Leonardo Da Vinci

I have just finished reading this beautifully written biography of Leonardo da Vinci and feel quite bereft that it is the end of a wonderful journey with a genius. Thank you, Walter Isaacson. I shall never look at a woodpecker without thinking of Leonardo’s to-do list “describe the tongue of a woodpecker” and I have started to train myself to try to look at the world around me with Leonardo’s intense curiosity and thirst for knowledge. The many illustrations in the book are essential so I would recommend you purchase the hardcover. I am yet to place one of the pictures of the manuscripts in front of a mirror as Leonardo wrote in mirror script but it is on my “to do list”. The reviews “ first class” and “ brilliant evocation…” will give anyone who is hesitating about purchasing this book an excellent idea of what they will thoroughly enjoy reading.

As would be expected from Walter Isaacson, this is wonderfully written and enthusiastic book. It has over 140 excellent illustrations. We sense the atmosphere in 1470s Florence under ruler Lorenzo Medici. Apprentice Leonardo begins to outshine his master Verrocchio. Illustrations of two paintings in which they collaborated, Tobias and the Angel, and the Baptism of Christ, are used to compare their styles. For the former, a comparison is made with an earlier version by another artist shows the remarkable evolution achieved by Verrocchio’s school. Leonardo is there at the forefront in the improvement in presentation of animation, perspective, sfumato, chiarresco, as well as landscapes. He finds himself overcome by his own perfectionism, a brilliant polymath mind restrained from carrying out his ideas to completion and exasperating those brave enough to give him commissions. The author draws on quotes from Leonardo’s notebooks. Leonardo focused on conception rather than execution. He procrastinated. He kept hold of his masterpieces with the intention of perfecting them. He was a genius with shadows, reflection of light, and perspective. Unlike Florentine contemporaries such as Botticelli, for example, he was disinclined to flatter his patrons by including their likeness in his paintings. It landed him few commissions. Leonardo moved to Milan to take up ephemeral duties as a producer of pageants for the ruler of Milan, to whom he had written the best job application ever proposing inventions for new weapons of war. Leonardo walked around Milan with his trademark notebook hanging from his belt. He was popular (he spent time with Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli among many other characters that dominated in his day), strong, and good looking, and seemed to always be on the go. There was fierce competition with the younger Michelangelo upon his eventual return to Florence. He was a vegetarian since he loved animals so much. His scientific discoveries form the major part of his achievements and this book. Not formally educated, he was a compulsive empiricist, applying his immense power of observation, learning from others and his own experiences, reading almost to addiction, constantly drawing parallels to further his understanding. His unpublished notebooks show how he became centuries ahead in his understanding of mechanics, science and anatomy. He wrote from right to left, i.e. in mirror script, and this has made some believe that perhaps he never wanted to broadcast his findings. One wonders if the intensity of his thoughts was reflected in some way by how he communicated. For patrons he had a string of essentially transactional strongmen of the likes of Sforza, Medici, and Borgia. He ended up with Francis II of France, who was much more generous. As he has done before, the author ends with a few useful pages of conclusion about his subject. He lists and describes what he sees as twenty essentials that contributed to Leonardo’s greatness. This is a first class biography.

I’m a fan of the author - the Steve Jobs biography was terrific As a definitive work on Da Vinci this is a hugely impressive feat It captures not just his life, but the essence of how he thought and his inquisitive nature that set him apart This book has given me a much greater understanding for who he was, the multi disciplined creative vibe in Florence and Rome at the time - as well as - a deeper appreciation of art BUT It is a lengthy book and hard going at times Do I think the essence could be distilled into something much much shorter - yes You could trim 150 pages, lose nothing and end up with a more concentrated product It’s a triple album that’s impressive in its grandeur and the amount of research that went in to it. Reading all his diaries etc Did it leave a lasting impression - yes Did I enjoy it - sometimes Did I look forward to finishing it and find it a bit arduous at other times - yes :-)

