Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
334th out of 1,203 books
—
869 voters
Da Vinci's Ghost: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Drawing
by
Toby Lester (Goodreads Author)
Toby Lester—the award-winning author of The Fourth Part of the World, celebrated by Simon Winchester as “a rare and masterly talent”—takes on one of the great untold stories in the history of ideas: the genesis of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.Everybody knows the picture: a man, meticulously rendered by Leonardo da Vinci, standing with arms and legs outstretched in a c...more
Hardcover, 277 pages
Published
February 7th 2012
by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
(first published November 10th 2011)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,869)
Although Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is an iconic image, few know the story behind the image. Toby Lester not only tells the story of the image, but also presents the cultural backdrop that led to its creation. His prose is careful and readable, free of academic jargon. He makes his topic approachable rather than placing it on a pedestal. In some parts of the book, it's almost as if you are beside Lester in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, looking at Da Vinci's sketches. Rather than being an...more
Toby Lester has created a delightful, compressed pearl of a book to give a flavor of the genius, Da Vinci. In this story of da Vinci's Vetruvian Man, I now have a better understanding of this symbolic drawing of a man within a circle (long associated with the divine) and square (related to earthly and secular).
Well-documented, it includes the visionary mystic Hildegard of Bingen, Brunelleschi,
Leonardo's ideas on building, and an abc of proportions. You can see how Lester weaves history, art, e...more
Well-documented, it includes the visionary mystic Hildegard of Bingen, Brunelleschi,
Leonardo's ideas on building, and an abc of proportions. You can see how Lester weaves history, art, e...more
The drawing is well known, if not universally recognized (and I mean universal in the literal sense). Leonardo DaVinci’s print of the human male figure, arms and legs outstretched, touching both a square and a circle drawn within the square, can be found on t-shirts and mousepads, corporate logos, as well as parodies including The Simpsons. It’s on the €1 Euro coin, but perhaps most impressively, it’s been launced into space on several long distance and very long term missions.
It’s called “Vitru...more
It’s called “Vitru...more
Albert Einstein wrote that the mind “always has tried to form for itself a simple and synoptic image of the surrounding world.” During the Renaissance, when the ancient Greek idea of man as the measure of all things leapt to the forefront of intellectual life, the human body became a preferred object for this type of “synoptic” speculation. In a widely read treatise titled “Divina Proportione” (1509), the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli echoed fashionable opinions of the day by declaring that...more
Well, Toby Lester certainly comes full circle in his telling of Leonardo Da Vinci's life in relation to the the Vetruvian Man, created in 25 BCE by Vetruvius, a Roman engineer, and a nexus of inspiration for Leonardo over 1500 years later. Lester's style of writing sweeps the reader through the centuries as he traces the quest for understanding ourselves, our god(s), our earthly geography through the "analogy of man" as microcosm. What one comes away with is that Leonardo drew his inspiration fr...more
Few mortals have captured the imagination of so many as has Leonardo Da Vinci.
We tend to see him as the ultimate genius of the Renaissance period. Yet, as Toby Lester reminds us here, he was a man of remarkable imagination who was self-educated, unable to retain full-time employment because he failed to meet deadlines and was prone to go off in search of new projects while leaving current ones uncompleted.
That said, it does not diminish the wealth of his accomplishments. It simply makes him more...more
We tend to see him as the ultimate genius of the Renaissance period. Yet, as Toby Lester reminds us here, he was a man of remarkable imagination who was self-educated, unable to retain full-time employment because he failed to meet deadlines and was prone to go off in search of new projects while leaving current ones uncompleted.
