Connessione: A recognition and appreciation for the connectedness of all things and phenomena; "systems thinking."</ul>
Gelb discusses each of these principles in relation to what da Vinci accomplished, thereby giving this book a built-in history lesson. The illustrations from the master's work and time add a nice warmth to the work. As the president of NPR said after working with Gelb, this is a program recommended for "anyone who wants to experience a personal and professional Renaissance."
Book Description
Genius is made, not born. And human beings are gifted with an almost unlimited potential for learning and creativity. Now you can uncover your own hidden abilities, sharpen your senses, and liberate your unique intelligence—by following the example of the greatest genius of all time, Leonardo da Vinci.
Acclaimed author Michael J. Gelb, who has helped thousands of people expand their minds to accomplish more than they ever thought possible, shows you how. Drawing on Da Vinci's notebooks, inventions, and legendary works of art, Gelb introduces Seven Da Vincian Principles—the essential elements of genius—from curiosità, the insatiably curious approach to life to connessione, the appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things. With Da Vinci as your inspiration, you will discover an exhilarating new way of thinking. And step-by-step, through exercises and provocative lessons, you will harness the power—and awesome wonder—of your own genius, mastering such life-changing abilities as:
Problem solving
Creative thinking
Self-expression
Enjoying the world around you
Goal setting and life balance
Harmonizing body and mind
Drawing on Da Vinci's notebooks, inventions, and legendary works of art, acclaimed author Michael J. Gelb, introduces seven Da Vincian principles, the essential elements of genius, from curiosita, the insatiably curious approach to life, to connessione, the appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things. With Da Vinci as their inspiration, readers will discover an exhilarating new way of thinking.
Step-by-step, through exercises and provocative lessons, anyone can harness the power and awesome wonder of their own genius, mastering such life-changing skills as problem solving, creative thinking, self-expression, goal setting and life balance, and harmonizing body and mind. —
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2007-05-23
I've studied Da Vinci, and, because of that I looked forward toward reading this book. I was sorely disappointed. This is mostly a made up fiction which makes me wonder about why a publisher publishes a book like this without even an elementary attempt to check the facts.
Genius! Sheer Genius!.......2007-04-01
I CAN THINK LIKE LEONARDO da VINCI!!!
I bought both the book and the workbook at the same time and during nights when I can't sleep I stay up late and work on my Leonardo thinking workbook; which is a spiral notebook with all of my Leonardo type thoughts and expiriments in it! This book is simple enough for my five year old to enjoy learning about but practical enough for me to enjoy every night on my own after the family has gone to bed. If you like Leonardo, and appreciate art, you will LOVE this set!
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.......2007-01-16
This book has been out a long time,..and it's wonderful.
Good book.......2006-11-10
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci was a book I was required to read for a class and honestly was not thrilled about, but I ended up loving it! If you have any interest in da Vinci, this is a good book to read, and even if you don't, it will make you think more about what kind of thinker you are.
A lot of bun, a little beef.......2006-11-03
There were a few good ideas here, just a lot of padding. Probably worth buying - if you get it used....
Average customer rating:
- Noteworthy notebooks
- Gift
- Long Live Da Vinci
- The first Renaissance man
- A Glimpse into the Creator's Mind
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Leonardo's Notebooks
Leonardo da Vinci , and H. Anna Suh
Manufacturer: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
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- Leonardo da Vinci : Flights of the Mind: A Biography
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- How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day
ASIN: 1579124577 |
Book Description
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) possessed arguably the greatest mind the world has ever known. Artist, draftsman, inventor, and philosopher, his contributions to modern society are profound and wide-reaching. Throughout his life, Leonardo kept dozens of notebooks, elegant studies on topics ranging from architecture to botany to philosophy—indeed nearly anything of which the human imagination could conceive.
<em>Leonardo’s Notebooks</em> collects a variety of the most fascinating of these studies and compiles them into one monumental volume that demystifies his insights and clearly illustrates his ideas, experiments, and observations with hundreds of his original sketches, line drawings, and paintings. Topics include Anatomy and the Movement of the Human Figure; Botany and Landscape; Engineering and Military Engineering; Physical Sciences; Aerodynamics and Flight; Geography—and more.
Customer Reviews:
Noteworthy notebooks.......2007-02-23
If you enjoy researching from old documents, you will enjoy this book. It isn't an easy read, however, if you're looking for just an armchair novel. Leonardo had his opinions on many subjects, and wrote fairly technically. The drawings are wonderful, as you might expect, and the diversity of subjects gives the reader a glimpse into his wide range of interests.
Gift.......2007-01-15
This was a Christmas gift for my father. He liked the background detail and all the glossy pages of artwork.
Long Live Da Vinci.......2007-01-04
Reading the words that were penned by the master himself is a spine tingling experience. Even if you have trouble understanding it, or can't really learn anything, you are exposing yourself to the words and teachings of one of the greatest thinkers ever to walk the planet. That in itself is an amazing and inspirational experience.
This is a greatly presented work. It contains only a small portion of all his work, (many pages of his notebooks were destroyed ages ago) but this bit here is enough for years of study and development.
