Leonardo - Softcover

Kemp, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192806440 ISBN 13: 9780192806444

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2006

Synopsis

A true genius whose talents embraced painting, engineering, anatomy and human flight, Leonardo da Vinci was an extraordinary human being, indeed one of the most intriguing figures in world history. In this biography, Martin Kemp offers a vivid portrait of the Renaissance giant that explores the essential nature of this forever fascinating artist-engineer, both as an individual and as a historical phenomenon, feeding the "the continuing public appetite for Leonardo and his doings" found in The Da Vinci Code.
Kemp takes us on an absorbing journey through the life and work of Leonardo, looking first at the historical man, portraying an impressive and cultivated figure, an artist who in truth completed few paintings, rarely satisfied a commission, and yet lived in the style and ended his career with a massive salary. More important, the author examines the ideas underlying Leonardo's investigations of nature, illuminating his vision of the artist-engineer as matching nature itself in his creativity. Kemp argues that Leonardo's apparent diversities reveal a desire to find an inner unity in the functioning of everything in the observable world. For Leonardo, writes Kemp, every act of looking and drawing was an act of analysis, and he used these analyses to re-make and re-interpret his surroundings.
Beautifully illustrated with a unique "thumbnail museum" that offers a tour of all Leonardo's paintings, plus 30 additional illustrations and life-size reproductions of pages from his famous notebooks, Leonardo is a powerful portrait of one of the towering geniuses of world history.

About this title

About the Author:

Martin Kemp is University Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford, Trinity College. The author of The Oxford History of Western Art, he is an eminent art historian who has carried out extensive research into the art, science, and technology of Leonardo.

Review:

`'wonderful and concise... orchestrates the available information effortlessly... [a] magisterial text''
Lisa Jardine, The Guardian

`'...illuminating approach to Leonardo's work.''
The Independent

`'Leonardo brings together [Kemp's] expertise with the lightest of touches, making it possible to see a complex character in a comprehensible yet fascinating way... This is a more than worthwhile addition to the deluge of material available. It should supersede many of the more fanciful
approaches and become a standard, accessible text for all who are interested in the Renaissance.''
Eveyln Welch, Art Quarterly

`'A succinct introduction... by one of the world's foremost authorities''
The Independent

`'Illuminating''
Peter Ackroyd, The Times

`'Excellent''
Sunday Telegraph

`'Varied and illuminating... a thorough and fascinating celebration of a man of insatiable curiosity, who remains of inexhaustible interest to us even in the 21st century.''
Books Quarterly

`'brisk, notably lucid... a sensitive analysis of the major works''
Daily Mail

`'an ideal introductory guide to Leonardo da Vinci... Kemp goes in quest of the science, the inventions, and the many projects that obsessed the artist.''
Sue Baker, Publishing News Personal Choice

`'a lucid summary... elegantly and thoughtfully presented''
The Scotsman

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0192806440
• ISBN 13: 9780192806444
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304