Leonardo da Vinci

by Francesca Romei, Sergio Ricciardi, Andrea Ricciardi

Traces the life of the Renaissance genius, analyzes some of his major paintings, and discusses his interest in machinery, bronze casting, anatomy, mathematics, hydraulics, and flight.

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1990

Reviews

[Sadhasivam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrious introduction of Leonardo from Vinci

Leonardo is naturally gifted to ingest and digest new skills with mastery. He is continuously learning things as he demonstrates his other skills in parallel. The 14th century Florence renaissance helped Leonardo to get to the finest art forms. He was able to render them with a modern outlook.

Leonardo witnessed Feudalism, Kings Patronage, Democratic era and was always keen on improving social infrastructure needs and religious visualization using his modern art moderns.

Leonardo worked with the finest technicians of various art forms (painting, sculpture, science, casting, physical modeling, masonry, architecture, science ) and progressively acquired skills.

Religious work.

Annunciation - Angel Gabriel informed yet to be bride Marry about the birth of Jesus
Adoration of Magi - Shepards set by the heavenly host of angels to worship infant Jesus.
Last Supper - Dramatic moment where Jesus meets with his disciples to celebrate Jewish Passover and anecdotes one of them will betray him.
The Virgin of the Rocks - Mary & Joseph flee to Egypt with Jesus to save him from the angry king Herold. The miraculous meeting between Jesus and Baptist John
Saint Anne - Mary, Jesus and Jesus grand mother Saint Anne together with lamb

Monolisa, Cecilia Gallerani, La Belle Ferronnier, Vitruvian man are some of his outstanding portraits.

Besides Leonardo followed Veganism.
Learned to play lyre - (U Shaped Harp)
Prototyped and implemented Simple Machines (ball bearings, clutch, gear wheels, shaft system etc)
Prototypes flying machine (inspiration to Who trained my dragon movie implementation of Dragon leg)
Hydraulic planes & usage
Pioneered in Fresco , tempra, oil, triptch, chiaroscuro sfumato painting technique
Learned advanced mathematics like Euclid theory, geometery and implemented them
Dissected 500+ human bodies and drew internals
Travelled Vinci -> Flander -> Florence ->, Milan -> Rome -> France

Recommended introduction book for all history lovers.

Wandering Thoughts:
- Searching for an illustrative treatise about Indian artwork esp Tanjore temple, Hassan Halibedu, - Taj Mahal, Konark, and much more.
- Wanted to read more about Leonardo

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that Leonardo is a great artist

[Paula Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for the background of the Renaissance period but I felt it lacked the information I really wanted to learn about Leonardo da Vinci.

[Alana White · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the life and work of Leonardo.