The first Renaissance man.......2006-12-17
Nothing of Leonardo DAVinci's sketchbooks were published until the 20th century. These are some of the most important documents of the Renaissance, and they did not become known until the 20th century. There are still people who do not know how important this work was. His anatomical studies were a watershed moment, because they introduced visual diagrams as the standard for communicating knowledge of the body and self. This was no more and no less than the conviction that the true knowledge of the shape of any body could only be arrived at by seeing it from different aspects. The truth of the body, the truth of the human being can only be discovered by looking at the body from multiple aspects, like; level, motion, perspective, transformation and growth. He opened up the body, it had always been closed, now its open. Now, what goes on inside the body is going to give us the essence of what it means to be human. It is the internal struggle, the self with the self, within .you. When you look at his sketchbooks, you see just one place where the whole world opens up.
Leonardo DAVinci-- Leonardo DAVinci invented the modern self. He invented the modern self precisely in this way, through the perspective of disappearance. What he tells reality and us about the self is that it only exists by that which is perceived by the eye. Reality is a product of nature; reality is that which we perceive by the eye. Reality is only that by which we can see. Moreover, in his notebooks he gives us another foundational belief about the human subject and its form. That the sound rules are the issue of sound experience and observation. Experience and observation can only be our best teacher. Of course, this is also, what Voltaire is telling us to by the way. The challenge comes when we realize that we are both to the subject observing and the object that is observed. In our search for self, we experience a kind of division between our constitutions as objects and our constitution as subjects. However, when we look at the human form, when we look at the self we find that the body is in harmony with nature, and that it is in harmony within nature. How does DA Vinci make these kinds of claims? Alternatively, how does he ground these kinds of claims with the function of the eye or the power of the eye? Well, one of the ways he does it is thru the camera obscura. Earliest record of use of camera obscura is in DA Vinci's writings. The camera obscura gave birth to the science of optics, the science of seeing. It is with DA Vinci, that the science of seeing became the foundation of self-representation, a representation called the self, thus the representation of the human form. Now DA Vinci embodied his own concept of the painter, as philosophers. He saw painters principally as natural philosophers. To him, nature was all important, absolute, the image of the eternal. In one very significant passage of his notebooks, he defines the relationship of art to nature and its process of evolution. "The painter will produce pictures of small merit, if he takes for his standard the pictures of others. If he will study from natural objects, he will bear good fruit, as was seen in the painters after the Romans always imitating each other until their art constantly declined from age to age. Therefore, this was paramount for him in some ways what he was doing, and thinking was very radical and revolutionary and in other ways, it was very traditional. He appears to be quite a traditionalist, he studied ancient sources, Greeks, medieval sources, he studied anatomy, and these traditions get him to compare the microcosm of the body and the macrocosm of the world. These analogies extend to everything that he attempted to trace, to record and to know about the human form. Comparisons between the arteries in the body and the underground rivers of the earth. The flow of blood to the head in relation to the circulation of water to the summits of mountains. How does blood get to your head? If you want to understand that then understand how water flows up to mountains. Blood when it bursts in the veins of your nose and water rushing out of a vein in the earth. Almost everything that occurs in the human body can be found in the natural world. His interest in these analogies becomes very evident in the notebooks and sketchbooks. Scholars argue that these microcosm and macrocosm analogies are more than outright comparisons that belong to a pre scientific age, they lead him to compare the study of the body and Ptolemy's study of the earth. Consequently to use Ptolemy's method in the geography as the starting point for his own systematic study of anatomy. Therefore, anatomy and geography here become one in DA Vinci's mind. The forms of the earth and those of the human body have a parallel. "Thus in 15 entire figures you will have set before you the microcosm on the same plan as was before me adapted by Ptolemy in his cosmology, and so I shall afterwards divide them into limbs as he divided the whole world into processes. Then, I will speak of the function of each part in every direction putting before your eyes a description of the whole form and substance of man as regards his movements from place to place by means of these different parts. Thus if it please our great author I may demonstrate the nature of men and their customs in a way I describe this figure." Therefore, within the human form and within the kind of intricate details of human anatomy he discovered a way of describing and recording, not only the geographical construction of the natural world, but of Divinity itself. And when you look more closely at the system he devised to study the body, the more carefully you look at his drawings of the human form the more clearly you begin to recognize how strikingly stunningly original it is.
Earlier authors had relied exclusively on verbal descriptions of the human body. The human body had been a verbal entity but he emphasis visual description and some of the illustrations he has to bring visual dimensions to the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle the descriptions put forward by these men he presents in visual terms in these kind of body scapes. In the course of 20 years, roughly from 1489 to the end of his life, he dissected about 19 corpses and became very much obsessed with dissection. He drew these parts of bodies in minute detail every part of the human anatomy, he would draw each piece separately, together and at different angles. He laid out bodies in his drawings to mime classical poses in painting. He is referencing the history of art with the poses and the visual representation of the human subject. It is presented to us that deeply challenge these values of human nature, of life and death of living form and the cadaver it really raises some profound questions. The problem is in order to get to those questions, in order to explore some of the deeper philosophical implications of his work you have to get past the gross factor and the moral and ethical questions that his work raises. He is an artist that works very consciously with the sense of the ethical lines that he is crossing; he is not an artist that wants to make you comfortable. He sees that blood gets in the way of his observations, so he advises that you make a model of the body part and then you draw it. Model making and scientific art go hand in hand for him. You have to reconstruct reality before you can represent it. Therefore, before you can draw what is real you have to make it yourself. One of the most striking features of the notebooks is the manner in which he presents his work to us. There are no criticisms of the shortcomings that he has discovered in earlier authors, he does not boast about his own accomplishments, his writing style is pedagogical, and he is writing a teaching manual with descriptions and advice. Therefore, if you want to draw a lung, here is how you should do it. What he is trying to do is to convey to a larger audience this method of presentation and by representing human form, he relies on diagrams, and his reliance apparently causes some serious problems for the printing presses of the day. It also caused real issues for publishers because of the graphic nature of the work.
