5 comments about Leonardo da Vinci.

1. Meet Leonardo da Vinci, a man of vision who was centuries ahead of his time. Born April 15, 1452, and raised in his father's house, Leonardo was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero, "...an important man, a leading citizen of Vinci." and a peasant girl. Because of the circumstances of his birth, he was not entitled to an upper class education in banking, medicine, or law, and "what little schooling he got probably came from the parish priest and was limited to reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. He later described himself as an omo sanza lettere, a man without education." As a boy, Leonardo showed talent for drawing, and was sent to Florence to apprentice with the famous artist, Andrea del Verrocchio. And it was there that the course of his life began to take shape. Though his superb artistic talents were quickly recognized, and Leonardo was commissioned to paint many important works during his lifetime, he had a short attention span and was always restless, often failing to complete his pieces. His imagination, his interests and genius went far beyond art and painting. He was fascinated with anatomy, engineering, science, and music, and filled thousands of pages in his now famous notebooks with his ideas, plans, drawings and inventions. He was employed by kings, princes and popes, and was the friend of Machiavelli, Cesar Borgia and King Francis I, of France. But throughout his life he never married, and was a very solitary man..... Diane Stanley brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this beautifully written and well researched, introductory biography. Her easy to read, conversational text is entertaining, engaging and intelligent, and packed full of history, drama, mystery, fun facts, anecdotes, and sketches from Leonardo's notebooks. Her graceful and elegant illustrations complement the story line beautifully, and really capture the essence of the artist and his times. With an introduction detailing the Italian Renaissance, and a Postscript to enhance and complete the narrative, this is an informative and spellbinding biography. Perfect for youngsters 9-12, Leonardo da Vinci is a wonderful addition to Ms Stanley's highly acclaimed biographical series, and a book that definitely shouldn't be missed.



2. For those who do not yet know, Diane Stanley writes the best kid-level biographies out there, and Leonardo da Vinci is no exception. She carefully traces his life from birth (including alluding to the legitamacy question) to death. Worked into the illustrations are many of Leonardo's works (so that you needn't buy a separate book for your child to appreciate them). A wonderful book that should be mandatory reading!



3. The cover of this excellent juvenile biography of Leonardo Da Vinci is quite interesting because it shows him as a young man in front of the background from his most famous painting, the "Mona Lisa." I saw a story once that compared the face of the "Mona Lisa" with the famous red ink drawing of Da Vinci as an old man, which did size comparisons and argued they were the same. In other words, the "Mona Lisa" is really a self-portrait of Da Vinci. This makes a bit of sense since the artist worked on it for years, obviously with the benefit of a model. Diane Stanley's cover painting, intentionally or not, references this intriguing hypothesis.

   Stanley does some fascinating things with the art throughout this book. She puts reproductions of Da Vinci's actual paintings into her own works and includes various drawings by Da Vinci to complement her text. Young readers will learn about the highlights of Da Vinci's life, both as an artist and as an inventor. Consequently, they will see not only the painting of "The Last Supper" but the flying machine he designed. In a fascinating postscript Stanley details what happened to the grave of Da Vinci and what few of his paintings remain. Stanley provides an excellent introduction to the life of the original Renaissance Man.




4. Leonardo Da Vinci is, in many ways, the perfect subject for a children's biography. Above and beyond his myriad of accomplishments (scientist, inventor, artist) his life is one of adventure and interest. The illegitimate son of a leading man of Vinci, Leonardo went into the artistic life precisely because he was considered too base for a, "noble profession".
   
   This book is a combination of good artistry and confounding problems. On the one hand, Stanley has drawn beautiful accompanying pictures for each point in Leonardo's life. On the other hand, these pictures sometimes take liberties with the few details of the artist's life we know of. When the text states that Leonardo, "found a loving friend in his young uncle Francesco", the accompanying picture shows the boy piggyback on his uncle. It would be nice if such facts were given appropriate footnotes, but all sources are listed in the end of the book without any references to pages. Also, the aging of Leonardo is a little haphazard. One moment he's a young man writing a letter. The next moment he's bearded and about to slice up a corpse. The Duchy of Milan is described as having black hair and dark skin, but appears to be more of a slightly tan Italian. These are tiny details, but they distract from an otherwise interesting text.

