Description
Book SynopsisA leading Leonardo da Vinci scholar takes a fresh look at the master's work by exploring 100 key da Vinci milestones across his oeuvres of art, science, engineering, architecture, anatomy and more, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of his death.
Trade Review“Kemp sheds fascinating light on Leonardo’s scientific, specifically anatomical sketches. The fine-lined, painstakingly intricate ‘Studies of the Fetus in the Womb and of the Placenta’ and ‘Demonstration of the Irrigation Systems of a Female Body,’ for instance, showcase a ‘wholly novel ... diagrammatic technique,’ not to mention the left-handed da Vinci’s idiosyncratic mirrored writing style: He wrote right to left. They also betray that this pre-eminent student of exteriors and man-made inventions also harbored a profound — and at the time quite avant-garde — obsession with human interiority. Given that his name will forever be synonymous with the ‘Mona Lisa’ — ‘considered by many to be the world’s most famous picture,’ says Kemp — it’s worth noting that Leonardo’s prolific, nearly five-decade oeuvre included only 20 paintings at most.” —
The New York Times“Kemp sheds fascinating light on Leonardo’s scientific, specifically anatomical sketches. The fine-lined, painstakingly intricate ‘Studies of the Fetus in the Womb and of the Placenta’ and ‘Demonstration of the Irrigation Systems of a Female Body,’ for instance, showcase a ‘wholly novel ... diagrammatic technique,’ not to mention the left-handed da Vinci’s idiosyncratic mirrored writing style: He wrote right to left. They also betray that this pre-eminent student of exteriors and man-made inventions also harbored a profound — and at the time quite avant-garde — obsession with human interiority. Given that his name will forever be synonymous with the ‘Mona Lisa’ — ‘considered by many to be the world’s most famous picture,’ says Kemp — it’s worth noting that Leonardo’s prolific, nearly five-decade oeuvre included only 20 paintings at most.” —
The New York Times
