Product Description: First published in France, Serge Bramly's acclaimed biography reveals Leonardo to be as complicated, seductive, and profoundly sympathetic as the figures he painted. Bramly spent five years gathering evidence to reconstruct the artist's life--from his early years as an illegitimate child to his death in the arms of the King of France. Four pages of color photographs; 75 B&W photos.
This book crackes the code... ^ Are you a fan of the Da Vinci Code movie or book? Then this book might not be your cup of tea.
Leonardo: The Artist and the Man covers the real life and era of this legendary painter, sculptor and inventor. Sorting out the life of this genius must have taken the author years to conclude, as Leonardo left thousands of manuscripts, sketches and unfinished paintings behind. Throw into the mix the fact that most paintings have been finalized by his helps and restorated throughout the centuries by incompetent painters and you've got yourself a huge mess to sort out.
Yet this book grabs the core of the man Leonardo. He was versatile, untiring, dedicated to learning and not confined to just one trade. Apart from being a great book to read, you can really learn something from it. As Leonardo always figured, everything is in relation with each other. Although jobs are far more professionalized nowadays, this is still very much true.
So if you're interested in his works or if you want to learn more about one of the legendary historic figures the 16th century had to offer, grab a copy of this book. It will not only extend your own boundaries, but is a great read as well put into a delicate perspective by the writer.
An excellent summary of an amazing life ^ This is a well written biography of an amazing man. Leonardo's accomplishments are placed within the context of the history happening around him, providing many alleys to explore.
So much you probably didn't know ^ Amazing book of the man everyone knows. He was ahead of his time filled with ideas and an intellect which added depth to all his interests.
The genius that is Leonardo from a different perspective ^ This book is more than a simple biography. Mr Bramly writes about his subject with such warmth and familiarity that you forget this is all based on meticulous research, that our subject died nearly 500 years ago and that only a small portion of his art, inventions and writings remain. Far from a dry "birth to death" review, this book has succeeded in bringing the multi-faceted genious that is Leonardo to life - not as an unaccessable giant but as a dreamer, inventer, loyal son, adventurer, self-educated scholar, perfectionist ... all the while possessing of a tortured soul. This is by far one of the most readable and well written biographies I have read and I applaud Mr Bramly for writing such a scholarly information-pacted page turner.
Renaissance Sun ^ I turned to this books to get a second opinion on Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code." I found this book very helpful in dispelling some of the myths that Brown advocates, such as the nature of the two "Virgin Of The Rocks," the mysterious knife in "The Last Supper," and several hypothesis of "The Mona Lisa."
By the way, there is no mention of the Priory of Sion.
Bramly is very engaging. He can tell a tale that grips you. I suggest reading the first chapter about DaVinci's wizened self-portrait. The whole books reads like it. Admittedly, he read emotions into DaVinci that we cannot verify. This is no different that what Steven Ambose or Fawn M. Brodie have done with their biographies. It helps the presentation of the material, even if fudges the facts a bit. People do have emotional lives, and we would react similarly in similar situations.
Another of Bramly's strengths is that he puts DaVinci's life in the context of Renaissance Italy. The Boot was very different than today, made up of the independent city-states. It was the milieu that Machiavelli wrote about in "The Prince." It was among these warring princes, and DaVinci's patronage by the Medic family that helped underwrite his famous works. DaVinci's life is almost a political thriller and he moves from city-state to city-state and mingling with the great men.
Other reviews have commented on this books scanty biography material, and the many diversion into politics and so forth. This is because we have so few detail's about DaVinci's day-to-day life. We do not have the usual memories, diaries, and documents that we would have for a contemporar5y person. All we have are the notebooks, the biography made a few years after DaVinci's death, and the masterworks themselves. To his credit, Bramly works around this paucity of material in such a way that you do not notice it.
This book has B&W images from his astounding notebooks, and several pages of color inserts. There is only one flaw-the Mona Lisa is one of the images in B&W. This is more than a shame, and I hope it can be corrected in future editions.
Bramly devotes a hefty section dealing with DaVinci's homosexuality. He also includes some rather graphic images from his notebooks, and a rudely funny homage to the male member. Parents who home school their children may want to use another biography of DaVinci, since this material is college level.
I recommend this book. His has the right vide and fell for DaVinci's life and history. I think one of his best moments what when he made a connection between Massacio's painting of the inverted Peter being crucified, and the Virtuvian Man. After tracking down the images on the internet, I was dumbfounded about how right he was. Thank-you Bramly.
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