The Life and Works of Da Vinci by Linda Doeser/ Parragon 2002 Hardcover

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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF DA VINCI
By Linda Doeser/ Parragon 2002
A Compilation of Works from the
BRIDGEMAN ART … Read more THE LIFE AND WORKS OF DA VINCI
By Linda Doeser/ Parragon 2002
A Compilation of Works from the
BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY
Hardcover book in dust jacket.
This is a Parragon Book
This edition published in 2002
Parragon, Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath BA1 1HE, UK
Copyright © Parragon 1994
Measurements are 8” x .5” x 8.2”.

LEONARDO DA VINCI was an extraordinary man, the original Renaissance polymath with many talents - as artist, musician, scientist, engineer and mathematician. He worked for a number of rich patrons, including Cesare Borgia, Pope Leo X and King François I of France, and his commissions ranged from painting such famous works as The Last Supper to working as an engineer in charge of the defences of Milan. Many of his finest paintings are shown here, including the Mona Lisa and the Virgin of the Rocks, as well as many drawings and designs from his Notebooks that make clear the extent and scope of his genius.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519
By any standards Leonardo da Vinci was an extraordinary man.
He epitomized the Renaissance ideal of the polymath - artist raconteur, musician, scientist, mathematician and engineer - a man of many talents with an insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
He was born at Anchiano, a village near the little town of Vinci, on
15 April, 1452. His father was to become a successful notary while his mother, Caterina, was a peasant with whom his father conducted a somewhat irregular liaison. The young Leonardo thrived in the countryside, where he developed an enduring love of nature. As a boy, he was asked to design a shield for one of his father's connections. He is said to have produced an extraordinary bestiary, based on first-hand observation of lizards, crickets, snakes, butterflies, grasshoppers and bats. From all reports, this was the first occasion when he revealed his fascination with mobile, twisting, living forms. He is also recorded as having a great love and skiful mastery of horses. They featured so prominently in many of his mature works that this seems very likely.
Some time before 1469, Leonardo went with his father to live in Florence and in 1472, he was inscribed on the roll of the guild of St Luke - the guild of painters. His master was Andrea Verrocchio, and records show that he was still employed in Verrocchio's workshop in the Via dell'Agnolo in 1476.
Verrocchio's influence on the younger man is difficult to assess. Cer-tainly, the master's use of curved and curling forms found an echo in his pupil. Verrocchio's paintings have a certain grandeur but do not really stir the imagination, whereas his sculptures have a greater force and seem to have been a stronger influence on Leonardo.

Author:
Linda Doeser has had an almost lifelong interest in all the creative arts - whether dance, theatre music or painting. A freelance editor, author and broadcaster, she has written more than ten books, as well as numerous magazine articles, on a wide variety of subjects. Many of these have been published in both the United States and Britain, as well as being translated into other languages. A keen traveller, she enjoys combining her visits abroad with the pursuit of knowledge; her most recent European trip being to Padua, Venice and Rome. See less