The romance of Leonardo da Vinci

Christ and Antichrist #2

by Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky

(...)"stone houses were as tall as fortresses, the party emerged into an olive-grove owned by the contadini of San Gervaso. Dismounting at the junction of two roads, they walked to the Hill of the Mill, hard by Messer Cipriano's vineyard. Here men awaited them with spades and mattocks; and here, behind the hill, beyond the marsh known as the Humid Hollow, the villa walls showed shadowy white through the darkness of the trees. Tall cypresses stood up black from the summit of the hill, and down below on the Mugnone was the name-giving watermill.
Grillo signified where, to his thinking, they ought to dig; Merula suggested another place; and Strocco, the gardener, swore they must go lower down, much nearer to the Humid Hollow, because the devils always hide themselves nearest to the slough. Cipriano, however, bade dig where Grillo advised; the spades grated, and soon there was an odour of new-dug earth. Giovanni shuddered, for a bat had brushed his face with its weird pinions(...)"

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Russia, Art, Russian Literature, Classics, Religion

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky, (Russian: Дмитрий Сергеевич Мережковский) was a Russian novelist, poet, religious thinker, and literary critic. A seminal figure of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry, regarded as a co-founder of the Symbolist movement, Merezhkovsky – with his poet wife Zinaida Gippius – was twice forced into political exile. During his second exile (1918–1941) he continued publishing successful novels and gained recognition as a critic of Soviet Russia. Known both as a self-styled religious prophet with his own slant on apocalyptic Christianity, and as the author of philosophical historical novels which combined fervent idealism with literary innovation, Merezhkovsky was a nine times nominee for the Nobel Prize in literature, which he came closest to winning in 1933.

The words he put in Leonardo da Vinci's mouth in his biographical novel Romance of Leonardo da Vinci -- "I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men" -- are echoed by animal rights activists all over the world and have come to often be misattributed to Leonardo da Vinci himself.

Reviews

[Katerina Margaritova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Поначалу было ОЧЕНЬ тяжело. Читала слишком много современной прозы, и поэтому переключить мозг на восприятие старого стиля было безумно сложно.
Однако, если продраться через начало, - книга хороша. Не совсем биография, скорее художественная зарисовка эпохи. Однозначно интересная интерпретация, но после прочтения хочется прогуглить все события и всех людей из книги, т.к. даже близко непонятно, что было в жизни да Винчи на самом деле, а что - просто вымысел автора.

[Butterfly2507 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ich habe es leider nur bis ca. 50 Seiten geschafft. War garnicht so das was ich mir vorgestellt hatte. Ich dachte eigentlich dass ich ein bisschen mehr über Da Vinci lernen würde aber bis jetzt wurde er nur 3-4 Mal erwähnt bzw. hat nur 3-4 Mal etwas gesagt. Ansonsten ist es eher langweilig. Schade.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know how got through this entire book when I was younger

[rosechampe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Суенты и Анафемы в русской Флоренции
Книга - место преткновения языческого и христианского, книга о человеке, который опередил время, книга об идеализациях, смирениях, добродетелях, и глубокой, всеобъемлющей обиде на жизнь. “За чем ты оставил меня?” - слова, застывшие на устах у трех ближайших учеников, по-библейски близких к своему учителю. “За чем ты оставил меня, Боже?” - слова учителя, дань прошлому; но даже в них учитель не отрекается от своего liberum arbitrium, за которым следовал всю жизнь.
В этом романе - жизнь и смерть Леонардо да Винчи, но еще там есть Пьеро Содерини, красный политикан, узурпирующий народную волю во Флорентийской Республике, освобожденной от тиранов Моро и Борджа. Там есть Джованни Бельтраффио, потерянный, но по-прежнему глубоко верующий христианин, который млеет перед прогрессом и “Великим Познанием”. Там есть Чезаре, смотрящий на все происходящее с тщеславным фатализмом. И если кто-то спросит меня, чего же все-таки в этом романе больше, я отвечу, что русской тоски. Тоски, выношенной умерщвленной империей, войной, неудачами, неизвестностями. Мережковский прошел все это. И, как душа Леонардо нашла отражение в его шедеврах, душа автора воплотилась в романе.
А что же до историчности? Это, конечно “questo é bellissimo, questo é sottile”!

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This particular book was fun to read, mostly because I have a copy from the 1920's or something ( I didn't check the date) and it felt historic along with the text. The author loves description, and at times blows one away with the richness and immersive language. Other times, it seems to go far off topic into a treateese on the times which was interesting, but distracting from the storyline. There is wisdom and texture, fantasy and fact all mixed together for a curious read, esp. for those who enjoy historical fiction. My favourite part was the interspersed well-printed works of the master. It seemed to me at times that they were randomly placed, but other times right in line with the textual tale. In all, it was worth the time and sometimes effort to read.