That said, it does not diminish the wealth of his accomplishments. It simply makes him more...more
A History of Thought
I’d always heard that the Dark Ages were a horrible era when the Bubonic Plague ran rampant, the Greco/Roman masters were ignored, and people lived short grubbing lives. In ‘Da Vinci’s Ghost” Toby Lester brings to light the succession of learning tracing it from the Greeks to the Romans and then threads it through to Medieval times and on to the Renaissance. He focuses on DaVinci but brings up many others, mostly unheard of to me, who kept the wisdom alive and added to it. Du...more
I’d always heard that the Dark Ages were a horrible era when the Bubonic Plague ran rampant, the Greco/Roman masters were ignored, and people lived short grubbing lives. In ‘Da Vinci’s Ghost” Toby Lester brings to light the succession of learning tracing it from the Greeks to the Romans and then threads it through to Medieval times and on to the Renaissance. He focuses on DaVinci but brings up many others, mostly unheard of to me, who kept the wisdom alive and added to it. Du...more
6 likes · like · see review
view all 4 comments
This book explores the creation of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man all the way back to the man who originally thought of the image, a Roman engineer named Vitruvius, and the fact that this image represents the idea that man is a microcosm of the universe. Vitruvius man wrote the Ten Books on Architecture during Augustus's reign. The author begins the story with a journey between Leonardo and another architect, who was translating Vitruvius. Then the author cuts to Vitruvius's life in Ancient Roman Emp...more
Apparently Da Vinci’s most famous drawing, Vitruvian Man, was an idea that was well known and employed by architects and artists during the Renaissance. Historian Toby Lester does a solid job of tracing the origin and application of the Platonic ideal of man prior to Da Vinci’s rendering of him. This book was not as exciting as the title nor was it what it purported to be - a study of Da Vinci’s legacy. Never the less, this was an interesting work. It is always fun to learn so much about a singl...more
Random thoughts on Da Vinci's Ghost, a book about the creation of the Vitruvian Man, the iconic image created by Leonardo da Vinci and replicated on pretty much everything :
* I don't know nearly enough about Leonardo da Vinci. I know basics, but felt somewhat lost with a lot of what was going on here.
* With that said, this is surprisingly informative and appears to be well-researched for a book that reads as if it has a general audience in mind, so that was good.
Really, I'm always happy to have...more
* I don't know nearly enough about Leonardo da Vinci. I know basics, but felt somewhat lost with a lot of what was going on here.
* With that said, this is surprisingly informative and appears to be well-researched for a book that reads as if it has a general audience in mind, so that was good.
Really, I'm always happy to have...more
Not really sure there is the content here for a whole book, but it is a good light read for someone like me who is a history/science/philosophy nerd. It's interesting to know more about the concept of why Da Vinci would make that drawing, and the sources from which that inspiration came from. When I read about Da Vinci I always think about people I've know that are kind of like him, but how in this modern era it doesn't bespeak of greatness to be smart, have energy and yet not the discipline to...more
Suprisingly a very quick read I actually enjoyed it and would recommend it to someone interested in Da Vinci's works. The book really focused on his discoveries more than his life but was a quite interesting read and went into a good detail about the golden ratios and how Da Vinci equated everything to the human body (in structure mainly). For example he equated the build of the columns of a building with the side profile of a man. However I did find it interesting that he seemed to only study m...more
Someone subtitled this book "Genius, Obsession, and how Leonardo Created the World in his own Image." This is overblown. The book is moderately interesting, dealing as it does with a period when most anyone could reasonably be expert in a number of fields. There is considerable attention given to the interplay between theology, art, science and engineering. Leonardo's biographical material is scanty, deliberately, as the author's intent is to lead from the general of both the milleu of the times...more
blah...If you are really into the famous drawing vitruvian man and want to know everything about this and the entire story of this drawing and how it came to be as well as all those involved in its story, then the first few chapters will be of interest. I mean if you need to write a term paper about it, then there are many things to reference in from this book. Other than that it is dry, boring, and quite redundant. Sorry, but there are many other Leonardo da Vinci books out there that are much...more
