# Did Leonardo da Vinci really sleep just three hours a day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856 "2003-09-10T22:35:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JRR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecccb3/32.png) [@JRR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRR)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/1 "2003-09-10T22:35:28Z")
One of the stories about da Vinci was his remarkable sleeping habits - he supposedly took several short catnaps, totaling less than three hours slept per day. The obvious implication is that all this extra time allowed him to pursue his art and research to such a huge degree. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any real citation of this legend, Cecil hasn’t addressed it and searches on the net bring up nothing of substance. Is there any proof that da Vinci actually used this sleep method, and even if he didn’t, would it be possible to at all? An extra five hours would come in mighty handy… (I think a Seinfeld episode had Kramer trying this out, with disastrous results.) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/2 "2003-09-10T23:58:08Z")
The sources that I’ve seen suggested that Leonardo didn’t sleep for three hours straight, but that he slept for 15 minutes once every couple hours. Can’t help you beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/3 "2003-09-11T01:12:21Z")
I know someone who does the same thing, 15 minute naps totalling about 2-3 hours per day. Kinda freaky, but it works for him. Since I’ve observed him doing this, I believe it is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/4 "2003-09-11T01:46:53Z")
Buckminster Fuller did the same thing. Evidently, it takes a while to get used to, but once you get the knack down, it’s amazing. Bucky got to the point where he could sit down, say, “I’m going to take a nap.” and be out so quickly that people thought he’d had a stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Scoo8b](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scoo8b](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoo8b)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/5 "2003-09-11T02:40:03Z")
The book “Sleep Thieves” says that 3 hours was probably an inflated (or I guess, deflated) number. That he had an unusual sleep pattern, but that he probably stretched the numbers a tad… ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/6 "2003-09-11T02:46:39Z")
I’ve heard this before about Leonardo, but I’m not sure that it’s not an urban legend. I can’t find any references to Leonardo’s sleeping habits in Vasari’s “Life of Leonardo da Vinci,” which I thought might be the source of this story. In Leonardo’s [notebooks](http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04/7ldvc09.txt), there is a passage (1165) where Leonardo criticizes people for wasting time slumbering: > [@](#): > > 0 sleepers! what a thing is slumber! Sleep resembles death. Ah, why then dost thou not work in such wise as that after death thou mayst retain a resemblance to perfect life, when, during life, thou art in sleep so like to the hapless dead? In other words, you’ll have plenty of time to rest when you’re dead. On the other hand, further down (1173) he remarks: “As a day well spent brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death.” To really appreciate a “happy sleep,” I’d think that Leonardo must have at least occasionally taken a full night’s rest. So there’s evidence Leonardo didn’t like to snooze too much, but I can’t find anything to substantiate this story of him only taking 15-minute cat-naps–though I can’t rule out the possibility, either. And apropos of the topic of sleeping, you may want to consult Cecil: [Why do we sleep?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_044b.html), which mentions the case of a 70-year-old woman who could sleep only one hour a night without taking daytime naps. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/7 "2003-09-11T05:13:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Buckminster Fuller did the same thing. Evidently, it takes a while to get used to, but once you get the knack down, it’s amazing. Bucky got to the point where he could sit down, say, “I’m going to take a nap.” and be out so quickly that people thought he’d had a stroke. \*\* Well, I might have guessed that the guy with the Bucky quote in his sig would beat me to the punch with this story. But I will add that Bucky reportedly got by with a half hour nap every four hours (i.e. two hours sleep a day) for years or decades, IIRC. But I’m working from memory, here. **Tuckerfan** : do you know if he kept this up all his life? Did he ever sleep normally (four or more hours a day)? I’ve gotten to the point where I can easily nap for _exactly_ half an hour in the afternoon, but that’s in addition to the nightly 6-8 hours. The nice thing about my micro naps is that I awake refreshed, whereas if I nap for an hour or more, I’m groggy for a while after getting up. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/8 "2003-09-11T05:42:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by commasense \* > \*\*I will add that Bucky reportedly got by with a half hour nap every four hours (i.e. two hours sleep a day) for years or decades, \*\* .5 \* 6 = 3 in my universe, but who knows, it could =2 in the Buckyverse. ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/9 "2003-09-11T12:36:37Z")
From what I have read about those claiming to never or rarely sleep…its mostly BS. People tend to really inflate their claims in this area for some reason. For me if its less than 8 hours I’m feeling it all day. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/10 "2003-09-11T20:19:56Z")
This subject has been discussed in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=195553), with some posters popping in who had personal experience with this. Hope this is useful for you. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/11 "2003-09-11T20:48:32Z")
A recent documentary on Isambard (sp?) Kingdom Brunel reported that he got by with only three hours of sleep a day, too. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/12 "2003-09-11T21:13:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AndrewT \* > \*\*.5 \* 6 = 3 in my universe, but who knows, it could =2 in the Buckyverse. \*\* I remembered the story as half an hour every six, and I was thinking “six,” but somehow I typed “four.” Guess I’m just not getting enough sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-leonardo-da-vinci-really-sleep-just-three-hours-a-day/200856/13 "2003-09-12T03:31:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by commasense \* > \*\*Well, I might have guessed that the guy with the Bucky quote in his sig would beat me to the punch with this story. But I will add that Bucky reportedly got by with a half hour nap every four hours (i.e. two hours sleep a day) for years or decades, IIRC. But I’m working from memory, here. **Tuckerfan** : do you know if he kept this up all his life? Did he ever sleep normally (four or more hours a day)? > > I’ve gotten to the point where I can easily nap for _exactly_ half an hour in the afternoon, but that’s in addition to the nightly 6-8 hours. The nice thing about my micro naps is that I awake refreshed, whereas if I nap for an hour or more, I’m groggy for a while after getting up. \*\* IIRC, he reverted to a normal sleep schedule when he was home with his wife (which apparently wasn’t often) and would sleep 8 hours a day then.