   Undoubtedly, the actual drawings and sketches Leonardo made in his lifetime are some of the best parts of this book. It would have been nice if Stanley had included more of them in the story. Leonardo's paintings are nicely presented, but they're usually seen from a distance. At no point do we get a detailed and close look at any art that Leonardo created. Finally, a timeline would have been helpful in this story, but it has not been included.

   None of this is to say that Stanley hasn't taken a difficult subject and made an interesting book out of it. The final product is a bit too advanced for those children accustomed to reading picture books, but older kids may shy away from the type of book they would consider "babyish". Open minded children may be the best audience for this piece of non-fiction. For those of you who would like something a little more in depth and interesting, I recommend "Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer". In interesting book that suffers from an array of tiny nagging problems.




5. I get this feeling that interest in Leonardo da Vinci is going to really increase next month (there's this little film called "The Da Vinci Code" coming out, based on a modestly-selling book). If you are too lazy to read an adult biography on Leonardo (and I am), this book provides an excellent glimpse into da Vinci's life and artwork. Kids love the pictures, and I love subversively introducing students to paintings (even though art is no longer taught in most schools). For more cool adult, young adult and children's book recommendations (under 250 pages), visit www.lazyreaders.com.

3 comments about Leonardo's Machines: Da Vinci's Inventions Revealed.

1. excellent illustrations. this book is a must for anybody contemplating building any of Leonardo's machines. Particularly for school projects. Disappointed that the crossbow wasn't included. Otherwise probably one of the best books available on his machines.



2. I bought this book because I have tickets to see the traveling exhibit, "The Da Vinci Experience", in a couple months. It is a gorgeous book. Each machine covered has copies of the Da Vinci original plans, plus the editor's illustrations breaking the machine into it's components, with the placements of said componenets. Each machine has explanations of how components and the full machine work (or are supposed to work). Also, each machine has a history of Leonardo's drawings, purpose, client or personal notebooks, etc. It's a great book and looks gorgeous. I wouldn't think it would be a how-to for a school project unless the kid/parent had a lot of mechanical experience beforehand. All drawings show "real" components that you'd need a full shop to put together. There are no measurements, per se, just comparative sizes shown in the drawings. In the case of Leonardo's original drawings, it looks like this was deliberate. For example, the book's Introduction tells of Leonardo's problems with Giorgio Tedesco, an assistant of a prominant Medici. He wanted Leonardo to build him wooden models of several inventions. Leonardo successfully argued that he could only give Tedesco the scaled drawings. Historians surmise that Leonardo suspected that Tedesco would take the models back to his country, and take them apart to make full-sized machines out of iron without Leonardo's help. Job security was no laughing matter in the 1500's! Love the book. Can't wait to see the working full-sized (except for the half-size helicopter)models made from the drawings in the exhibition.



3. Facinating book with gorgeous drawings. We bought it for our 8 year old son who has always loved inventing and drawing machines of his own creation and were so impressed with it that we bought a copy to donate to his school library too.

5 comments about Leonardo Da Vinci: 1452-1519: The Complete Paintings and Drawings (Taschen 25th Anniversary).

1. If you don't know much about art but know what you like, this might be the sort of book for you. Leonardo's life is described in this basic biography, focusing on his famous works of art (finished and unfinished) and on his supporting works as well (sketches, architectural and mechanical ideas). The book is printed on glossy high grade magazine paper with color illustrations on almost every page. It brings the artist and his works to the reader in a presentation that caters to those who enjoy have an appriciation, though not an expertise, for art.



2. Some painting and drawing works are reproduced too dark with murky spots, where most details are indistinguishable. Additionally, the colors are distorted by a brownish (sepia) hue. So, on many dark works only basic elements are visible, e.g.: The Virgin of the Rocks on p. 28 and 31, Portrait of a Young Man on p. 48, The Last Supper on p. 53 as well as Burlington House Cartoon (too dark cartoon) on p. 60. Other works may also be affected. The Last Supper is divided between two pages connecting thru Christ's face, and a whole center of the fresco is sunk in a groove between the pages. The printing is good, and on good paper.