This is a magnificent contribution to the Da Vinci literature. A fascinating look at the Vitruvian Man (naked man in a circle and square or naked man doing jumping jacks) drawing by Leonardo in 1490, written in a completely accessible style, covering the roots of the knowledge it encompasses and the importance of those ideas throughout history from time of Christ until The Genius produced his unique and improved version. The book also conveys very interesting anecdotes about Da Vinci, only one o...more
1 like · like · see review
The story of the Vitruvian Man is a most fascinating account of Leonardo Da Vinci, but also the time he lived in as mankind tried to come to grips with reality rather than just accepting myths. The author does a superb job of explaining 15th Century job and setting Da Vinci and his colleagues in it. I learned a great deal and intend to read the book again to better understand this pivotal period in human advancement. The author does an admirable job of keeping his story entertaining when it coul...more
Everybody knows the picture: a man, meticulously rendered by Leonardo da Vinci, standing with arms and legs outstretched in a circle and a square. Deployed today to celebrate subjects as various as the grandeur of art, the beauty of the human form, and the universality of the human spirit, the drawing turns up just about everywhere: in books, on coffee cups, on corporate logos, even on spacecraft. It has, in short, become the world’s most famous cultural icon—and yet almost nobody knows about th...more
I really liked this non-fiction book of Leonardo Da Vinci's life and the ideas that shaped the creation of the drawing "Vitruvian Man". A couple of quotes from the text, and from Leonardo "A good painter has two chief objects to paint: man and the intention of his soul. The former is easy, the latter hard." "4 cubits make a man".
The book ranges from Vitruvius a Roman architect working for Julius Caesar and Augustus, Plato and Aristotle, St. Augustine, Hildegard of Bingen and renaissance Italy. I...more
The book ranges from Vitruvius a Roman architect working for Julius Caesar and Augustus, Plato and Aristotle, St. Augustine, Hildegard of Bingen and renaissance Italy. I...more
Toby Lester does a decent job delving into the history of the Vitruvian Man. While mostly recognized as a Da Vinci creation, the man in the circle and square was born from the thinking of Vitruvias, a Roman architect.
I enjoy reading books about the historical aspect of things and this book gave clear explanation that DaVinci was not the initial designer of this image.It's a fast reading book because of Lester's conversational tone and of course, because of the interesting content.
I enjoy reading books about the historical aspect of things and this book gave clear explanation that DaVinci was not the initial designer of this image.It's a fast reading book because of Lester's conversational tone and of course, because of the interesting content.
To quote Toby Lester, Leonardo da Vinci..."the man himself died centuries ago, but his ghost-timeless, watchful, and restless-remains unmistakably alive." That is my review of Da Vinci's Ghost: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Drawing.
This isn't just a history lesion, Lester draws pictures with his words of what possibly da Vinci's emotions were like, how he lived, what types of friends he made. He envisions images of de Vinci's travels, contractual obligations, political and religiou...more
This isn't just a history lesion, Lester draws pictures with his words of what possibly da Vinci's emotions were like, how he lived, what types of friends he made. He envisions images of de Vinci's travels, contractual obligations, political and religiou...more
I was hoping for something similar to Greenblatt's The Swerve, in which the Renaissance is recounted with a focus on a singular document. Unfortunately, that was not the case here. Lester traces the origin of the drawing and the concept behind back to the ancient era but in tracing the intellectual history and then the context of the drawing the reader is subjected to a confusing stream of disjointed parts with no coherent focus. In addition there is far too much conjecture and supposition for t...more
This is the latest book from one of my favorite writers, Toby Lester, who wrote The Fourth Part of the World. This book is about the origins and mystery behind Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (you know, the drawing of a man in a circle doing naked jumping jacks). Like the first book, it is teeming with vivid descriptions of people, places and images that bring history, art and architecture to life, but not quite the page turner that was his first book.
A boring drag so far.
In fact, I've stopped reading it. Not even half way through. Not often do I put a book down, but it's happened.
Apparently the story of the Virtruvian Man is a boring one. Yes, there's much history behind it with architecture, mapmakers, probably a few astrologers and maybe even a Vietnamese manicurist (I just hadn't gotten to those chapters yet).