This was very important for medicine. He shows us we can separate human emotions and passions from the human body in understanding human form, and what it means to be human. There is a purely clinical dimension and this other dimension of feelings and emotions, and they do not have to come together at all, this is radical.
Thus again, this inside outside, you see it everywhere in his work. Why are we fascinated with the painting of the Mona Lisa? Because of the question we always ask, what is going on inside? The study of the Mona Lisa, it seems to me has always been organized around precisely the question that drove DA Vinci in his research. All his sketches in this obsessive and fanatical devotion to drawing every part of the body in relationship to every other part of the body at multiple levels and multiple perspectives and in motion, outside inside. There is the outside, what is going on inside, isn't that why we are obsessed with this? This painting just demands that we try to find out what is going on underneath. The truth is underneath, behind her smile, something she is keeping from us. Yet she is revealing just enough of it to make us have to find out what is going on inside of her. It is that relationship once again between the inside and the outside.
I read this book for a graduate class in the Humanities. Recommended reading for anyone interested in history, psychology, philosophy, art, and science.
A Glimpse into the Creator's Mind.......2006-10-05
Here you can browse through the minutiae of a genius' observations about the world around him--from flight, the human body, the nature of water, proportion, optics, movement and weight. What will impress you on every fascinating page is the universality of Leonardo's thirst for knowledge, making him truly the epitome of the "Renaissance man," and perhaps the last human who can truly be called a polymath: "the natural desire of good men is knowledge."
Average customer rating:
- Wonderful treasure to share with the whole family!
- My organization now thinks like Leonardo
- Great way to step back and relook your life
- Sad
- Refining senses in a cluttered, rushed world.
|
The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook: Your Personal Companion to How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci
Michael J. Gelb
Manufacturer: Dell
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Binding: Hardcover
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- How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day
- Da Vinci Decoded: Discovering the Spiritual Secrets of Leonardo's Seven Principles
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- How to Think Like Einstein: Simple Ways to Break the Rules and Discover Your Hidden Genius
ASIN: 0440508827
Release Date: 1999-06-15 |
Amazon.com
Leonardo da Vinci is the perfect antidote to a dumbed-down world. Perfect for anyone with similar aspirations for self-actualization, the exercises in The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook are designed to provide a lifetime of cerebral expansion, using the seven parameters laid out in How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: curiosity; developing knowledge though experience; sensual refinement; a willingness to embrace ambiguity and paradox; linking the scientific and creative sides of the brain; physical poise and fitness; and understanding the connectedness of all life.
For example, to develop curiosity, one of the exercises has you ask people you respect to assess your strengths and weaknesses and to offer ways in which you could improve. Uncomfortable? Probably, for both parties. But if you're not curious about how others perceive you, you've closed off entire corridors leading toward self-knowledge and self-improvement. In the section on knowledge and experience, Gelb has you write down each new word you come across, along with its definition, and practice using it as often as you can. Da Vinci, he says, recorded 9,000 words this way. As Gelb notes in his introduction, this isn't a book that can be fully used up in a week or even a year; it could take 10 years to perform all these exercises. It would take months just to listen to the 10 greatest pieces of classical music he lists in the section on sensual refinement, and then listen to them played by different orchestras and conductors to distinguish subtle differences in interpretation. And, certainly, the simmeringly sensual recipes listed in that same section could lead to some very cozy evenings over the course of a lifetime. --Lou Schuler
Book Description
In the bestselling tradition of
The Artist's Way Morning Pages Journal,
The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude and
The Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Workbook comes
The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook--the companion volume to Michael Gelb's 1998 Delacorte hardcover bestseller.
Created to structure and motivate the reader's development of the seven da Vincian principles introduced in
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci,
The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook represents the natural extension of Gelb's da Vinci line. As any modern da Vinci student knows, Leonardo's notebook both served as the incubator and repository of his unique genius and provides the foundation of any modern-day student's attempt to emulate that genius on his own. From the very first exercise in the original
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, Gelb encourages readers to keep their own personal notebooks in which to hone their da Vincian skills; now he provides that notebook for them, with the added bonus of tips on exercises they'll recognize and new suggestions and assignments that will build on the work they've already done.
Designed to echo the inviting look of
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, and structured to help readers focus on each of the seven genius principles,
The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook is a companion volume that truly complements and enhances the reader's experience of the original book on which it's based.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful treasure to share with the whole family!.......2007-03-12
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!
My organization now thinks like Leonardo.......2006-11-10
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.
Great way to step back and relook your life.......2006-02-02
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.
Sad.......2003-02-23
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.
Refining senses in a cluttered, rushed world........2002-11-20
Part of this book is for journaling and we've all heard how helpful journaling can be in different areas of our lives. That, however is not what I consider the value of this book.
Flip it over and you have the workbook part of the book. In this section the reader is made to sit down and think. Unlike journaling, where your mind takes you where it wants to go, the workbook gives us assignments.
For instance: Learning from Mistakes and Adversity (who doesn't want to do this?). This section encourages us to explore our attitudes toward mistakes by contemplating questions given. Following the instructions are two pages of questions that the reader must answer. In a word - it makes us think.
The work book also encourages readers to refine our senses. How often do we even consider doing this during the day when we have responsibilities piled upon us, clocks ticking the seconds away, and all the world'sgeneral confusion spinning around us? Not often!