3. La serie Basic Art de la Editorial Taschen funciona como introduccion al tema, es una peque?a guia muy ilustrada y condensada para todos aquellos que viven sin tiempo para leer un trabajo mas profundo o solo desea comensar a entender sobre la vida y obra de su pintor favorito, asi que el libro es peque?o pero vale la pena darle una ojeada.

   En esta edicion en ESPA?OL sobre la vida y obra de Leonardo Da Vinci (el personaje m?s fascinante del Renacimiento)la cual esta en el formato de pasta dura(hardcover) nos ense?a las primeras obras del gran maestro del Renacimiento, una cronologia de su vida y muchas ilustraciones de sus pinturas mas conocidas como tambien las que no son parte de un tour y estan en colecciones privadas, es una obra bellisima no es la obra definitiva ya que hay trabajos mucho mas completo sobre su vida e influencia pero si es un buen comienso para entender al famoso y controversial Da Vinci. 96 paginas totalmente ilustrada a color con muchos detalles de pintura y bosetos del pintor asi como sus dotes en otras ramas como la musica la escultura y las ciencias pero esta obra es dedicada por completo a su pintura.Muy recomendado.




4. My coffe table looks good with this on it and people do pick it up when they come over. There are alot of good works of Da Vinci in here though not all of his art is covered. I do like the fact that some of the paintings are broken down, showing the undersketches and practice drawings. I have tried my hand at replicating a few of the drawings and am overwelmed at the quality of the paintings done centuries ago. The skin is luminouse!Hey, come on, it's cheap & fun. Buy it!



5. After a recent trip to Italy I scoured the museums there for some good books on the famous paintings I had just seen. All were much too expensive, given the value of the Euro versus the dollar. So I made a list of the books I liked and vowed to purchase them on Amazon when I returned home. This was one of those purchases.
   
   The book is big (over a foot long, three thumbs thick) and heavy. You won't be taking this to the park to read. Great for a coffee table. There are a good mix of close-ups and detailed shots of Da Vinci's work. The text includes some good history of the works (why they were commissioned, some info about the subjects, etc.). It also showcases some of Leonardo's student's work, which they more or less copied from their teacher.
   
   The book does include some detail about the work themselves and how the time in history impacted the works. My only regret (and why I didn't give it five stars) is that the book doesn't include more text about the details of the works themselves, ala "Da Vinci Code". For example, I'd love more explanation of the symmetry between certain figures or other curious features of Leonardo's work (why is that angelic figure holding its hand like a knife where John the Baptist's head should be in "Madonna of the Rocks"?)
   
   Overall, worth the money for those that enjoy contemplating the works of this Master.

2 comments about Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series).

1. Wonderful book for kids who love to learn. Great info and facts even for adults. Highly recommend.



2. We are homeschoolers using this book in part of a unit on Inventors. My eight year old is able to read and enjoy the history behind the different inventions. I thought it would just be a "how to" book, but we are both really enjoying the well written historical information in this book. It really makes Leonardo and the world he lived in come alive. I like to just browse through the book and look at all of Leonardo's sketches as well.
   
   The pictures and instructions are fairly easy to follow. The inventions do use common items, but we don't always have the right "common" items at the right times. We have modified most of the directions to use what we actually have in our house. Today we wanted to make the camera obscura, but we just threw out our last empty Pringles can... guess we'll be eating lots of chips in the next week :)

5 comments about The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook: Your Personal Companion to How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.

1. This is very sad book with little merit. A perfect example of an author scamming the reading public. I wish there was some kind of publishing board that could review books and prohibit some from being published.



2. At first I was skeptical but the workbook has turned out great. I have been using it on and off at times in my life when a lot of things are going on and I need a way to rethink about what I am really doing with my life. It may not be for everyone but for the few people who are ambitious or have lots of intrest, this book can help bring everything in perspective. It's not even that expensive. Also, it doubles as a journal if you don't care for the exercises.



3. I bought this book and the companion workbook, read it, then had a presentation done for my professional organization of which I am the state president this year. It was smashing!
   
   I recomend this to anyone who is interested in learning how to "think outside the box" and to really explore how to think and approach everyday things in a different manner.
   
   These books lend themselves well to seminars for groups and for academia.