[Cassandra Kay Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy the writing in this one, the style was pretty. I am not sure if I liked the plot, and felt like all of Leonardo's dialogue was very scripted. Some of the other characters in this were really all over the place. Leonardo is always a brilliant subject matter though. I still think you are better off reading the Agony and the Ecstasy instead. It did of course remind you of all of the ridiculous superstitions religious crap that surrounded this time period, which all seemed very daunting.

[Andrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Невероятно познавательно и вызывает глубокое уважение к автору, который каким-то образом умудрялся находить всю информацию в доинтернетную эпоху. И я действительно очень многое узнал об очень особом для меня персонаже, однако... Я рад, что это не первый и не единственный мой источник информации о Леонардо, и что некоторые произведения его я видел сам, и судить о них могу без призмы Мережковского. Без сомнения, буду и дальше читать его романы, но с поправкой на многие предвзятости, которые в «Воскресших богах» становятся совершенно очевидны.

[Kristian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magnificent read. Wonderful description of the life of Leonardo da Vinci, the homo universalis of the Renaissance. Merezhkovsky brings Leonardo to life in this book. You walk with Leonardo through Milan, Florence and Rome, you get to know the man and his emotions. Not only Leonardo comes to life, also the Renaissance and Italy itself. All is well incorporated in the story.

Only minus: it never gets really exciting. It remains a biography: a very nice to read and well written biography, but nothing more than that really. So 4 out or 5 stars.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a mystical parable by a lesser known russian author. I bought this book at a rummage sale for nothing, and I loved it. It is one of my ambitions in life to write this up as a screen play. I think you will like it.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this together with "The Agony and the Ecstasy", Machiavelli's "The Prince", and Cellini's autobiography... a very entertaining portal into the art and culture of 16th century Italy.

[Varvara]

Цитата:
Стая птиц пролетела по небу. Следя за ними взором, Франческо старался вообразить себе рыб, некогда плававших здесь, в волнах великого моря, такого же глубокого и пустынного, как небо.
Они молчали. Но в это мгновение оба чувствовали одно и то же: не все ли равно, кто кого победит — французы ломбардцев или ломбардцы французов, король или герцог, свои или чужие? Отечество, политика, слава, война, падение царств, возмущение народов — все, что людям кажется великим и грозным, не похоже ли на это маленькое, в вечернем свете тающее облачко — среди вечной ясности природы?

[Linda J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book for Leonardo aficionados, as the translation is in very formal English. But the point-of-view feels right. The book was written in the early 1900s. What were the Russian author's sources, working in his time and place? It was a labor of love to finish it!

[Vladimir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Балл за старание, балл за жизнеописание да Вични, балл за пару цитат Макиавелли о жизни и человеке. В целом- слабее Отступника. Читать не очень интересно, просто «биография», нету конфликта Человека и косности религии(как в первой книге).

[María Josefa Martínez Abad Miss María Josefa · Rating 4 out of 5]

La doble moral de Gianni y la abierta mente de Leonardo, Papas vividores, la ignorancia y manipulación de la gente, por parte de la iglesia... Una novela pesada de tragar pero con partes interesantes de la vida del gran Leonardo Da Vinci.

[Anja Orehek · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://aniaorehek.wixsite.com/otherw...

[A Magpie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maravilloso, emotivo,

[Javier Sandoval Guevara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una mirada de cerca al genio LEONARDO

[Tsoy Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Это произведение хорошо читать, когда никуда не спешишь. Зимой у камина, например. Красивое (потому и четыре звёзд��), медленное повествование почти без сюжетных потрясений. Правда, довольно скучное.

[Coralie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 390/569

[Lorenz Bung · Rating 2 out of 5]

The chapters were too long for my liking and it was too slow to get through it - most of the time, the pages dragged on and my mind drifted off.

[Ana Utkina · Rating 5 out of 5]

многие комментировали, что тут мало правды о жизни Леонардо, но книга совсем не об этом. Герой мог быть кем угодно, главное - соединение злого и светлого. Познание бога через исследование мира

[David Spanagel · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite passage in the historical novel comes on pages 346-7, where Leonardo declaims to the young boy Francesco who will later become his faithful companion and caretaker in old age:
"'All that you see here [indicating from a height the Lombardy plain upon which two distant armies were then struggling for temporary territorial control] ... was at one time the bed of an ancient ocean, covering a great part of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The marine animals which we find in these mountains bear witness to those times when the summits of the Apennines were the islands of a great sea, and over the plains of Italy, where the birds soar now, the fishes were swimming ....'
He again looked at the distant cloudlet of smoke, with its sparks of cannon-shots. By now it appeared to him so small in the infinite distance, so tranquil and roseate in the evening sun, whose glow was like that of a holy lamp, that it was hard to believe a combat was raging there, and men were slaughtering one another. ...
They were silent But at this instant both felt the one and the same thing: what did it matter which would vanquish the other,--the French the Lombardians, or the Lombardians the French; the King, or the Duke; one's own party, or the outlanders? The fatherland, politics, glory, war, the fall of kingdoms, the uprising of nations,--all that seems to men great or awesome,--does it not, amid the eternal serenity of nature, resemble that cloudlet, melting away in the light of evening?"

