Author(s): Walter Isaacson

Non-Fiction | Biographies & Memoirs

The author of the acclaimed bestsellers Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, and Steve Jobs delivers an engrossing biography of Leonardo da Vinci, the world's most creative genius. Leonardo da Vinci created the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and engineering. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius. Now Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life, showing why we have much to learn from him. His combination of science, art, technology, and imagination remains an enduring recipe for creativity. So, too, was his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His relentless curiosity should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it--to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.

The primary source for this book was the notebooks that Leonardo so diligently drew and wrote in. From these notebooks the author is able to connect the artist with the scientist. Leonardo's creativity was born of observation and application - in roughly equal measure. It seems mildly ironic that a man with such intellectual capacity liked nothing more than to lie in a field and look up at the sky.
When Leonardo was twenty six he was invited by the duke of Milan to come and live there. He seemed happy and for the following decade his creativity burgeoned. Milan was affluent and tolerant – which was fortunate because Leonardo was something of a misfit; illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted and occasionally heretical. Because paper was in short supply Leonardo filled the notebooks with the illustrations and thoughts that he was working on. The busy pages resemble a 'stream of consciousness' process and there are many dissimilar ideas on any one page.
During that early decade, Leonardo received his first serious painting commission. The duke of Milan asked him to paint a portrait of his mistress, known today as Lady With an Ermine. She has a similar smile to the Mona Lisa and it is thought that Leonardo was interested in how the lips work when we smile. That's just one example among many of how the artist and the scientist complemented each other.
This biography is a remarkable achievement and is destined to become a cornerstone text for anyone interested in art history.  Mike.