Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In an effort to understand the developmental processes that culminate in mature works, researchers have long focused on the early years of the creative genius. This may well be the first such inquiry into the young Leonardo, and Brown, an eminent da Vinci scholar and curator of Italian Renaissance Painting at the National Gallery, has done a masterly job of tracing early influences and the emergence of da Vinci's intense curiosity about nature and ability to re-create it in drawing and painting. The chapter on "Ginevra de'Benci" is a splendid example of how art history and contemporary scientific techniques can be combined in the examination and attribution of a painting. The excellent full-page reproductions and small detail examples are carefully placed within the text for ease of reference, something too often lacking in works of this type. The bibliography is extensive, and the index is a guide not only to the text but to the additional notes as well. A fine critical study accessible to both interested lay readers and scholars; highly recommended for large general collections and all art libraries.?Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

David Alan Brown illuminates Leonardo's early career better than anyone has previously. . . . His account is learned and intuitive, and he presents his conclusions in clear and fearless prose. . . . To say anything intelligent and new about Leonardo requires a great deal of looking and a certain measure of daring. Brown's book exhibits both of these virtues. -- Andrew Butterfield, New Republic

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300072465
• ISBN-13: 978-0300072464
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #565,737 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Identifies Leonardo's Involvement With Early Paintings, March 10, 2001

By	Jeff Marzano (Essex Junction, VT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The title of this book should probably be 'Leonardo Da Vinci Origins Of An ARTISTIC Genius'. It was the title that intrigued me and made me want to read this book. Leonardo's education and maturation process in relation to painting is really not that unusual.

This book does demonstrate with a lot of precise details how Leonardo's involvement and association with paintings from his early period can be proven or disproven. In some cases advanced scientific techniques such as x-ray analysis are cited to disprove or clarify statements made by previous authors about Leonardo's supposed involvement in various paintings. This book would be very helpful if someone was, for example, writing a paper about Leonardo's early career as far as exactly what paintings he worked on.

However the mysterious aspect about Leonardo da Vinci is not his painting which he eventually grew tired of and he sometimes didn't even bother to finish his own paintings. The mysterious thing about Leonardo is how did he all of a sudden become (at least in his own mind) an engineer, architect, scientist, etc., when he was never trained in any of these things ? How did someone who was trained as a painter and artist make that transition ? That's where the mystery deepens about Leonardo da Vinci.

As far as the books I've read so far that mystery has never been fully explained other than he was self taught. His art was very important for this transition because it allowed him to record his basically limitless ideas at a time when photography didn't exist yet.

But a good follow on to this book would be called 'Leonardo Da Vinci Origins Of A RENAISSANCE Genius' or 'Scientific Genius' or something like that.

Whether some or most of Leonardo's scientific ideas were valid is I think open to debate. But he did have some of the characteristics required for true genius which are intense curiosity, being very observant, and having almost unlimited energy. And he was a good painter, that much can be stated positively.