More about the founder of Leonardo's Hands.com, Benedict Joseph Sweeney...

Mr. Sweeney's third passion is Leonardo da Vinci. Intrigued first by the genius' mathematical analysis of perspective, as well as his art, Mr.Sweeney soon found himself wanting to learn more. In 2002 he acquired the "Codices Atlanticus, Anatomia, Arundel, Madrid etc.. volumes of Leonardo's works" to compliment his extensive and growing library of books on Leonardo. In these volumes of pages he saw challenging puzzles in what others might characterize as Leonardo's indecipherable doodles.

His passion was infectious. Other family members, with their professional medical, scientific and engineering expertise soon joined in studying Leonardo. Study turned to debate, debate turned to hypothecation and new thClick to enlarge - Ben Sweeney, founder of Leonardo's Hands.com in Dr. Upton's office
Click image to enlarge.
eories, thus resulting in even further study. Today Mr. Sweeney and his family and friends have multiple new and ingenious hypotheses on the works of Leonardo. These studies, however, are "works-in-progress." They are also not debated or researched in a vacuum. Mr.Sweeney realizes that to understand the genius of this great master, you must seek the expertise and opinion of the best in their field.

In 2003 he acquired, designed an exhibit, and then loaned for exhibit to the San Diego Museum of Man "Leonardo's Lost Robot Knight." This medieval robot was built by famous roboticist "Mark Rosheim" from Leonardo's drawings for a Discovery Channel program on Da Vinci. The exhibit was dedicated to his mother, Dolores Hines Sweeney. In 2006, the robot exhibit was loaned to Chicago's Museum of Science for their Leonardo da Vinci exhibition. To Mr.Sweeney's satisfaction, an estimated 160,000 adults and children enjoyed this exhibition, thus inspiring another generation to think beyond the realm of what is possible, re-think and debate that which has been stated in the past, and propose new and ingenious ideas for what could be, much as he and his family do when discussing the works of Leonardo da Vinci.

On January 31, 2007, Mr. Sweeney first gave a glimpse of one of these theories, the supporting research, and the conclusions. On November 28, 2006, on the campus of the University of Southern California, Mr. Sweeney was interviewed for ABC's PrimeTime "Medical Mysteries" television series. Aired on January 31, 2007 the program reveals his discoveries related to Leonardo's anatomical hand studies and Leonardo's own possibly anomalous hand.

The website has been developed by Mr. Sweeney to share his theories, encourage creativity, and inspire anyone with a medical condition. Whether one is afflicted with Crohns or born with a syndactyly hand anomaly, one's contribution to the world is important.

In the future, Mr. Sweeney anticipates publishing a concordance of research,analysis and conclusions related to his studies of Leonardo da Vinci. At this time, however, one can read about Leonardo's hands at www.leonardoshands.com.

[Read more about Ben Sweeney's Leonardo da Vinci related news...]

Back to About Us Page >>