4. I was looking for something to share with my daughter for her Home school projects but fell in love with this book and workbook for myself instead!
   This is a wonderful book to thrill and inspire you to learn new things about yourself every day! Why rush through it?! It was meant to be savored slowly like wine and cheese so don't rush your way through it!
   I AM a Leonardo da Vincian Thinker!



5. I bought this workbook along with the parent book, "How to think like Da vinci."
   
   I truly enjoyed the parent book, and actually did some of the exercises (the 100 question one specifically). Some of the exercises seemed kind of contrived. If I had it to do over again, I would not buy the workbook, but would instead just buy a journal (as the book suggests) and record your creativity ideas there and do what exercises you desire out of the book and record the results in your journal. This way you are working in one journal.
   
   I do not mean for this to take away from the Main book at all. This workbook seems to be more of a marketing device that a very useful too.
   
   Leon

3 comments about Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? (Who Was...?).

1. This is one of the best biographies aimed at children that I have ever read. The main narrative is interspersed with sidebars about different historical explanations about relevant topics such as the invention of paper, ranking of workers within the guild system, Copernicus, The illustrations by True Kelley are light-hearted, accessible, and they carry the text. How else do you explain a painting?



2. Great subject for a children book. I got this series of books for my daughter and she really enjoyes reading them. Great read and educational too.



3. The friends at my school read Who Was? Books too. so, i decided to read them and they're SO COOL! I Own 12 Who Was? Books and have read 18. Who Was? Books are so popular at my school. My friend that i was talking about read all the Who Was? Books and has 16.

5 comments about The Da Vinci Code.

1. Dan Brown is an illusionist. It attracted, like all good writers successful thrillers American audiences. The ingredients are familiar: Action brutal murder in the singular and plural (serial killing), incomprehension, investigation, doubt, lack of knowledge, tenacity (alone against all), happy ending. Passion thrillers (see my listmania), I know the ropes most used to give the maximum chances of a successful sale. On the "thriller", "Da Vinci" is lourdaud.
   
   Dan Brown is a forger doubled a liar. How can one argue that the Bible (and therefore the Old and New Testament) was a work commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century? How can you write that the "Priory of Sion is a secret society founded at the end of XI century by Godfrey de Bouillon" who knows the truth about marriage with Mary Magdalene and the descendants of Christ and therefore lies founder the Church? ... then it is a supposed French association under the 1901 law declared in 1956. And how many other pearls ... like the androgyny of Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa) ... I still laugh.
   
   Dan Brown is a man who has faith hatred of the Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular. He is a descendant - representing heresies fought with accuracy since its inception by the Church. These are called heresies the arianism, Catharism and Jansenism. They say that God is a pure spiritual being therefore could not have had a Son of a similar nature to him. But Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God. That is what the Church professes, in full transparency, everyone. The profession of faith of the Church is radically opposed to any elitist philosophy - elected on the one hand and esoteric on the other.
   
   Dan Brown has mixed genres: the thriller, the invention sometimes committed to history, sometimes lies, and hatred skillfully distilled the Church.
   
   I invite the reader critical read the excellent book by Jesuit Father Bernard Sesboüé which dismantles this horror: "The Da Vinci Code explained to its readers." (in French)



2. Makes sense to me!! I loved this book! I know it was fiction but somehow I think he speaks a bit of truth in this book! You will love this book!



3. Ok, I have neither bought nor read this 'book', and never will, but I read the excerpt.
   If English is Dan Brown's first language, then he has major problems, unless he is a 10 year old slow learner. Ok, he has made a lot of money from this piece of rubbish, but why not take a quick course in creative writing beforehand to learn the basics of style.
   The Hardy Boys books are advanced literature in comparison!



4. A fast-paced suspense (more than pure mystery) novel about the Holy Grail and the secret societies (apparently a veritable Yellow Pages worth) whose goal is either to protect or expose it.
   
   Good fun, although its statements about the verity of the Bible, the orthodox canon, and other apocryphal works are disturbing. In fact, my distaste for this part of the book, plus its fast-food-like lack of weightiness knocks it down a peg from the "Worth my Time" level.



