Leonardo da Vinci : Flights of the Mind

by Nicholl, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780143036128
• ISBN10: 0143036122
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-29
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

As the success of blockbusters like The Da Vinci Codeshows, 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.

Author Biography

Charles Nicholl is the author of nine books of history, biography, and travel, including the highly regarded The Reckoning. He has presented two documentaries for British television and has lectured in Britain, Italy, and the United States.

Table of Contents

Author's Note	xiii
Introduction: The Cooling of the Soup	1	(16)
PART ONE Childhood: 1452--1466
Birth	17	(4)
The da Vinci	21	(5)
Caterina	26	(4)
`My first memory . . .'	30	(7)
At the Mill	37	(5)
Speaking with Animals	42	(5)
The `Madonna of the Snow'	47	(6)
Education	53	(8)
PART TWO Apprenticeship: 1466--1477
The City	61	(7)
Renaissance Men	68	(4)
Andrea's Bottega	72	(5)
Learning the Trade	77	(13)
Spectaculars	90	(4)
On the Lantern	94	(4)
First Paintings	98	(6)
The Dragon	104	(3)
Ginevra	107	(7)
The Saltarelli Affair	114	(10)
`Companions in Pistoia'	124	(7)
PART THREE Independence: 1477--1482
Leonardo's Studio	131	(7)
The Hanged Man	138	(3)
Zoroastro	141	(4)
The Technologist	145	(6)
`Poets in a Hurry'	151	(4)
The Musician	155	(5)
St Jerome and the Lion	160	(5)
The Gardens of the Medici	165	(3)
The Adoration	168	(8)
Leaving	176	(9)
PART FOUR New Horizons: 1482--1490
Milan	185	(8)
Expatriates and Artists	193	(3)
The Virgin of the Rocks	196	(5)
Ways of Escape	201	(8)
The First Notebooks	209	(7)
Tall Tales, Small Puzzles	216	(6)
Architectural Projects	222	(4)
The Moor's Mistress	226	(6)
The Milanese Studio	232	(8)
The Anatomist	240	(8)
The Sforza Horse	248	(3)
At the Corte Vecchia	251	(6)
PART FIVE At Court: 1490--1499
Theatricals	257	(7)
`Of shadow and light'	264	(5)
Little Devil	269	(7)
Hunting Bears	276	(4)
Casting the Horse	280	(5)
`Caterina came. . .'	285	(3)
Echoes of War	288	(4)
The Making of the Last Supper	292	(11)
The `Academy'	303	(9)
Leonardo's Garden	312	(7)
`Sell what you cannot take . . .'	319	(6)
PART SIX On the Move: 1500--1506
Mantua and Venice	325	(6)
Back in Florence	331	(5)
The Insistent Marchioness	336	(6)
Borgia	342	(7)
Autumn in Imola	349	(4)
A Letter to the Sultan	353	(3)
Moving the River	356	(5)
Mistress Lisa	361	(10)
The Anghiari Fresco (I)	371	(5)
Michelangelo	376	(7)
A Death and a Journey	383	(6)
The Anghiari Fresco (II)	389	(5)
The Spirit of the Bird	394	(9)
PART SEVEN Return to Milan: 1506--1513
The Governor	403	(7)
`Good day, Master Francesco. . .'	410	(2)
Brothers at War	412	(6)
Dissections	418	(5)
Back in the Studio	423	(8)
The World and Its Waters	431	(3)
Fetes Milanaises	434	(4)
La Cremona	438	(5)
The `Medical Schools'	443	(3)
Chez Melzi	446	(3)
Portrait of the Artist at Sixty	449	(8)
PART EIGHT Last Years: 1513--1519
Heading South	457	(5)
At the Belvedere	462	(4)
The Baptist and the Bacchus	466	(8)
The Deluge	474	(3)
Sickness, Deception, Mirrors	477	(6)
Last Visit to Florence	483	(3)
Maistre Lyenard	486	(3)
The Cardinal Calls	489	(4)
`Night was chased away'	493	(5)
The Great Sea	498	(5)
Notes	503	(65)
Sources	568	(13)
Illustrations	581	(12)
Index	593