I found this book enlightening, encouraging and helpful.
Average customer rating:
- I am currently reading this book.
- Excellent
- Suspenseful Writing, But Poor Ending
- Good for the gullible
- Great BookI
|
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0385504209
Release Date: 2003-03-18 |
Amazon.com
With The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown masterfully concocts an intelligent and lucid thriller that marries the gusto of an international murder mystery with a collection of fascinating esoteria culled from 2,000 years of Western history.
A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ. The victim is a high-ranking agent of this ancient society who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave gruesome clues at the scene that only his granddaughter, noted cryptographer Sophie Neveu, and Robert Langdon, a famed symbologist, can untangle. The duo become both suspects and detectives searching for not only Neveu's grandfather's murderer but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Neveu and Langdon on a breathless flight through France, England, and history itself. Brown (Angels and Demons) has created a page-turning thriller that also provides an amazing interpretation of Western history. Brown's hero and heroine embark on a lofty and intriguing exploration of some of Western culture's greatest mysteries--from the nature of the Mona Lisa's smile to the secret of the Holy Grail. Though some will quibble with the veracity of Brown's conjectures, therein lies the fun. The Da Vinci Code is an enthralling read that provides rich food for thought. --Jeremy Pugh
Book Description
While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.
In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.
THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller…utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.
Download Description
While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever. THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller¿utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.
Customer Reviews:
I am currently reading this book........2007-06-24
I just started this book yesterday. I am now on pg. 50 or 60. No, I'm not a slow reader, but this book so far is not keeping me interested. The author seems to be paying too much to detail about the layout of a city and some religions. I mean get to the critically acclaimed part that is full of suspense already. I don't know if I'll finish this book. Should I? Comment this review and tell me what you think. If I do finish the book I will edit this into a review of the book.
thank you for your time,
Loran
Excellent.......2007-06-23
Easily one of the best books I have ever read. It had a very good, very twisty plot that was outstanding. I loved the short chapters than made for easy reading. Treat yourself to this masterpiece. Angels and Demons which also features the same character is also a great read.
Suspenseful Writing, But Poor Ending.......2007-06-22
I just finished the book and it was absolutely spellbinding...until the end. I felt let down because the writing seemed to fade out when the climax was about to happen. There should have been more passionate scenes in the end. As a writer myself, I fully understand how this can happen. Novel writing is not easy, by any stretch of the imagination. I know how it feels when you get to the end of a manuscript and all you want to do is write the final lines and the words "The End"!!! All in all, it was a great book and again, Dan Brown knows how to tell a story! Worth reading, whether you're a Christian or not.
Joyce Marie Taylor-Author and Poet
Good for the gullible.......2007-06-20
If a person is at all educated about art, history, art history, religious history or the layout of Paris this book is a farce--or should be.
People who don't know about any of the above but are taken in by the statement at the beginning of the book (something to the effect of "This is all true") and like the purple writing don't want their bubbles burst, and I don't blame them; it's hard to admit you've been taken in.
But please, go to the library and take out any Renaissance art history book. If you can't get to the library, just Google "Last Supper." What do you know!!!!! __Every__ Italian Ren depiction shows John as kinda feminine looking. This must mean all painters knew that Mary Magdelene was the One, after all.
Look, it's not much of a secret if everyone does it, OK?
It just means there was an artistic tradition of showing certain characters certain ways. Since no one knew what St. Lawrence looked like, he's always above a burning grate; similarly Catherine is always depicted with her wheel, Judas is shown as a dark-haired meanie. John is shown as youngish and innocent. No one viewing the art when freshly done really believed that St. Lawrence walked around with his grate or questioned why John was young and innocent. It was all part of the personae.
Oh, big deal, it's just a book, right? I wish it were that simple. I give it one star because the story is transparent, the "facts" disputable in a 2 minute Google, the characters hackneyed without being a respectful nod to fairy stories. It's a dumb fable masquerading as a thriller and succeeds only in making trouble. What amazes me is that some people, even when shown that Paris isn't laid out that way, still believe every other "fact" presented here.
Great BookI .......2007-06-16
I really enjoyed reading the Da Vinci Code. I really enjoyed the detail in the book. I did not like the movie though, I did not even watch it to the end... The book is so much better!
Average customer rating:
- A letdown in the genre of historical fiction
- Karen takes you back to DaVinci's life and times
- Leonardo's Swans
- Dissapointing
- Could be a better book if written by a more talented writer.
|
Leonardo's Swans: A Novel
Karen Essex
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0767923065
Release Date: 2007-01-09 |
Book Description
Isabelle d’Este, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, born into privilege and the political and artistic turbulence of Renaissance Italy, is a stunning black-eyed blond and an art lover and collector. Worldly and ambitious, she has never envied her less attractive sister, the spirited but naïve Beatrice, until, by a quirk of fate, Beatrice is betrothed to the future Duke of Milan. Although he is more than twice their age, openly lives with his mistress, and is reputedly trying to eliminate the current duke by nefarious means, Ludovico Sforza is Isabella’s match in intellect and passion for all things of beauty. Only he would allow her to fulfill her destiny: to reign over one of the world’s most powerful and enlightened realms and be immortalized in oil by the genius Leonardo da Vinci. Isabella vows that she will not rest until she wins her true fate, and the two sisters compete for supremacy in the illustrious courts of Europe.