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich evocation of the historical milieu, translated into Biblical style English that reads very naturally. Device of often portraying Leonardo through the eyes of the adoring pupil, Giovanni Beltraffio, who is torn between his image of Leonardo as a gentle, wide-souled figure of Good vs. his “double,” a figure of Evil, a Demon. Conflict of spiritual and pagan beauty. Reflects the age of Savonarola, the inflexible authoritarian Inquisitor and the superstitions and primitive medical ideas of the period in conflict with the new Humanism and Reason, the coming of science and inquisitiveness and searching. (The terror of the “children’s army” engaging n the Bonfire of the Vanities reminds one of ISIS, Donald Trump, Alquaida, Islamist fundamentalists in Near East, Africa, Pakistan in our 21st century world.) Leonardo’s relationship with Machiavelli another device for presenting the politics and philosophy of the age, interesting to see what they had in common (amoral truth-tellers) and how they differed (the one kind, generous, tolerant, even innocent; the other cynical. Both lonely. Fascinating portrayal of Mona Lisa Gioconda as Leonardo’s soul mate and “double.” (P.592) Theme of the antichrist in references to the cathedral frescoes in Orvieto. Leonardo more than a painter; a scientist, inventor, dreamer, thinker, often failing to fulfill commissions because he was pulled in so many directions.

[Trounin · Rating 3 out of 5]

У Дмитрия Мережковского за гибелью богов следует их воскрешение, случившееся спустя тысячу лет. Не сами боги воскресают, а возрождаются чаяния людей, дотоле пребывавших в темноте невежества. Христианские церковные деятели постарались сделать всё для того, чтобы низвести стремление че��овека к прекрасному, заменив его на слепое раболепное принятие божественного промысла. Люди продолжали с подозрением относиться наукам и искусству, как проявлению влияния дьявола. Они же, исповедовавшие любовь к ближнему своему, имели смутные представления о гуманном отношении. Христианский мир погряз в жестокости, войнах и разврате, всё далее уходя от дарованных ему заповедей. А потом наступило время для Ренессанса.

(c) Trounin

[Commander Xell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Вот уж гениальная вещь. Не художественная биография, а поэма.

Читается сложно. Тяжеленные фразы. Будто кирпичи для кремля. Читаешь - будто при помощи хитрой механики на недосягаемую высоту их утягиваешь. Со скрипом. Иногда срываешься с мысли... Приходится тянуть всё заново. А дотянешь - красиво и надёжно. И просторы сверху открываются.

Похоже, отсюда растут и "Мастер и Маргарита" (в некоторых местах там прямо диалог с "Воскресшими богами"), и исторические романы советской эпохи о том времени, и "Лезвие бритвы" Ефремова, и, пожалуй, "Остров накануне" Эко. Впрочем, последнее спорно.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura interessante della vita romanzata di Leonardo di Vinci: dai primi passi mossi nella natìa Firenze ai lavori compiuti sotto il protettorato di vari signorotti - tra i quali il vituperato Borgia. Mereskovskij ci racconta i dilemmi di Leonardo, uomo curioso della natura, instancabile osservatore, pensatore, costruttore e pittore, le sue amicizie (notabile il rapporto con Machiavelli) gli uomini che cercarono sempre di ostacolarlo (come Michelangelo). L'affresco di un periodo storico estremamente affascinante.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about some of the same time period that was covered in "The Agony and the Ecstacy", but from Leonardo's perspective, especially the conflict that existed between Michaelangelo and Leonardo. I liked this quote on page 414, "He had also another recollection of his earliest childhood, of those recollections which seem absurd to others, but, to him that keeps them hidden in his soul, filled with mystery, like prophetic dreams."

[James Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The spirit and gemius of Leonardo da Vinci imbue the pages of this biographical romance. Leonardo's achievements in art and science, the fecundity of his mind and the almost infinite bounds of his imagination are portrayed against the background of Renaissance intrigue in Italy. This portrait captures some of the greatness of Leonardo and his time.

[Suzanne Singman · Rating 1 out of 5]

So grateful to finish this book. It just wasn't what i was expecting. Historical novels used to be my favorite genre. This was just very dry and too much about the people around Da Vinci and less about him and his creative process and the multitude of ideas and inventions he thought of. That's what i was hoping for in a novel format. Very disappointing for a lot, a lot of pages (560).

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are great passages where Merezhkovsky painted the world of 16th century Europe. The weaving together of various historical figures was fun to see. I would reread the text, but found the dream-like fantasy scenes with the witches distracting. It is interesting that the book is not on any "must read" lists. It should be.