Bars & Parties

Exploring the mysteries of Leonardo

Exhibit reveals a ‘superhuman’ artist, inventor

Published

15 years ago

August 26, 2010

“His mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote.”

Thus wrote art historian Helen Gardner about the archetype of Renaissance Man, Leonardo da Vinci. But is there a mystery still about Leonardo’s sexual orientation?

This giant polymath of the High Renaissance — painter, sculptor, scientist, civil and military engineer, architect, mathematician, musician, anatomist, botanist and writer — appears to have no close relationships with women, except for one. He kept his private life indeed quite secret.

His sexual orientation has been the subject of analysis and speculation and even satire.

He has been thought by many, including Sigmund Freud, to have been gay, but Freud believed him to have merely been latent — gay-oriented but that those desires were unfulfilled.

Some have concluded that he was chastely gay, traumatically stung into sexless celibacy after a charge against him of sodomy with a male prostitute in 1476 when he was 24.

Or instead, as the art historian Kenneth Clark supposed, was Leonardo intimate with two of his pupils? One of them confided to Leonardo’s brothers after his death that the great man’s feelings for his young students were “sviscerato et ardentissimo” (“deeply felt and most ardent love”).

And then there are Leonardo’s private, erotic drawings of one of those pupils, also his ward, the notorious boy known by his well-deserved nickname “Salai” (the little unclean one), who came to live with Leonardo when he was a 10-year-old in 1490 when the painter was 38, and lived with him for 30 more years. Other paintings, especially “John the Baptist” and “Bacchus,” depict androgyny and homoeroticism.

An exhibit at the National Geographic Museum, “Da Vinci – the Genius,” which closes there on Sept. 12, should help to sweep away some of the mysteries surrounding da Vinci, the man who was perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived, whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his vast powers of invention.

The exhibit, which concentrates on his scientific and engineering side as much as his artistic scope, illustrates the point made by the historian Marco Resci who declared of Leonardo that his vision of the world was cooly rational and empirical and not mysterious at all.

For example, in the National Geographic exhibit, which offers a stunning catalogue of the range of da Vinci’s epic genius, consider the section on flight, summed up by Leonardo himself in these words: “There shall be wings! If the accomplishment be not for me, t’is for some other.” For Leonardo was the first to look at the science of flight and in the process to create the engineering of aeronautics.

Leonardo began this study working on the design for flying machines based on wing movements he observed closely by analyzing the flight patterns of birds and bats and dissecting them to study the anatomy of their wings. Later, however, he realized that humans — with less than a quarter of their weight in their arms and chest muscles — would simply never have the strength to fly like birds.

So he began instead to investigate flight without wing movement, by careful study of wind velocity and ways to use air currents to reach great heights. And his ideas, sketched in his many notebooks using his striking mirror-image cursive (being left handed, it was easier for him to write from right to left), foreshadow the use of gliders, airplanes and helicopters and also parachutes of today.

The genius of the National Geographic Exhibit is how it demonstrates the full scope of Leonardo’s genius. It is a comprehensive traveling presentation that required more than a decade to complete and features a vast array of full-scale machine inventions built according to his personal “codices” (or notebooks). It also includes reproductions of his most famous paintings, including the “Mona Lisa.”

To understand the mystery and the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Bars & Parties

Halloween weekend is here

Local events abound for a spooky good time

Published

1 week ago

October 30, 2025

Tinashe Chingarande

The annual High Heel Race is the kickoff to D.C.’s Halloween festivities. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Halloween weekend is here, and here’s a list of just some of the local events if you’re looking to have a spooky good time.

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Halloween Party” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant. This is an opportunity to mingle with LGBTQ folk and allies. Halloween costumes are encouraged or casual beach attire is fine. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Mixtape Sapphics will host “Bad Witch, Good Butch: A Sapphic Halloween Dream” on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. at Revolt DC. This is a halloween party for sapphics from the ages of 35 and above. There will be costumes, connection and dancing. Tickets are $13.26 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Taste Takeover will host “Abuela Halloween Party” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. at 639 Florida Ave., N.W. DJ Yani will play music and there will be a costume contest with prizes to be won. Tickets cost $17.85 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Metro Cabaret Club will host “Spookshow Spectacular: Dance Place After Dark Halloween Party” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 9 p.m. at Dance Place. This is D.C.’s Halloween nightlife and draglesque showcase, featuring live performances, creative marketplace, and costumed revelry. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit Eventbrite.

Punch Bowl Social will host “Halloween Bash” on Friday. Oct 31 at 9 p.m. at Punch Bowl Social Arlington. This will be a night of hauntingly good times with a killer DJ, vendors, and a costume contest. Tickets cost $12.09 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Thrust Lounge will host “Nightmare on 14th St.” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. DJ Tryfe will play music, and there’ll also be a costume contest with prizes. For more details, visit Thurst’s Instagram.