A haunting novel of rivalry, love, and betrayal that transports you back to Renaissance Italy, Leonardo’s Swans will have you dashing to the works of the great master—not for clues to a mystery but to contemplate the secrets of the human heart.</p>
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Chapter One
X * FORTUNA (CHANCE)
FROM THE NOTEBOOK OF LEONARDO:
When Fortune comes, seize her firmly at the forelock, for I tell you, she is bald at the back.
IN THE YEAR 1489; IN THE CITY OF FERRARA
She grew up in a land of fairy tales and miracles. That is what Isabella is explaining to Francesco as they ride through Ferrara's streets. It is Christmastime, and though there is no snow on the dry stone road, the horses shoot clouds of steam into the frigid air through their nostrils.
This is the first time she has been allowed to escort her fiancé through the city on one of his visits. Francesco Gonzaga, future Marquis of Mantua, has come to Ferrara to romance his soon-to-be bride and to enjoy the city's many Christmas pageants ordered by Isabella's father, Duke Ercole d'Este, a great patron of the theater. Isabella believes that the more she tells Francesco of Ferrara's secrets and wonders, and the more she shows him of her father's spectacular building projects and improvements, the more he will realize her value.
In this very church, Isabella says, pointing to St. Mary's of the Ford, almost two hundred years ago on Easter Sunday, the priest broke the Eucharist in two, and flesh and blood came spraying forth, covering the walls of the church and splattering the entire flock.
"The parishioners watched in awe," Isabella says, eyes wide with drama. "The Bishop of Ferrara and the Archbishop of Ravenna came to see it. They instantly recognized it as the body and blood of Christ and declared it a true miracle of the Eucharist."
Francesco solemnly makes the sign of the cross as they ride past the church, but his eyebrows arch skeptically, making him look entirely out of step with the act.
Beatrice trots ahead of the pair of lovers, her long braid swinging in saucy rhythm with the horse's mane, as uninterested as her steed in their conversation.
"Isn't that right, Beatrice?" Isabella asks her sister for confirmation of her story, hoping that the odd girl does not say anything to contradict her. Beatrice is a puzzle to Isabella, a fact that the older sister blames on the girl's unsupervised upbringing in wild Naples. The girl is a feral, unformed thing, alternately shy, naive, aloof, and bold--the latter especially apparent when riding or hunting. How such a small fourteen-year-old girl, who is not particularly courageous outside of these activities, excels at all manly sport is a mystery to Isabella, but the fact of Beatrice's prowess remains, no matter how enigmatic.
"I wouldn't know. I wasn't there!" Beatrice finally answers without turning around, but they can hear her laugh at her own joke.
The animal's swaying ass taunts Isabella, who knows that her sister is dying to break away from them to test the horse's speed. Francesco has brought Drago, the pure white Spanish charger, from his family's stud farm on the island of Tejeto, as a gift for the girls' father. But Beatrice immediately took over the animal, talking to him in whispers that should be reserved for a lover, and hopping upon him and riding away, as if the painstakingly bred horse was meant to carry a little girl in a pink riding dress and not a fearsome knight in armor.
"I'll tell you a miracle that happened right here in Ferrara that is even better," Francesco says, sidling his horse right up to Isabella's so that their legs touch. She knows she should pull away, that her mother would rail against this sort of indiscriminate physical contact, even with leather riding boots providing a barrier to the couple's much-craved intimacy, but instead, she rides with slow care so that they might continue to brush against one another.
"What miracle is that?" she asks, suppressing a smile.
"That your father agreed that you should be my wife," he answers.
You have no idea j
Customer Reviews:
A letdown in the genre of historical fiction.......2007-06-04
This book had very little to do with the aforementioned painting and with Leonardo da Vinci in general, in which case I was let down because it turned out to be something I did not expect. Based on a true tale of Renaissance era power families in Italy, the characters seemed like mere ciphers who existed solely to report the goings on of the day. Essex seemingly couldn't decide between an historical work or historical fiction and, as a result, this book is neither. Given authors like Dunant and Gregory, historical fiction can be so much more in the hands of a gifted storyteller. This book was a disappointment through and through.
Karen takes you back to DaVinci's life and times.......2007-05-22
Very enjoyable read, a real insight to Leonardo DaVinci and his contemporaries. The characters come alive!
Leonardo's Swans.......2007-05-13
For anyone who enjoys historical fiction AND/OR is planning a trip to Milan, THIS is the book for you. The story line was easy to follow and hard to put down. The details of the Sforza Castle, of Leonardo's various works and his quirks, and the history of ruling families in Italy during the 1400's-1500's was fascinating! It honestly made my last trip to Milan much more meaningful as I almost felt I knew Isabella and the Moro. A GREAT read!
Dissapointing.......2007-03-30
Despite spetacular attention to detail and cultural nuances, it proved lagging and drawn out. Don't write novels if you're not going to story well. The language doesn't flow. Poorly written, but the little views into Leonardo were great and almost made up for it.
Could be a better book if written by a more talented writer........2007-03-23
The storyline is full of intrique and therefore very promising, however the author has very poor writing skills. The truth is, the only reason I didn't return the book back to Costco was because I spilled coffee on it, making it unsuitable for refund.
Let me give an example on how bad the writing is. On the part where Isabella found herself attracted to Ludovico, there were no conversations, no explanations, no narrative from the author as to what made the attraction. At one point Isabella was in love with her husband, fast forward a few pages, the author wrote that Isabella thought they'd make a good match. There were no teasing, no flirting or anything that suggested that there was something between Isabella and Ludovico, however suddenly the author wrote that Ludovico stormed to Isabella's quarters and confessed his attraction to her.
