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Product Description
Peter Conrad, Observer
‘Charles Nicholl, in this bright, cunning, intrepidly intelligent biographical study, has startlingly demystified his enigmatic subject’
Peter Ackroyd, The Times
‘A splendid and encompassing biography’
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved the book and I eventually looked forward to my evening reading of it. The book in itself is well written and highly readable. I like the way Nicholl puts together the pieces and tries to fill the gaps with plausible contestualised hypothesis and stresses the fact that he is actually doing it. There are some parts that are also pure entertainment like when he describes the relationship between Leonardo and Isabella d'Este or his feud with Michelangelo and his being happier in Milan than Florence because they were more party like. The reason I don't give it 5 stars is because the whole psychoanalytic part got me irritated especially in the initial chapters. Freud theories are surpassed and I thought it was weird to apply them to Leonardo. I can think the only reason is because Freud himself worte a book about it. The second reason I give it only four is because it is true, as others have commented, that Leonardo amazing multitalent doesn't come through. We have glimpses but all his other activities are not as well described as his painting. However the book was good enough to make me want to go ahead with further reading.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
....please, please can publishers make books a bit more eye-friendly? I bought this book for an art history course, consulted it as a reference book first, using the truly excellent index. Then I read the first page, was introduced to the town of Leonardo's birth, to his neighbours, his charismatic family in a way that made me want to get to know them all better so I began to read it almost as I would a novel: in that sense it was a page-turner. But I soon realised I couldn't turn many pages because the print is far too small for comfort. I'm afraid it's gone back on the 'Reference' shelf, and it will certainly be referred to because it's knowledgeable and detailed. I feel almost cheated - I want to find out what happens to Leonardo and his family but I'll have to wait for another edition with clearer print.
74 of 85 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Nicoll manages to give a good view of the personality of Leonardo da Vinci, by describing what is known about da Vinci's childhood and then proceeding to describe his career as a *painter* in chronological order. Although in describing character Nicoll occasionally falls in depth into Freudian mumbojumbo, he has to be complemented that he does recognize that it is only fantastical speculation. The style of Nicoll is enjoyable and easy to read.
If you want to a good description of da Vinci the painter and his career, then this is the book for you. Nicoll goes in detail to the creation of many paintings of da Vinci, both those well known to general public and those less well known.
However, if you want a biography of da Vinci the multitalented man, then this book is definitely not for you. More space is given for description of a single art project that never came to be than is given to all the inventions and scientific contributions of da Vinci. As an example, Nicoll mentions that in the field of anatomy da Vinci's original contribution was greatest, and then proceeds to give six pages and two illustrations on the topic. And, unfortunately, most of these six pages is on the usefulness of the study of anatomy to a painter. More room is given to speculations about the possible identity of a female model in a painting lost hundreds of years ago than is given to the actual contribution of da Vinci to the field of anatomy. There is no description of the state of anatomical knowledge at the time and no description of how Leonardo added to this knowledge.
If you did not know anything about da Vinci before reading this book, you would finish with the impression that he was a mere painter and sculptor who never really did anything else - except dreamt of flying because of some Freudian type of childhood problem. Admittedly, paintings are perhaps the most lasting contribution of da Vinci, but they are not the reason why his figure appears in comics and novels, e.g. in Pratchett's Discworld books in disguise of Leonard da Quirm.
If the painting part was cut by 50 % and replaced by more detailed description of his other activities, this could be a very good book.
If you want to a good description of da Vinci the painter and his career, then this is the book for you. Nicoll goes in detail to the creation of many paintings of da Vinci, both those well known to general public and those less well known.
However, if you want a biography of da Vinci the multitalented man, then this book is definitely not for you. More space is given for description of a single art project that never came to be than is given to all the inventions and scientific contributions of da Vinci. As an example, Nicoll mentions that in the field of anatomy da Vinci's original contribution was greatest, and then proceeds to give six pages and two illustrations on the topic. And, unfortunately, most of these six pages is on the usefulness of the study of anatomy to a painter. More room is given to speculations about the possible identity of a female model in a painting lost hundreds of years ago than is given to the actual contribution of da Vinci to the field of anatomy. There is no description of the state of anatomical knowledge at the time and no description of how Leonardo added to this knowledge.
If you did not know anything about da Vinci before reading this book, you would finish with the impression that he was a mere painter and sculptor who never really did anything else - except dreamt of flying because of some Freudian type of childhood problem. Admittedly, paintings are perhaps the most lasting contribution of da Vinci, but they are not the reason why his figure appears in comics and novels, e.g. in Pratchett's Discworld books in disguise of Leonard da Quirm.
If the painting part was cut by 50 % and replaced by more detailed description of his other activities, this could be a very good book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Leonardo Da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind
Be warned this book is printed in very small type making accessing the contents a great chore - rather than a pleasure.
Published 5 months ago by Tea Gardener
A most readable biography
I've given the book 5 stars because it offered me everthing I wish for in a biography, and more. It was informative, full of information (as much as is known, anyway) about the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Frostycat
Flights of the MInd
Although I tend to agree with one of the reviews who comments on the size of the print (10pt?), I assume it was to keep this already 600+ pages biography "in bounds". Read more
Published 8 months ago by RR Waller
Leonardo's Life
I havent finsihed reading it yet, but so far its a great book, smoothly written and easy to read for a biography, great choice
Published 16 months ago by angelv
Good book, great read but the print is so small, why?
Own many paperbacks, this has by far the smallest print.
As for the book the other reviewers cover it well.
Just a warning about the print.
As for the book the other reviewers cover it well.
Just a warning about the print.
Published on 16 May 2010 by Al Zadeh
Da Vinci travels with Amazon
Book ordered and sent as a present to a relative.
The book is well researched and written and gives an insight in to the maestro?
The book is well researched and written and gives an insight in to the maestro?
Published on 23 Jun 2009 by Mr. Robert K. Littler
When is a life not a life?
This book, like Leonardo himself, is somewhat of a puzzle. It is a five hundred page biography about a man whom it appears we actually know very little about in terms of his daily... Read more
Published on 16 April 2008 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
The man and his time
Superbly researched, beautifully written, this book vividly evokes the life and times of one of the truly great geniuses of all time. Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2006 by Bibliophile
A struggle in places but worth the perserverence
This book is an enlightening read about a truly remarkable man. Da Vinci lived like no other man of his time and like few since. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2006 by Spider Monkey
Da Vinci myths debunked but the man appears greater for it.
A well researched epic work that kept my interest all the way. I could believe in the author´s take on Da Vinci, his early life, his insecurity of tenure of a career so linked... Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2006 by Michael J. Law
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