Leonardo da Vinci Social Campaign

Published on December 18, 2024 by PBS


Step into the world of a true Renaissance genius: Leonardo da Vinci. You may think you know him — the painter who captured the smile of the Mona Lisa, the visionary who designed flying machines, the man brimming with seemingly infinite creativity — but we promise, you’ve only just scratched the surface of Leonardo’s true legacy.

Through our social campaign, we explored da Vinci’s life and legacy to spark our audience's curiosity about the famed painter, inventor, and anatomist (and the list goes on!), diving deeper than the internet ever could, thanks to our esteemed directors: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon.

Explore our social campaign, featuring over 50 posts on Instagram and Facebook centered around Ken Burns’ first-ever non-American subject: Leonardo da Vinci.

Journey Inside Leonardo’s Mind: Social Originals


We leaned into da Vinci’s most well-known works for these short-form clips, drawing on our audience’s awareness of his art. For “Window of the Soul,” we cycled through a series of da Vinci’s iconic paintings and drawings, all presented in tight close-ups of the eyes of the depicted figures before revealing the face of his most famous creation: The Mona Lisa. In “Vanishing Point,” the camera travels continuously forward, moving past a selection of his masterworks, floating in a void space and taking the viewer on a brief tour of a virtual museum. Animated lines continuously guide the viewer’s eyes to a vanishing point in the center, a nod to the artist’s groundbreaking use of perspective. Finally, in “Don’t Know Leonardo,” a playful riff on a TikTok meme format, we open with “I don’t know Leonardo da Vinci” as on-screen copy, followed by “yes, you do” and a rapid cycling through his most famous works.

Social Promos


As part of our large-scale marketing campaign, we produced social versions of broadcast promos for Instagram and Facebook. These short-form videos gave viewers a glimpse into the true story of Leonardo da Vinci’s life, separating the man from the myth.

The Notebooks


In this series, we transition from one da Vinci illustration to another, seamlessly moving through the drawings, blueprints, and sketches in his notebooks. Each video in the series highlights a different aspect of his work and genius: The Artist, The Engineer, and The Anatomist.

Memorable Moments


These lightly edited clips from the film highlight some of the most important moments of da Vinci’s life, including when he was commissioned to paint the young poet Ginevra de’ Benci and when he met Salaì, who would become his apprentice, lover, and companion.

Did You Know?


He began few paintings and finished even fewer, but more than 500 years after his death, those he left behind are among the most revered works of art of all time. He also sketched everything — from machines to landscapes to human anatomy — read Greek and Roman philosophers, studied fossils and water dynamics, wrote in mirror script in his manuscripts, and so much more. To him, everything — geology, physics, anatomy, mathematics, art — was inextricably linked. He was filled with an unparalleled sense of curiosity, and in this “Did You Know?” video series, we’ve included a few of our favorite ways that curiosity manifested throughout Leonardo’s life.

Animated Quotes


This series of quotes incorporates footage from the film and is dynamically animated to bring the words of a true genius to life.