On the part where Isabella finally saw Cecilia (his sister's husband's mistress), she described the folds of the dress and contemplated the method of painting used to achieve such luminous skin. Hello??
The novel severely lacks emotion and depth. I think the font size and wide paragraph spacing were designed to hide the fact that the novel lacks content.
I really recommend the author to study the works of Arthur Golden (Memoirs of the Geisha) and Michel Faber (Crimson Petal & The White). Those are fine examples on how historical novels should be written.
Average customer rating:
- Great Book - Only a how-to if you are VERY experienced!
- Very Practical book. useful for school projects
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Leonardo's Machines: Da Vinci's Inventions Revealed
Domenico Laurenza
Manufacturer: David & Charles Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Da Vinci, Leonardo
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- Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series)
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- The Golden Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World's Most Astonishing Number
- Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci: Scale Architectual Paper Model
ASIN: 0715324446 |
Book Description
Building on the success of The Da Vinci Code--a bestseller in 48 countries--this book brings inventions from the artist's original coded notebooks alive. There's more interest than ever in Leonardo Da Vinci, and here readers will find a rare glimpse into the innovator's brilliant mind, with:
-Gorgeous color artwork that breathes life into Leonardo's inventions--from flying and war machines to musical instruments
-Annotated diagrams that show exactly how each contraption would have worked
-A look at how the inventions would be used in modern life
With incredible detail and mechanical accuracy, Leonardo's Machines unlocks the mystery of the artist's notebooks in a way that's both fascinating and educational!
Customer Reviews:
Great Book - Only a how-to if you are VERY experienced!.......2007-06-04
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.
Very Practical book. useful for school projects.......2006-09-05
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.
Average customer rating:
- Maybe it's just me
- A winner...!
- Wow
- Flying above and beyond
- Renaissance Leadership
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Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind
Charles Nicholl
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0143036122 |
Book Description
As the success of blockbusters like The Da Vinci Code shows, the incomparable and enigmatic Leonardo da Vinci continues to captivate. In this widely acclaimed biography, Charles Nicholl uncovers the man behind the myth of the “Renaissance master.” Painter, sculptor, inventor, draftsman, anatomist—Leonardo's life and career encompassed so many of the creative achievements that made his era spectacular. Nicholl skillfully captures it all while tracing his subject's journey from an illegitimate child in Tuscany to his service with some of the most powerful families of Renaissance Europe. Rich with historical background, packed with black-and-white and color illustrations, and utterly engaging, this is the definitive look at a figure whose genius reaches out to us through the centuries.
Customer Reviews:
Maybe it's just me.......2007-02-15
There are more life details in this book than I ever wanted to read. This made for a bit of a slow, boring read. I'm still looking for a good biography on Da Vinci.
A winner...!.......2006-04-03
It has been a long time since my survey of art history and architecture classes, and so, in preparation for a trip to Italy, it seemed like a good idea to read about the great Leonardo. This book served as a window in my planning as well as a way to gain greater understanding of the five-hundred years worth of tradition and scholarly debate surrounding da Vinci.
First of all it is important to say that Charles Nicholl has done a fantastic job of ferreting out obscure documents and records that give us facts and clues to untangle the misinformation about Leonardo da Vinci. One has a sense of being in the hands of a master of the art of separating wheat and chaff, as Nicholl sifts until we, the readers, are given only that which is worthwhile. The rest lightly falls away.
As a result, the reader gets to know much about da Vinci's family, his hometown and early years; much about his training and his methods of working; much about his likes and dislikes--in short, we get to know da Vinci the man as well as da Vinci the artist. Nicholl discusses the developmental impact of da Vinci's illegitimacy and its possible influence upon his subsequent choices in subject and themes as an artist. While not shying away from these or other details of da Vinci's personal life, he does so in a way that these serve as windows into the man and his work.
The book is well-illustrated, especially so for what is not a coffee table book-it has two generous selections of color plates and a profusion of black and white photography as well, that helps the reader see the interrelationships between da Vinci's well known and lesser known works. While there is an excellent quantity of information about da Vinci's speculative explorations of anatomy and his work on machines ranging from warfare to flying, the book centers upon his brilliance in the art of painting and drawing.
There is a first-rate overview of each of the best known works, and much to help the reader appreciate the background of the Mona Lisa and Last Supper, as well as the Annunciation, the Adoration, the Madonna of the Rocks, and the different versions of the Virgin with St. Anne, et al. The antecedents, models, and borrowings from one work to another provide a harmony of understanding. Many of the less well known works are also brought to the fore so that the reader has a larger sense of da Vinci's oeuvre.
The account of the concealed fresco of the Palazzo Vecchio is gripping, with the research still-evolving; it is the kind of chronicle that sends the reader looking for supplementary information. Nicholl relates the friction between the two Florentine geniuses, da Vinci and Michelangelo, showing a clash of temperament that fleshes out the character of both men.
One comes away from the book with a profound sense that da Vinci, while adding beauty and wonder to the lives of many, and while exhibiting a boundless curiosity about all things, was nonetheless a man whose life was also fraught with a self-imposed distancing from others, and a measure of melancholy.
Throughout, the interrelationship between da Vinci and his contemporary Renaissance artists, as well as political leaders, is so well presented that the reader is given a large tapestry of the life and times of da Vinci.
If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.
