Customer Reviews

Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings

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Taschen has always done an amazing job on their high-end titles. They have, however, out done themselves on Leonardo Da Vinci. The book is huge, the binding and paper quality excellent. It is the reproductions though that are the most riveting. As mentioned in one of the above editorial reviews you can almost enter into the paintings, the detail is so close. I have spent hours looking into the works and find new detail each time I do. Highly recommended.

Leonardo Da Vinci epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. He possessed one of the greatest minds of all times. Painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist, Da Vinci personified creative genius and had an immeasurable effect on modern culture. This compilation of his work, probably the most complete collection ever made, is spectacular. The reproductions are riveting.

Taschen has reproduced here Leonardo Da Vinci's 34 paintings in glorious color. The paper quality is excellent as is the binding. From "The Last Supper" to the "Mona Lisa," the paintings' details, even Da Vinci's brushstrokes, are clearly visible and exquisite. This 700 page book measures 22" X 17" when open and many of the artist's masterworks are shown with full page or double page details.

Frank Zollner biographical text is beautifully written and the book's first ten chapters explore Da Vinci's life, with excerpts from his letters, contracts and diaries. His painting are also discussed and interpreted here. A complete catalogue of Leonardo's paintings is included in Part II. Da Vinci's extraordinary talent as a draftsman is documented in the six hundred and sixty-three drawings which are presented in Part III. The drawings are arranged by categories, i.e., figures, anatomy, architecture, etc. Johannes Nathan's has written excellent commentary on Da Vinci's drawings and the artist's sensitive lines, both fine and bold, are truly a feast for the eyes.

"Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings" is one of the most visually stunning books I have ever seen. This was a "must have/must own" item for me, and I have spent many leisurely hours reading, perusing and enjoying this phenomenal collection. I can't think of a better gift for anyone who admires this master's works. This is a very rare and special book.
JANA

We saw this amazing book in Venice for 150 Euros but it was too heavy to take home in the plane. My husband really loved it. So when we got home I decided to get it for his birthday. The local bookshop had it for $A435 -too expensive. We then found a brand new copy for less than $A200, including freight, on Amazon. I was delighted and it arrived, as promised, ready to present to him on the morning of his birthday. He was really surprised and has been pouring over it ever since. Great book, great price and great service.

This book of 600 pages is monumental in size and content. It covers all paintings and almost everything else Leonardo did in his lifetime, including what went lost. The author provides the meaning and the historical context of Leonardo's work, the publisher provides an outstanding outlet to showcase the immense work of Leonardo the painter, the engineer, the architect, the sculptor, the anatomist, the genius ahead of his time. The book is divided in three parts (each one a book in itself): Life and Work; the Complete Paintings; the Graphic Work. The book is beautiful to read and to watch and whatever is the price, take it! It is worth every cent. You will not be able to stop to watch its brilliant paintings and drawings. Highly recommended.

Not much more to add to what's already been said. This is a big investment of space as well as money, but I'm glad I have it, I've never seen an art book that compares, for Leonardo or any artist for that matter. Absolutely beautiful.

It doesn't matter if you have other Leonardo books or not, I guarantee you that they can't compare to this volume. I first saw this at the Met Museum in NY and immediately knew it was a "must buy" book. The pictures are stunning and give you an unrivaled view of his work. No 0other Leonardo book even comes close.

This book is huge(approx 18"H x 12"W x 3"D)which should tell you something. The pictures fill the pages and the close-up details are amazing too. Don't forget, this is complete, all drawings, paintings, studies, etc. It's fabulous!

You won't be sorry, and at the price listed today (5/25/05) of $80 you'd be foolish to pass it by -I'm just jealous I paid so much more, but still think I got my money's worth.

LEONARDO DA VINCI: THE COMPLETE PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS is a mammoth undertaking in concept and the product of this undertaking is physically mammoth! The very large, heavy tome sets out to explore the history of one of the greatest minds, artists, thinkers, and seers of all time and in doing so we are presented with all of the paintings down to the brushstroke, all of the drawings which include notes and paper quality, and the many writings of this giant of a man. Frank Zollner is an entertaining writer as well as a fine scholar. The facts are all (mostly) here and they are related in an enormously readable fashion. No dry data crunching here, just elegant prose that accompanies more visuals than you could ever imagine.

The three parts of the book are presented with equal importance: Part One is Da Vinci's life and his place in the historic and retrospective setting and contains many of his writings. Part Two is the catalogue raissone for the paintings, both those well known and extant and some images of paintings that no longer exist. Part Three is devoted to the fascinating drawings of just about every subject imaginable. Each is presented with grace, a touch of humor, and a sense of profound respect.

Other books on Da Vinci may boast better/more correct color reproduction and choices of cropping and layout, but for the sheer splendor of this great artist's output and influence on the world of art, religion, sociology and science, this book is going to be the benchmark for years to come. A magnificent book for your table and a particularly elegant gift for your friends!

This is a beautiful book with great reproductions, probably worth buying, but I found the art direction frustrating and baffling. The modern preoccupation with quick sketches determines much of the layout--tiny thumbnail scribbles are blown up to fill entire pages, while exquisitely detailed drawings are reproduced quite small; as a result, one can't appreciate either as they were meant to be seen. I had always wanted to see a complete collection of Leonardo's incredible drapery studies; this would've been an ideal place to show them at their best, but only a few are presented full size. Given the massiveness of the book, it would've been so logical to simply reproduce all of Leonardo's drawings at actual or near-actual size, but publishers often seem to go for flashy graphics instead of sensible presentations. An ambitious editor needed to make his mark on this product, and decided that his "vision" was more important than fidelity to the work of Leonardo da Vinci...what a shame...

The paintings look wonderful, although--again--the hyper-magnified closeups are pointlessly extreme--a full page reproduction with several actual-sized closeups of each painting would've been ideal. Final complaint: only one version of Madonna of the Rocks was shown with details; for some reason they used the later one, which was painted by assistants, rather than the master's original work. Considering that this is probably Leonardo's most complex, fully-realized surviving painting, such an omission seems criminal!

This work is a worthy testament to da Vinci's talents as a
painter, sculptor, architect, scientist and inventor. Famous
paintings; such as, the Annunciation are depicted in full color.
Leonardo's life is set forth in a series of memorable letters,
the personal diary and important scientific achievements. A
beauty of the work is that considerable artistic criticism
is provided by the authors. There are over 600 pages with
many drawings and works of art depicted. This is a relatively
modern work having been published in 2003. Considerable
drawings depicting his inventions are set forth in formal
engineering schematics-much in the detail of Buckminster Fuller's
Geodome.

This work would be perfect for any student project in art,
world history, world culture and even mathematics/science.
It is a solid acquisition for any personal/professional library.
The price is considerable . The volume sells between $120-$200.
This would be a perfect gift for almost any occasion.

this book is a daily source of admiration, exposed on our table and we change the page practically every day to have a new work of wonder to admire every day. combined with more and deeper information on leonardo da Vinci the true art becomes clear.