This is one of the best books I have ever read: fascinating, fabulously well illustrated (every painting mentioned is illustrated on the page!), wide-ranging, complete, and chock full of interesting facts and observations about Leonardo's world: the nature of his illegitimacy, the roles of his parents at different times in his life, the effects of his homosexuality (not many!), the nature of his apprenticeship and the innovations in painting that he worked out for himself (sfumato, e.g.) I LOVED how Isaacson completely disregarded any line between "art" and "science" (the so called two solitudes), and showed how Leonardo and his contemporaries used observation to inform both their paintings and sculptures, and their works of stagecraft and engineering. I also loved how patronage was described, how the various patrons courted Leonardo and his fellows, cut them slack, rewarded them, etc. etc. The economic context was brought in: the cost of keeping our hero in food, clothing and wine, for example. A masterpiece. Too bad the author has since wasted his time on a jerk like Elon Musk... though I may buy it in case he has worked some magic on that person.

Simply put, one of the best books I have ever read. This biographer is up to the challenge of his subject; and what a subject. Because his paintings have such impact, because his observations and inventions predicted our own age, and because he said so many wise things Leonardo is rightly remembered and popular. “Brevity is the enemy of truth,” he said, so this book is something of a tome but it truly impels its reader as a non-fiction page-turning thriller, stranger than any fiction. Physically it is very fine, printed in Italy with fine illustrations in the body of the text where the reader wants them. For higher resolution images, you’ll need to look online or to art books. The fascination and importance of Leonardo is that even today few people have his insight and energetic curiosity; in an age believing itself scientifically advanced we lack Leonardo’s joined up universe, the understanding of what he called the unseen principles of Nature. As such we enjoy the wonders of technology from medicine to internet, but we are mere specialists. As with all biographies of Leonardo, they all fail to meet the challenge of Leonardo’s spiritual knowledge, although this one at least hints at his unorthodox beliefs rather than his lack of belief (p 512). Brilliantly, Isaacson quotes at p 514 from a revealing text Vasari omitted from the second edition onwards of his 1550 “Lives of the Great Painters.” A remarkable achievement because the author proudly tells us that he was given a precious second edition! The book is made possible because so many of Leonardo’s journals survive and the greatest living Leonardo scholars like Kemp and Predetti are insightful and generous. Isaacson makes no secret of his admiration of the Mona Lisa and fully justifies his insight by expounding the tortuous purpose and creative process and then showing me for the first time how the background gives the young woman a cosmic connection and meaning. And to think, I had only focussed on her enigmatic smile and how the eyes follow the viewer. We may never possess the talent of Leonardo but this book shows we can be caring, curious, and observant and that will give each of us a taste of genius.

This is the best books I have read in years. I am interested in an amateur way in science and I found the writing to be tremendously engaging. He gives us the book in the usual chapters but also in sections so that it is easy to read as much or as little as you have time for. Isaacson explains not just the art, but also about engineering, medicine, geology and more. He sets the genius in the historical context without overburdening the reader with too much factual information. He outlines various theories on the paintings in particular and gives his own views. Some would like him to have been more adventurous, but for me the adventure is in the discovery of what a great explorer of life da Vinci was. The Amazon prompt for 5 stars is "I loved it" and I certainly did.

Fascinating study of the man who was Leonardo Da Vinci. The author seems to have reviewed all 7000 pages of LDVs notes and the result is a rich tapestry of insight into the great mans mind. I am comforted by the fact that even LDV had trouble multiplying square roots. Illustrations are fantastic even if they don't reproduce too well on the basic Kindle, nevertheless one gets the flavour of LDVs abilities.

Very thoroughly researched biography, lots of great facts. It doesn’t transmit though the atmosphere, feelings and Leonardo’s character in the same way as Walter Isaacson did with Steve Jobs’ and Einstein’s biographies. The latter are much more engaging and learning-full for the reader and Leonardo‘s biography a little dry. I still finished it but it felt more like i am reading someone’s descriptive and factual dissertation rather then a fascinating biography of a super extraordinary individual.