Wow.......2006-01-30
I haven't read many biogrpahies on Leonardo Da Vinci. In fact this is the first one but based on other reviews here and from what I've read in the book myself - this has to be one of the very best Biography book on Leonardo Da Vinci, so I would highly recommend it to all.
Flying above and beyond.......2006-01-06
Although lengthy enough to use as a satisfactory doorstop, it was worth the reading. Not only a biography of Da Vinci's life, the author traces the evolution (sometimes convolutions)of his thought processes, as well as the social background of his more famous artistic works. Nicholl's inclusion of information on the subsequent history and restorations of paintings helped to anchor it in the present. While Fruedian interpretations are always murky at best (as oft pointed out: sometimes a cigar is just a cigar) their inclusion was also entertaining. Highly recommended - an excellent launching into the 1400's.
Renaissance Leadership.......2005-08-26
Renaissance leadership created by the d'Medici but was propelled by da Vinci from drawings to designs to catapults. "His brillance must have been noticed but one senses a note of exclusion: a young man who doesn't quite fit." (p. 167) Da Vinci was different. The book analyzes in detail the major portion of his work as a study of art and circumstance. From birth to death, the book folds itself around every aspect, every friend and every patron of da Vinci's art. The book is exhaustive. it shows what a world a half-millennium in the past could have been. The author suggests that world was scruffy but sophisticated at the same time. Eric J. Lindblom PhD Harvard
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Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, and Design
Martin Kemp
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0691129053 |
Book Description
Here, the world's leading authority on Leonardo da Vinci takes us to the heart of the Renaissance master's genius--his visual thinking. Probing the mystery of how da Vinci thought graphically, on paper, Martin Kemp traces not only his approach to modeling but also fascinating efforts by modern engineering to build his inventions. Could these inventions have worked? We see da Vinci visualizing mighty ideas from the arts of peace to the science of war--great visions of the earth, the mystery of mathematical proportion in the design of the universe, detailed observations on the motion of waters, and meticulous reconstructions of how heart valves function, as well as his flying machine, tank, and giant crossbow.</p>
No one ever used paper as a laboratory for thinking on the scale of Leonardo da Vinci. No one graced pages with such an impetuous cascade of observations, visualized thoughts, brainstormed alternatives, theories, polemics, and debates concerning virtually every branch of knowledge about the visible world.</p>
This lavishly illustrated and elegantly written book examines 200 extraordinary pages from da Vinci's notebooks, some virtually unknown, to illuminate the most fundamental aspect of his work.</p>
Published on the occasion of an exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, and Design provides unrivaled insight into the workings of the artist's visual mind. Leonardo da Vinci never lost his sense of awe over the wonders of natural design. With this book, we can experience a comparable sense of awe when faced with the enduring grandeur and freshness of his vision.</p>
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Leonardo Da Vinci Taro
Lo Scarabeo
Manufacturer: Llewellyn Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards
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ASIN: 0738704091 |
Book Description
Since the Tarot is really a product of the Italian Renaissance, it is only appropriate that a Tarot deck be based on the genius of the quintessential Renaissance man: Leonardo Da Vinci. The art is sophisticated in line, color, composition, and symbolism. Prepare to be intrigued, challenged, and delighted as you explore the depth and beauty of this deck.
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- The Secret Supper
- It just didn't draw me in...
- Poor Leonardo!
- OK book, nothing to get excited about
- The Secret Supper: a visual feast
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The Secret Supper: A Novel
Javier Sierra
Manufacturer: Atria
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0743287649
Release Date: 2006-03-21 |
Amazon.com
The Da Vinci juggernaut rolls on, this time in the capable hands of a bestselling author in the Spanish-speaking world. The Secret Supper has been ably translated by Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading, that delightful revelation that squiggles on a page are words, and words make stories. Set in 1497 Milan, at the time of the painting of the Cenacolo, or The Last Supper, in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Sierra has created a tale of religious fanaticism, betrayal, murder, Church politics, artistic chicanery and mystery to confound the reader.
Fra Agostino Leyre, a Papal Inquisitor, is sent to Milan to confirm--or not--the messages of the "Soothsayer," who alleges that Leonardo Da Vinci is a heretic and has hidden heretical messages in his painting of The Last Supper. Leonardo is a figure larger than life, literally. A blue-eyed, tall, handsome man, always dressed in white, he is surrounded by faithful students and friends who are his acolytes. His brilliant mind, ranging over a multitude of ideas, has gained him a reputation for "hiding heterodox ideas in paintings apparently pious."
What Father Agostino follows is a labyrinthine path through alliances and rivalries, differences of opinion about Leonardo and a discussion of the heresy of the Cathars. They are a fascinating sect, more extra-Christianity than Christian heretics. Their practices are based on a belief that certain deprivations--primarily food and sex--will purify and make them worthy. Sierra is a very fine guide, taking the reader through palaces and monasteries rife with intrigue and typical of the flowering of intellect that came after the Dark Ages. It is a time when "Suddenly, from one day to the next, Plato's Greece, Cleopatra's Egypt and even the extravagant curiosities of the Chinese Empire that Marco Polo discovered seemed to deserve greater praise than our own Scriptural stories." Dangerous for the incumbency.
A compelling case is made that Leonardo's heretical beliefs are there for all to see in The Last Supper, if only we know how to find them. Sierra gives us the key--and keeps the suspense going right up to the end of the book. It isn't necessary to believe any of it, or even care if it's true, to enjoy this pilgrimage through another time and place. --Valerie Ryan
Book Description
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The most-talked-about international bestseller of the year!
