Leonardo Da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man

By Martin Kemp

Book Overview

This masterly account of Leonardo da Vinci and his vision of the world has long been recognized as the classic treatment of the Renaissance giant, offering unparalleled insight into Leonardo's intellect and vision at every stage of his artistic career.
Martin Kemp, one of the world's leading authorities on Leonardo, takes us on a mesmerizing journey through the whole span of the great man's life, painting a fully integrated picture of his artistic, scientific, and technological achievements. Kemp shows how Leonardo's early training in Florence provided a crucial foundation in the "science of art," particularly perspective and anatomy, while his period in the service of the Sforzas of Milan enlarged his outlook to embrace a wide range of natural sciences and mathematics, as he searched for scientific rules governing both man and the universe. It was these rules, Kemp argues, which provided the basis for his imaginative reconstruction of nature in masterworks such as the Last Supper, The Mona Lisa, and St. John, which reveal his increasingly complex vision of man in the context of nature. And towards the end of his life, Leonardo became fascinated with the mathematics underlying the "design of nature," behind which lay the ultimate force of the "prime mover," as manifested with supreme power in his Deluge drawings.
Covering every aspect of Leonardo's achievement, generously illustrated, and now including a new introductory chapter setting Leonardo's work in its historical context, this fully updated edition provides unparalleled insight into the mind of this central figure in western art.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192807250
• ISBN13: 9780192807250
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 9.8" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Exceptionally Readable and Knowledgable

Kemp's book is exceedingly different from many accounts of the life of Leonardo da Vinci. It does not try to explain his entire life or place him on secret missions for the Church, nor does it find hidden meanings in his paintings. Leonardo da Vinci is a straight-forward text, and coupled with Kemp's easy-to-read writing style, is quite enjoyable. At times, Kemp becomes carried away with descriptions of Leonardo's work, but although it becomes tedious at times, this is done for a reason: he is following in the writing style of Leonardo himself. Kemp's narrative alludes to much, and while this works well in fiction, scholarly texts' facts should be clear when the point being made elevates the subject above others. This does not detract from the benefit all readers of this book would obtain from reading it, however, as it is insightful and thought-provoking. The sketches, illustrations, and paintings shown along with the corresponding text are not mentioned only once as just an example, but integrated extremely well into Kemp's vision of Leonardo and provides evidence for his thesis that the whole of his accomplishments could produce a clear understanding of Leonardo's "intellectual foundations."