Leonardo [Paperback]

Martin Kemp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 19, 2006

A true genius whose talents embraced painting, engineering, anatomy and human flight, Leonardo da Vinci was an extraordinary human being, indeed one of the most intriguing figures in world history. In this biography, Martin Kemp offers a vivid portrait of the Renaissance giant that explores the essential nature of this forever fascinating artist-engineer, both as an individual and as a historical phenomenon, feeding the "the continuing public appetite for Leonardo and his doings" found in The Da Vinci Code.
Kemp takes us on an absorbing journey through the life and work of Leonardo, looking first at the historical man, portraying an impressive and cultivated figure, an artist who in truth completed few paintings, rarely satisfied a commission, and yet lived in the style and ended his career with a massive salary. More important, the author examines the ideas underlying Leonardo's investigations of nature, illuminating his vision of the artist-engineer as matching nature itself in his creativity. Kemp argues that Leonardo's apparent diversities reveal a desire to find an inner unity in the functioning of everything in the observable world. For Leonardo, writes Kemp, every act of looking and drawing was an act of analysis, and he used these analyses to re-make and re-interpret his surroundings.
Beautifully illustrated with a unique "thumbnail museum" that offers a tour of all Leonardo's paintings, plus 30 additional illustrations and life-size reproductions of pages from his famous notebooks, Leonardo is a powerful portrait of one of the towering geniuses of world history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`'wonderful and concise... orchestrates the available information effortlessly... [a] magisterial text'' Lisa Jardine, The Guardian

`'...illuminating approach to Leonardo's work.'' The Independent

`'Leonardo brings together [Kemp's] expertise with the lightest of touches, making it possible to see a complex character in a comprehensible yet fascinating way... This is a more than worthwhile addition to the deluge of material available. It should supersede many of the more fanciful approaches and become a standard, accessible text for all who are interested in the Renaissance.'' Eveyln Welch, Art Quarterly

`'A succinct introduction... by one of the world's foremost authorities'' The Independent

`'Illuminating'' Peter Ackroyd, The Times

`'Excellent'' Sunday Telegraph

`'Varied and illuminating... a thorough and fascinating celebration of a man of insatiable curiosity, who remains of inexhaustible interest to us even in the 21st century.'' Books Quarterly

`'brisk, notably lucid... a sensitive analysis of the major works'' Daily Mail

`'an ideal introductory guide to Leonardo da Vinci... Kemp goes in quest of the science, the inventions, and the many projects that obsessed the artist.'' Sue Baker, Publishing News Personal Choice

`'a lucid summary... elegantly and thoughtfully presented'' The Scotsman

About the Author

Martin Kemp is University Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford, Trinity College. The author of The Oxford History of Western Art, he is an eminent art historian who has carried out extensive research into the art, science, and technology of Leonardo.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192806440
• ISBN-13: 978-0192806444
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Depends on what you are looking for..., November 12, 2005

By 

RompingStallion (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Leonardo (Hardcover)

This is an excellent historical biography on Leonardo da Vinci. The book is solid facts one after another, mostly taken from surviving documents such as financial transactions and Leonardo's notebooks. The downside is that if you are reading this book for the sake of reading a good book, it can be a tad boring. The writing style is not fluid, perhaps a little choppy at times, since it is so fact-oriented. If you want to know the cold hard facts about Leonardo, this is the book for you (like for a research project). If you are looking for a good read that is a little more subjective you might not like it as much.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Story of an Exceptional Renaissance Man!!!, April 29, 2005

By 

Stephen Pletko "Uncle Stevie" (London, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Leonardo (Hardcover)

+++++

This book by Oxford University Professor of Historical Art Martin Kemp gives the reader the opportunity to "grasp the essential nature of Leonardo da Vinci, both as himself and as a historical phenomenon." Kemp, who has investigated Leonardo for over thirty years, does this through historical documents and through studying mainly Leonardo's drawings and paintings.

A highlight of this book is the inclusion of letters not only written by Leonardo but those written about him or his works. For example, consider this letter from another artist written during the last years of Leonardo's life:

"[The King], being enamoured to such an extraordinary degree of Leonardo's great talents, took such pleasure in hearing him talk that he would only on a few days deprive himself of his company...I cannot resist repeating the words I heard the King say about him...he said that a man had never been born who knew as much as Leonardo, not only in the spheres of painting, sculpture, and architecture, but in that he was a very great philosopher."

This book contains almost twenty-five reproductions of Leonardo's drawings peppered throughout. My personal favorites are Leonardo's engineering drawings and anatomical drawings. There are also twenty mainly color plates (in two sets of ten plates). These consist mainly of reproductions of Leonardo's paintings. My personal favorites are the "Mona Lisa" and the "Last Supper." There is also a "Gallery" of his paintings at the end of the book. This gallery consists of nearly twenty-five reproductions.

The very last section of the book has "Leonardo's Life in Outline." It traces his life from when he was born in 1452 until he died in 1519. This is especially good because it gives the reader, in brief form, an overall view of Leonardo's life.

This book's greatest service is that it separates fact from fiction. Kemp explains: "For the writer of fiction, the license [regarding Leonardo's life] is almost unlimited. Dan Brown's phenomenally successful `The Da Vinci Code' [is an example which presents fictional facts]. In the service of fiction, such unfounded `facts' are fine; as history they perpetrate nonsense. The problem with Brown's "Code" is not the invention of `truth;' but that it has been taken seriously by those who cannot recognize fiction as fiction."

Finally, the only minor problem I had is that the table of contents lists what drawings are found in this book but it does not specify what page these drawings are found on. I found this frustrating if I had to refer to a specific drawing.

In conclusion, this book explores Leonardo da Vinci's life and works. Be sure to read it to discover why, 500 years after his death, Leonardo still grips and inspires us!!

(first published 2004; preface; list of plates and figures; introduction; 6 chapters; main narrative 245 pages; gallery; Leonardo's life in outline; further reading; index)

+++++

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't satisfy as biography or academic work but an easy read, December 8, 2005

By 

Los Angeles reader "LA Reader" (Woodland Hills, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leonardo (Hardcover)

Based on other reviews and the author's status as an Oxford professor of art history who has spent years studying Leonardo, I was looking forward to this book. What I found instead was an easy read that is neither fish nor foul. The author waxes sentimental over his stay in "Mona Lisa's room" and takes jibes at Dan Brown fans. His chapters on Leonardo's science describe Leonardo's ideas in detail, with great reverence for Leonardo's intellect, but it would be more interesting to hear Leonardo's ideas assessed according to modern perspective: do today's geologists agree about the previous existence of lakes? Were his math solutions or water treatises worth anything as science? Kemp's book is neither a full, warm biographical portrait, nor an academic assessment of Leonardo's contributions to art and science, but it is short and double-spaced. Beware frequent typos and homonym errors such as "raised to the ground."