5. 
   I found this book to be acomplete waste of time,money and it was wrote in such a way to let people think it was true by saying that all art work ,architect, religous acts are fact when not one is and Every thing that stated fact in the book by Dan Brown and the characters is a completely fictional.
   And it was wrote mainly to attack christianity !

5 comments about Leonardo's Notebooks.

1. Not one single problem with this book, I would recomend buying it for anyone anytime



2. This is a great book that I had been looking forward to getting for a while. The images and writting is good, although a bit hard to understand at times. The ONLY problem I have with this book that gets it a 4 out of 5 stars for me is the fact that it is so tall and wide. Granted it makes looking at the pictures much easier but it also makes storage of this book MUCH harder. The book is to tall to stand on any but the top shelf on all of my book shelfs and it is so wide that it protudes from the edge of the shelf.
   
   Don't let this distract you from getting this book however. It's detailed pictures are wonderful considering the orginal size of the works and the translations help with the reading. There's a section for each catagory, such as anatomy and lighting, which really helps if you want to look at certain types of works. The greatness of these pictures will have you looking at each page for hours, just to see all the details.
   
   I would suggest this book for anyone from an art lover to a history fanatic. I use it as a reference book for one of my drawing classes. It's a great buy for anyone and everyone.



3. If you are a book lover, adding this to your collection is a must.
   The illustrations are well formatted with clearly written text. It is a book I keep on display and refer to often. When people visit, they cannot help but stop to thumb through the book.I have to remind them that dinner is getting cold!!



4. The only thing keeping this book from top grade is that the author didn't help with a deduction of Leonardo's letters where it surely was needed - in the anatomical studies for example.
   This makes it hard to understand the meaning of the drawings compared with the translated text, because Leonardo's letters(in the drawings) doesn't look like anything from the Roman alphabet. So when the meaning of the letters that appears in the drawings are mentioned in the text, you can't understand what letters goes with what in the drawings, because the text ONLY use the Roman alphabet(and NOT Leonardo's letters as seen in the drawings).
   
   In other words, to fully get the whole meaning of Leonardo's writings and drawings you do need a "Leonardo - Roman alphabet" dictionary.
   This is a major set back, and the worst is that the author could have avoided this so easily.
   
   Other than that the book is amazing.



5. As an Art History professor, I am very impressed with Leonardo's Notebooks. This oversized book contains Leonardo da Vinci's detailed sketches, many of which are new to me. In addition, this book provides commentary written by the artist himself on his theories, inventions, plans for artwork, and philosopohies. I've referred this text to fellow professors as a remarkable resource for philosophical beliefs presented by the original Renaissance Man.

5 comments about I, Mona Lisa.

1. I picked this book based on other reviews and was not disappointed. I was torn between 4 and 5 rating. The author's story is rich in historical detail. If you've ever visited Florence or plan on it this is a must read. The romance was artfully woven between the intrigue so the book is hard to label with one set genre. All around wonderful book for a weekend read.



2. This is by far one of my ultimate favourites, it is a book that has it all, history, romance, heartbreak, death and plots that leave you guessing! I literally could not put it down, I loved the love affair between the young Lisa and Guiliano and how their love conquers all in a time of greed, power and determination.
   
   It is set in a time of religious upheval in 15th Century Florence, and it is based around one of the worlds most famous paintings 'Mona Lisa'. Lisa is the character for which the book is centered around, she grows up in a time art and culture but while this florishes, so does a romance with the son of the powerful Medici family. They meet, fall in love, marry, but this is short lived as plots are made to destroy the Medici's, and that is where the couple are torn apart, as he is believed to be dead! Lisa's fights for his honour and for recognition in a world ruled by power, money and religion.



3. If you like tales of love, lust, murder, and conspiracy, then this is the book for you. This was my first taste of historical fiction, and I've fallen in love. The fact that parts of the story actually happened, makes the fictional piece that much more intruiging - gives it that what if factor. Have fun with this one! I couldn't put it down.



4. This is the first Jeanne Kalogridis novel I read. I liked I, Mona Lisa so much that it inspired me to pick up The Borgia Bride which I liked even better. That inspired me to pick up The Burning Times, which I hated, but I digress...
   
