3 Review(s)

Leonardo da Vinci: Notebooks gives the reader an insight into Leonardo’s range of interests that included architecture, optics, painting, engineering and anatomy. It includes an outline of his life detailed through his writings that are filled with fables. Summary Of The Book The new edition of Leonardo da Vinci: Notebooks brings to the reader a selection from around six thousand surviving sheets that comprises one fifth of the notebooks of Leonardo. It features a preface by the renowned Leonardo expert, Martin Kemp, and includes around seventy of the artist’s line drawings. In his notebooks, Leonardo recorded all such things that caught his interest, and his study of how things worked. With an eye of an artist and the curiosity of a scientist, he spent his time studying the formation of rocks, the movement of water, and his observations with regard to light, optics, sculpture, anatomy, architecture and painting, all of which he duly noted down. Leonardo da Vinci: Notebooks is separated into seven themed sections, along with an editorial commentary that helps the reader place the material in the right context. The newly included introduction and preface familiarize the reader with Leonardo’s genius and the legacy and substance of his manuscripts. Furthermore, it contains newly scanned illustrations along with four new ones. The Chronology of Leonardo and the accompanying explanatory notes make it easier for a reader to grasp the nuances of the contents of the manuscripts. Leonardo da Vinci: Notebooks is an ideal read for those who wish to get an introduction to the works of Leonardo da Vinci and his life. It is also recommended for readers who are interested in the history of art and in the Renaissance. Lastly, readers who wish to gain an understanding of subjects such as sculpture, painting, engineering, architecture, optics, botany, anatomy, astronomy and hydrodynamics, will find this book very useful. About The Authors Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, architect, inventor, musician, writer and sculptor. Da Vinci was born to Piero da Vinci and Caterina out of wedlock in 1452. He was a renowned painter, and is known for the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He studied under a Florentine painter called Verrocchio. He was also known for designing flying machines, solar power, and a tank. He died in 1519, at the age of 67. Irma A. Richter was a Leonardo da Vinci scholar, translator, author, and artist. One of her other books is Rhythmic Form In Art. Richter was born in Paris, France, in 1876. She studied at the Slade School of Art, Oxford University. Inspite of being an artist, her knowledge of languages and art history led her to write about Leonardo da Vinci. She died in 1956, in Rome, Italy.