“... (Payne) has the gift, as does John Keegan, of using prose to elevate facts, figures, dates and events into the realms of the dramatic.” —Book Reviewer Based on entirely fresh primary research. Leonardo presents important new information and perspectives on one of the most interesting men and greatest geniuses of all time. The following are only a few of the new and controversial findings offered by Payne in this highly readable book. The portrait of a bearded man universally accepted as a self-portrait is actually a drawing of Leonardo’s father. The subject of the Mona Lisa was not the wife of a merchant but the Duchess of Milan. (Among the illustrations in the book are two earlier, seldom-seen Mona Lisas.) Leonardo was not the son of a peasant woman, as it is generally thought he was, but of a high-born woman. Payne paints an extraordinarily convincing Picture of Leonardo not only as a giant of his age, but also as a man, human, real, simple and natural. Besides dispelling many myths about him, the author places his subject realistically in his own time—the summit of the Italian Renaissance with its wars and sudden upheavals, its unsurpassed artists and architects, its ambitious and often warring princes. Leonardo is a meticulously accurate book and it reads like a swiftly paced novel.
An illustrated exploration of the artist, his life and context.
Leonardo da Vinci: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works cover all aspects of his life and work, beginning with his paintings, including several he never completed, that form the core of his artistic oeuvre.
A brief biography of Leonardo Da Vinci plus 50 paintings with extended captions which explain the background, significance, and the work's position in the total collection of the artist's work.
This comprehensive book is an essential volume for anyone who wants to learn more about Leonardo da Vinci and to survey his greatest works in one collection.
The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it…Most important, it is a powerful story of an ...
Provides a brief illustrated history of Leonardo da Vinci for the teenage market with emphasis on his artistic contributions and his scientific inventions.
Leonardo is the greatest, most multi-faceted and most mysterious of all Renaissance artists, but extraordinarily, considering his enormous reputation, this is the first full-length biography in English for several decades.
First published in France, Serge Bramly's acclaimed biography reveals Leonardo to be as complicated, seductive, and profoundly sympathetic as the figures he painted. Bramly spent five years gathering evidence to...
Discover the inspiring story of Leonardo da Vinci, the artist, inventor, and engineer of the Italian Renaissance, in this fascinating kids' biography.
Packed with information about da Vinci's technique and style, this Treasures collection smoothly integrates information on Leonardo the man with examinations of his inventions and key paintings, including the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last ...