</center>
Tightly paced and atmospheric, The Secret Supper is a dazzling historical thriller with a unique vision of both Leonardo da Vinci's genius and his masterpiece -- which you will never look at in the same way again.
Milan, 1497: Leonardo is completing The Last Supper. Pope Alexander VI is determined to execute him after realizing that the painting contains clues to a baffling -- and blasphemous -- message that he is driven to decode. The Holy Grail and the Eucharistic Bread are missing, there is no meat on the table, and the apostles, shockingly, are portraits of well-known heretics -- and none of them are depicted with halos. And why has the artist painted himself into the scene with his back turned toward Jesus?
The clues to Leonardo's greatest puzzle are right before your eyes....
Download Description
"The most-talked-about international bestseller of the year! Tightly paced and atmospheric, The Secret Supper is a dazzling historical thriller with a unique vision of both Leonardo da Vinci's genius and his masterpiece -- which you will never look at in the same way again. Milan, 1497: Leonardo is completing The Last Supper. Pope Alexander VI is determined to execute him after realizing that the painting contains clues to a baffling -- and blasphemous -- message that he is driven to decode. The Holy Grail and the Eucharistic Bread are missing, there is no meat on the table, and the apostles, shockingly, are portraits of well-known heretics -- and none of them are depicted with halos. And why has the artist painted himself into the scene with his back turned toward Jesus? The clues to Leonardo's greatest puzzle are right before your eyes....
Customer Reviews:
The Secret Supper.......2007-05-24
Rarely do I not finish a book I have started reading; however, I didn't finish this one. It was boring!
It just didn't draw me in..........2007-05-23
After reading this novel, I wonder if maybe the flow of it was lost when it was translated into English. It just felt really choppy to me, and even though I attempted to give it a real chance, from about a quarter of the way in I just kept wishing it was over so that I could read something more interesting. Any person with half a brain can figure out who the "Soothsayer" is the minute the narrator meets him, and the big "secret" that is discovered at the end is completely anticlimactic. To put it simply, if you're looking for a blase kind of story, go ahead and read this, but if you want something that's a little more fast-paced, with a conclusion that might shock you, this novel is NOT it.
Poor Leonardo!.......2007-04-30
Ever since "The DaVinci Code", Leonardo's reputation has taken a pounding from authors jumping on the church conspiracy bandwagon. This book is better written than most (and much better than anything Dan Brown has published), and the mystery tends to be a bit absorbing. Unfortunately, the suspense (as it were) can only carry you so far, and when the final "mystery" in uncovered, it is a real letdown to the reader. Make no mistake, though, the book is entertaining to read, and as long as you don't take it too seriously, you most likely will enjoy it.
OK book, nothing to get excited about.......2007-04-29
I bought the book after reading the intro on the book sleeve (hardcover). It promised the fast-paced novel with intrigues and mystery-solving. Unfortunately, the book does not deliver.
The intro says "Pope Alexander VI is determined to execute" Leonardo Da Vinci for his heretical beliefs, but in the book, this Pope couldn't care less about Leonardo. It makes one wonder if the person who wrote the intro on the book cover ever read the book itself.
But that's one minor detail. What's more disappointing in the book is its main character, Father Agostino, an Inquisitor who is supposed to be an expert in cryptography in what's Vatican's equivalent of CIA, FBI and NSA combined. For all his training, though, he cannot figure out anything! He is told almost every single time how to solve puzzles and enigmas. The only two things he solves on his own is a small puzzle that the Librarian shows him at their initial encounter, and the very last one, which doesn't amount to much of anything (and astute readers see right through the first time it is presented). All through the story, Father Agostino seems clueless, and is genuinely surprised at the revelations made by others like the Librarian, a Spanish antique dealer, a young Cathar, you name it.
There are two threads within the book: one lead by Father Agostino and which concerns mostly with the monks at the monastery and the Vatican; and another lead by a Leonardo's disciple Luini. The link between these two separate threads is very weak, and only indirect. Even though they are both in Milan, both frequently hovering in and out of the refectory where Leonardo has been working, Father Agostino and Luini never meet.
Despite the promise on the cover, not much happens in the novel. The tempo is very, very pedestrian. Most of the puzzle and mystery solving is done by someone other than the protagonist and is revealed in conversations, not in action. Character development is weak, and does not go beyond stereotypes. We learn precious little about Father Agostino. Presented as "A Novel", it isn't, with weak storyline, weak character development, unexciting tempo. As one reviewer here said, the whole story could have been told in less than 10 pages.
This is a very light-weight reading, which is good enough for most readers to pass the time on a lazy weekend. Despite the monasteric setting and mystery-solving aspects, this ain't no "Name of the Rose". 2nd or 3rd (or more) reading is not worth your time. Get it at a huge discount, or from your local library, if you want to. I wish I'd done that.
The Secret Supper: a visual feast.......2007-04-20
I bought this novel some time ago but held back reading it during the frenzy of 'The Da Vinci Code' and similar offerings. I am glad I did so: as I am sure I would not have enjoyed it anywhere near as much.
Yes, this is another novel based on coded mysteries. It is also a fascinating view of the times in which Leonardo da Vinci lived, and incorporates some details of his life and paintings.
The novel moves quickly, but in small chapters. While I solved the puzzle well before the end of the book, that was simply because I'd been paying attention to the clues being offered along the way. Solving the puzzle prematurely in no way diminished my pleasure in reading the novel.
I enjoyed this novel immensely and had no difficulty in imagining Leonardo in such a role.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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- Dadd, Richard
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