Regardless, the Virtruvian Man drawing is good, but not good enough for a book. Maybe a pamphlet, or a ... I don't know, an email...more
In fact, I've stopped reading it. Not even half way through. Not often do I put a book down, but it's happened.
Apparently the story of the Virtruvian Man is a boring one. Yes, there's much history behind it with architecture, mapmakers, probably a few astrologers and maybe even a Vietnamese manicurist (I just hadn't gotten to those chapters yet).
Regardless, the Virtruvian Man drawing is good, but not good enough for a book. Maybe a pamphlet, or a ... I don't know, an email...more
I'm embarrassed to say I had never really thought about the philosophy behind the Vitruvian Man. It has always struck me as a beautiful piece of work but the why of it had not occurred to me.
The book is well written and accessible, although I did find the chronology a little confusing, or perhaps unexpected is a better term, at times. Unfortunately Leonardo remains an enigma after reading this book, but the story does illuminate the thinking of the period and place rather nicely.
The book is well written and accessible, although I did find the chronology a little confusing, or perhaps unexpected is a better term, at times. Unfortunately Leonardo remains an enigma after reading this book, but the story does illuminate the thinking of the period and place rather nicely.
I really wanted to enjoy this book and love the content, but I found that for a work of non-fiction, I should have had sources annotated in line. What I got was no foot or end notes and a list of references and notes at the end of the book.
There were many instances when Lester described what could have been or may not have been, but I didn't know if it was romantic speculation or based on reasonably solid sources.
The book read well, but it was never clear what was fact and what was speculation a...more
There were many instances when Lester described what could have been or may not have been, but I didn't know if it was romantic speculation or based on reasonably solid sources.
The book read well, but it was never clear what was fact and what was speculation a...more
Not having had much of an interest in history the majority of my life, I found this account of Da Vinci's life (and the times before and after) enlightening and astonishing. The idea of man as a microcosm and the time spent by so many trying to capture that idea in some form seems, now, inconsequential. However, at the time it was obviously a popular and labor worthy theory of exploration.
I felt I learned a great deal from reading this book. I appreciated reading about the other masters and the...more
I felt I learned a great deal from reading this book. I appreciated reading about the other masters and the...more
This is the story behind Vitruvian Man - the guy in a circle and a square. It was first introduced by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Leonardo believed that the body was a miniature anatomicalmodel of the world. His picture is probably one of the most reproduced pictures of all time so the history about his drawing it is really interesting.
One side note is that Da Vinci was a vegetarian.
One side note is that Da Vinci was a vegetarian.
I probably would have liked this much more had I not just recently finished Ross King's Leonardo and the Last Supper, which, frankly, was the better book. It's not that this one wasn't good, but the Vitruvian Man seemed like a pretty thin rope on which to hang all the material he discusses, and he makes a fair number of speculations that I wasn't entirely comfortable with.
An enjoyable and highly informative look at Vitruvian Man, arguably the most famous sketch in history.Mr. Lester does an workmanlike job outlining the history and genesis of this famed illustration and, in so doing, provides a glimpse into the daily life in Italy in the 16th century.
I've read more scholarly tomes with less real "meat" than this slim volume.
I've read more scholarly tomes with less real "meat" than this slim volume.
A friend found this book laying on the ground and rescued it before it was ruined by a rainstorm. She read it and found it fascinating, then passed it along to me. Lester makes Vitruvius and Da Vinci alive again in his descriptions of both and the relation of their work. I will pass this book on and hope others do the same.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
I'm a journalist, an editor, and an independent scholar. Most recently, I'm the author of Da Vinci's Ghost (2012), about Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, and The Fourth Part of the World (2009), about the map that gave America its name. I'm also a longtime contributor to The Atlantic, for whom I've written extensively, on such topics as the reconstruction of ancient Greek music, the revisionist...more
More about Toby Lester...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
