In one of Leonardo’s many notebooks among his wide-ranging notes and sketches, you’ll find one recipe for blonde hair dye. Il Maestro was probably in his late 30s when he wrote that down and most likely going grey. While we mostly think of the guy who painted the Mona Lisa as the wizard-looking fellow depicted in his later portraits, Leonardo was renowned during his lifetime for being an exceptionally beautiful young man with curly golden locks and a perfectly-proportioned build. He moved with exquisite grace and is even rumored to be the model for his boss, Andrea del Verocchio’s bronze statue of David. In a time when most Italians wore tunics down to their feet, Leonardo showed off his knees by wearing his just above them. Inside such an exceptional person, the people thought, must be an exceptional mind whose taste for aesthetics brimmed over into every aspect of his life.

Say what you will about young Leo the artist, he understood the power of personal branding.