"Kemp takes a fresh look at the master's work through a broadly chronological exploration of 100 of his key milestones in art, science, engineering, architecture, anatomy and more."--Back of jacket.

A long-awaited new translation of Giorgio Vasari's "Life of Leonardo da Vinci," illustrated for the first time, that preserves Vasari's compelling narrative and respects his meaning with a new precision. Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550 and 1568) is a classic of cultural history. In his monumental assembly of artists' lives, no life is more vivid than that of Leonardo da Vinci, a near-contemporary of Vasari. Illustrated with the works of art discussed by Vasari, and including a selection of Da Vinci's studies of science and technology, The Life of Leonardo da Vinci paints an intriguing picture of the progress of art in the hands of the master. Succinct notes also provide new insights in light of modern knowledge of Da Vinci's career. This beautiful gift edition offers a literary translation by eminent scholar Martin Kemp that respects the sixteenth-century Italian, transposing Vasari's vocabulary into its modern equivalent. Translat

The world's leading authority on Leonardo da Vinci takes readers to the heart of the Renaissance master's genius--his visual thinking. Probing the mystery of how da Vinci thought graphically, on paper, Kemp traces not only his approach to modeling but also fascinating efforts by modern engineers to build his inventions.

"Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is renowned as a painter, designer, draftsman, architect, engineer, scientist, and theorist. His work as a sculptor is not commonly acknowledged, and many have argued that Leonardo believed that sculpture was an inferior art form ("of lesser genius than painting"). Challenging and overturning these assumptions, Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture looks at the sculptural projects that the artist undertook, as well as the late Renaissance sculptures that were indebted to him. Leonardo consistently drew inspiration from ancient sculpture, admired the work of such contemporary sculptural innovators as Donatello, and even trained under Andrea del Verrocchio, the preeminent bronze sculptor of late 15th-century Florence. Furthermore, Leonardo spent many years of his life working on two larger-than-life-sized horse sculptures - Sforza and Trivulzio - monuments to Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and to Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, his successor. Although ne

"Most of what we know about Leonardo da Vinci, we know because of his notebooks. Some 6,000 sheets of notes and drawings survive, perhaps one-fifth of what he actually produced. With an artist's eye and a scientist's curiosity, he recorded in these pages his observations on the movement of water and the formation of rocks, the nature of flight and optics, anatomy, architecture, sculpture, and painting. He jotted down fables, epigrams, and letters and developed his belief in the sublime unity of nature and man. Through his notebooks we can get an insight into Leonardo's thoughts, and his approach to work and life. This selection, organized in seven themed sections, offers a fascinating and informative sample of his writings. Fully updated, this new edition includes some 70 line drawings and a Preface by Martin Kemp, one of the world's leading authorities on Leonardo, who explores the artist's genius and the contents and legacy of his manuscripts. The book also features new notes and a c

Leonardo's writings on painting were never edited by Leonardo himself into a coherent treatise. The book known as Leonardo's Treatise on Painting, first published in 1651, comprises a compilation of quotations, described by one early translator as a "chaos of intelligence." This anthology aims to bring order into the chaos, so Leonardo's views can be read in a logical and sequential manner. The authors have edited material not only from the Treatise but also from Leonardo's surviving manuscripts and from other primary sources, some of which are here translated for the first time. Included among these are Leonardo's own letters and memoranda, letters by contemporaries, and important documents to which he was a signatory. The book begins by looking at Leonardo's general principles of painting. Then follow sections on the optical foundations of art, the human body, the appearance of nature, and the practice of painting, including instructions for the artist and evocative accounts of subje

Salvator Mundi (The Savior of the World) became the world₂s most expensive painting when it was sold at Christie₂s for $450 million in 2017. Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci after its discovery, the painting unleashed passions while revealing the excesses of our time. But is it the work of the Italian genius, or one of the greatest scams in the history of art? A modern tale of globalization, Savior for Sale delves into the secrets of the art world and explores the influence that one painting can exert on personal and geopolitical interests...

An exploration of Leonardo da Vinci's life and work, identifying what it was that made him so unique. Tells of his unfulfilled dreams, relationships with powerful patrons, and the truth about his views on God, humans, and nature.

"The true story of the Mona Lisa--the people behind it, how Leonardo painted it and what it meant to him, and its fortunes in the centuries since. Read this book and the world's most famous image will never look the same again."--Back cover.