, creative methodology, and interdisciplinary studies concerned with time, perception, and human cognition.