Nellie’s Sports Bar will host “Halloween Scariest Costume Contest” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 10 p.m. Guests are encouraged to bring their scariest, creepiest, most haunting look for a Halloween night they won’t forget — fueled by Casamigos and Nellie’s signature spooky fun. For more details, visit Nellie’s website.

Kiki DC will host “Kiki’s Halloween Costume Contest” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 10 p.m. This event will be hosted by Pirouette and there’ll be prizes for the top three costumes. For more details, visit Kiki’s Instagram.

Sinners and Saints will host “Heaven’s On Fire (Queer Pop Dance Party)” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 9 p.m. There will be two floors and music by Sonali Dawar, DJ Noons and Aria McIntosh. There will also be drink specials all night.

Crush Dance Bar will host a Halloween costume contest on Friday, Oct. 31 at 11 p.m. Drag queens Empress Lena and Sasha Adams will host the event. For more details, visit Crush’s Instagram.

Arts & Entertainment

D.C. bars step up to offer discounts for fed’l employees

Deals, freebies, events, and happy hours galore

Published

1 month ago

October 1, 2025

Evan Caplan

Bunker is offering free entry for anyone with government, contractor, military IDs this weekend. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

(Editor’s note: This list was compiled on Wednesday afternoon and is not meant to be comprehensive. If you would like to add your bar’s specials, please email [email protected].)

As the federal government comes to a standstill, the DMV restaurant and bar community has come to the aid of furloughed workers, who suddenly have plenty of time on their hands. More than a handful of spots are offering deals, discounts, freebies, events, and more. Many do require an identification to validate employment status. Plus, this shutdown looks like it’s here to stay for some time, so take advantage.

Franklin Hall: This sports bar on Florida Avenue is kicking off the shutdown hard: offering $6 Mixed Drinks, Canned Beers, and “furloughed Shooters” – as well as a free food buffet 4PM-6PM.

Carmine’s, located downtown, is offering steep discounts – $5 meatball sliders, and $8 cocktails: “Here We Go Again” and “The Essential Worker.” Carmine’s specifically noted that the specials are open to all, not just affected workers.

Compass Coffee is offering a free pastry with a drink purchase.

Cork Wine Bar and Market on 14th Street is offering a long happy hour – from 3 p.m. to close with wine specials, plus discounted fries and snacks.

Union Pub is providing steeply cheap beer ($3), alongside discounted hot dogs.

Two locations of Hank’s Oyster Bar are serving up all-day happy hour at the bar, along with $2.50 oysters and a percent off checks for federal workers.

Boqueria DC is giving federal workers with ID happy hour pricing all day long: meaning cheaper sangria, wine, beer, and lots of tapas.

Osteria Morini in D.C. is offering a “Federal Employee Appreciation Special” with $15 pastas for federal employees; Cucina Morini has $10 “primi pastas.”

Duke’s Grocery is offering a complimentary drink: A free shot of bourbon or a glass of house wine when you buy any burger or entrée. Plus, there are $5 select beers.

Thompson Restaurants is offering all government employees 20% off their bill by showing a valid government ID. The offer spans 11 of Thompson’s restaurant brands and more than 65 locations across the DMV, including Matchbox, Makers Union, Wiseguy Pizza, Big Buns, and more.

Shaw’s Tavern: $5 beers, $6 wine, $7 Deep Eddy, $10 burger and pizza, with ID.

LGBTQ BARS

Crush: This bar is offering a “Pouring it forward” event with a free vodka hour, 10-11 p.m. this Friday.

Number Nine is offering $9 cocktails all night after 9 p.m.

Bunker has free entry for anyone with government, contractor, military IDs this weekend.

District Eagle offers 30% off drinks for anyone with government, contractor, or military IDs this weekend.

Kiki has free Deep Eddy happy hour 8-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Her Diner offers all-night drink specials with ID.

Bars & Parties

Blade’s 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party set for May 16

Rehoboth Beach event to feature politicos, journalists, special guests

Published

6 months ago

May 8, 2025

Staff reports

Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff (right) with Rep. Sarah McBride at the 2024 Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach. (Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

The Washington Blade’s 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party is scheduled for Friday, May 16 in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

The event, held at the Blue Moon (35 Rehoboth Ave.) from 5-7 p.m., is a fundraiser for the Blade Foundation’s Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which funds a summer position reporting on LGBTQ news in Delaware. This year’s recipient is Abigail Hatting, a rising senior at American University.

This year’s event will feature remarks from state Sen. Russ Huxtable, who recently introduced a state constitutional amendment to codify the right of same-sex couples to marry. CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey and Blade editor Kevin Naff will also speak, in addition to surprise guests. The event is generously sponsored by Realtor Justin Noble, The Avenue Inn & Spa, and Blue Moon.

A suggested donation of $20 is partially tax deductible and includes drink tickets and light appetizers. Tickets are available in advance at bladefoundation.org/rehoboth or at the door.