   I, Mona Lisa opens with the Pazzi conspiracy. You can almost hear the swords clanging together in the great Florentine cathedral, surrounded by priceless Rennaissance art. With this fascinating beginning, we meet the main charactor, Lisa di Antonio Gherardini, the woman depicted in the famous painting Mona Lisa. Little is known about Lisa - in fact, it is only recently that the art history community has committed unequivocably to her identity as the subject of the Mona Lisa. The author uses Lisa's anonymity (aside from the fact that she is subject of the most famous painting in the world) to link her to the Pazzi Conspiracy and the most famous family of Rennaissance Florence: the Medici. Lisa's merchant husband comes across as a slimy boor in this novel - I felt sorry for him post-humously, as we really know nothing about him and the novel truly is a character assassination. I felt uncomfortable with the author's use of a private person, even a long dead one, as a tool to create a story of intrigue about Lisa Gherardini. Aside from this discomfort, the story Kalogridis weaves is fascinating!
   
   Kalogridis creates a very realistic vew of fifteenth century Florence. It is fascinating to "meet" various historical figures and connect those historical figures to a supremely interesting world. Twentieth century political scandals are nothing compared to the political intrigues of the Rennaissance! Between a doomsday professing preist who becomes an iron fisted leader of Florence, the scandalous Pope Alexander VI, murderous power struggles amongst the great families of Florence, fifteenth century teenage angst, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and a fascinating series of cameos by other Rennaissance greats, this novel is a great choice for historical fiction enthusiasts and lovers of thrillers alike!



5. I didn't this I'd like this novel, but it really grew on me. The characterizations are the best Ive seen. I'd like to see more stories that are this well plotting.

5 comments about How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day.

1. While browsing in a bookstore the title caught my eye so I scanned a random selection of pages and found it interesting but did not purchase it then. Over the course of the next week I found I was thinking about what I'd read and decided to explore further but couldn't find it at my local library, and finally decided to get my own copy. I've found it personally motivating and useful. Some of the ideas I'd read elsewhere and found some concepts new to me. While I don't want to be a Da Vinci mimick, I feel the Da Vinci theme makes it useful to catch and hold attention. I think Mr. Gelb has organized the book well in order to help a lot of folks buiid a personal foundation to develop more creative thinking.
   Will this book solve all my/your problems - no. It will provide good basic tools to help you think them through and develop your own well rounded personal growth.



2. I have now read this book twice and given it to several associates. I am in the middle of the exercises, and am choosing changes that will improve my life. I suspect I wouldn't have made these changes at this time without going through this process, and only wish I had stumbled across this earlier.



3. Sorry I can't get interested in a book written by someone who obviously has not researched DaVincie.At best, his coverage of Da Vinci is superficial. the rest is made up. There should be a way to vet this kind of book before it's published.



4. This was one of the best books I have read in a while. Don't try to rush through this book, read a chapter then think about it. I would consider this a 'MUST HAVE' on anyone's book shelf who is interested in creativity and increasing their creativity. 'Nuff Said.
   
   Leon



5. a friend of mine found this book on the streets of san francisco, i got lured by the bold title, and here i am :)
   
   .. and why not learn something from the maestro? the numerous (and fantastic) accounts-of and quotes-from leonardo da vinci make this book! the action-oriented "how might this help you" orientation makes for an easy and exciting read. there's a lot of interesting details about leonardo (he was a vegetarian..) and the renaissance period overall
   
   the main content is laid out in a series of seven (one for each "da vincian principle") two-part chapters; the first part containing fascinating accounts of leonardo's approach to life - the second, recommendations of how you might develop the principle within your life (eg: "curiousita.. and you")
   
   the recommendations are fairly trite - lacking the da vincian principle of "sfumato" ("a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty") - but they're easy to skim through. for example, page 233 offers this advice on improving your skills of "connessione" ("recognition of and appreciation for interconnectedness")
   
   ---
   
   "what connections can you make between: a bullfrog and the internet?
   the frog's feet are webbed; the internet links you to the world wide web"
   
   ---
   
   most of the suggestions aren't this bad, but it's representative of the (imo) over-simplified approach to the stated goal of "how to think like leonardo da vinci"
   
   but again, they're easy to skim over and i enjoyed the book overall