Customer Reviews

Leonardo da Vinci Treasury CD-ROM and Book (Dover Electronic Clip Art)

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I found the images (206) in total to be rather dull. The image number count of 206 includes details of larger images so you really aren't getting 206 distinct images. For example, you get an image of the Mona Lisa, a detail image of her face, a detailed images of her hands, and an image of her with a pure white background. Speaking of the Mona Lisa image - it could use a bit of touch up. There is a line in the top border of the image that looks as if the original source for this image had a tear or rip. It's distracting to the image as a whole. A search of wikimedia commons web-site produced similar looking images I would have thought Dover would have fixed this little flaw. Of course, maybe they were looking to be true to the surviving original - I don't know I haven't seen it.

Speaking of the wikimedia commons web-site one can find many of the same illustrations here as one can in the Dover book/CD package. One image in particular, if you compare the pixel dimensions and size of the Vitruvian Man from the Dover book/CD (the hi-resolution version they offer) compared to the one found on the wikimedia commons website you 7.5 x 10.2 inches in size at 300 DPI (2258x3070 pixels) from Wiki versus Dover's 4.4 x 6.3 inches at 300 DPI (1330x1904 pixels) and the Dover version has a larger border. It begs the question why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free.

Granted this is just one comparison but I thought readers would appreciate it nonetheless.

This is a marvelous tool if you want da Vinci notebook pages or paintings for the classroom. They print beautifully an easily on paper or transparencies.

This Dover CD-Rom/Book of clip art is a great sampling of the genius's diverse body of work. It ranges from full color portraits to drawings of inventions, human form/anatomy, etc. The other cool thing is that there are detail images of larger portraits and drawings which further make the release unique. The back cover is an index of his artwork which is a nice addition and huge plus. Not all clip art books have indexes in print. Buy this and you won't be disappointed. Professional artists or crafters will find this very useful in their painting, drawing, sculpting, mixed media or collage work. His body of work is still relevant today. This is one of the best Dover publications made and a definite favorite.