Other editions of book Leonardo Da Vinci

On the heels of Walter Isaacson's beloved new biography (Fall 2017), and increased media attention (as 2019 marks the 500th anniversary of the artist's death), this book's appeal will extend beyond the devoted and numerous members of Leonardo's audience to reach a popular one.The most comprehensive collection of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings provides an intimate look at the mind and hand of the genius.

"This book is about Leonardo the scientist, and to fully write of his many accomplishments would require an encyclopedic mind. My intent has been to extract the essence of his story in the hopes that it would arouse the enthusiasm of a reader to further his interest in those other, more fully documented books—and, above all, in the notebooks that Leonardo himself wrote." -Author's Note

Drawing was Leonardo da Vinci’s primary artistic activity. He used drawing to think, to explore the world around him and to develop his other artistic projects. His drawings are among the most diverse and technically accomplished in the entire history of art, and the Royal Collection holds by far the most important selection of these. In 2019, to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, a series of special exhibitions of his drawings will open simultaneously at 12 venues across the United Kingdom, including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton and Sunderland, with a further venue to be announced. This publication includes all 200 of the drawings shown across these venues and provides an authoritative account of Leonardo’s works within the Royal Collection.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was arguably the greatest draftsman in the history of Western art. Best known as a painter, he also excelled as a sculptor, architect, musician, anatomist, botanist, engineer, geologist, and mapmaker. But since he completed few of his projects, most of his work is known to us only through his drawings and notes.The collection of drawings by Leonardo at Windsor Castle is the most important in the world. This selection from Windsor Castle of one hundred sheets covers every aspect of his genius, reproducing in color for the first time many unfamiliar drawings as well as a range of better-known works.Included are preparatory sketches for the paintings such as the Adoration of the Magi and the Last Supper, designs for equestrian monuments, war machines, and costumes for court entertainments; studies relating to his enduring interest in water, flight, the divinely beautiful, and the comically grotesque; his striking and highly accurate maps; his analyses of human and equine proportion; and his studies in anatomy, taking the subject single-handedly from medieval traditions to the threshold of modern knowledge.

Leonardo was born in the village of Vinci, between the Tuscan cities of Empoli and Pistoia, on 15th April 1452. In 1469 the family moved to Florence, where his father sent him to study with the most versatile and sought-after Florentine master of the time: the sculptor; painter and goldsmith Andrea Verrocchio. In 1472 he was enrolled as a master in the Company of Painters. Leonardo was attracted to every sort of artistic discipline, and was able to complement those disciplines with his scientific knowledge, the fruit of tireless investigation into natural phenomena, which he observed acutely. Leonardo da Vinci examines the life of this painter, sculptor and engineer, including his time spent at the workshop of Verrochio, and the political and cultural atmosphere of Florence around 1480. The book also concentrates on particular elements found in da Vinci's works, including his use of action and movement, anatomy, mechanics, and caricature - and, of course, that smile.

Hardcover Folio 1609 gravure illustrations with 12 color plates, 518 pages. This volume is the most complete and authoritative work ever produced in Italy by the Instituto Geografico De Agostini just before the war, in conjunction with the famous exhibition of Leonardo's work in Milan 1938. Recently Emil Vollmer (publisher) joined with the Instituto and re-edited the volume making entirely new illustration plates from which this edition is printed.