Leonardo da Vinci was a gifted painter, talented musician, and dedicated scientist and inventor, designing flying machines, submarines, and even helicopters.  Yet he had a hard time finishing things, a problem anyone can relate to.  Only thirteen paintings are known to be his; as for the illustrated encyclopedia he intended to create, all that he left were thousands of disorganized notebook pages.  Here is an accessible portrait of...

This work recounts the intellectual journey behind the creation of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and how the drawing represents the momentous period in Western history when the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance. Vitruvian Man is the world's most famous drawing, by one of the world's most famous artists. The image has become visual shorthand for artistic genius and scientific inquiry, and yet nobody knows anything about it. In it the author...

Presents the life and accomplishments of the famous artist, scientist, engineer, and inventor.

In this classic, engrossing text a distinguished historian explores the mind and manifold interests of the greatest personality of the Renaissance. In colorful, evocative prose Edward McCurdy shows that in music, engineering, and even experimental aviation da Vinci was no more the amateur than in the sculpture and painting for which he is famed. First published in 1928, The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci is still widely considered one of the best introductions...

Not only was Leonardo da Vinci (1453-1519) an astonishing painter, but also a scientist, anatomist, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, inventor, and more. The question is rather, what was he not? During the Italian Renaissance, he mastered the most beautiful works of art for the Medicis' in Italy and for the King of France. He aroused admiration from his contemporaries, who depicted a universal genius, curious and virtuous. Even today, interest...

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...

Presents a biography of this prolific artist and inventor through projects in cartography, animal art, bird observation, and mask making.

"Introduces readers to the life, world, and incredible mind of Leonardo da Vinci through hands-on building projects that explore his invention ideas." --From publisher's description.

Turn-of-the-century Paris was the beating heart of a rapidly changing world. Painters, scientists, revolutionaries, poets--all were there. But so, too, were the shadows: Paris was a violent, criminal place, its sinister alleyways the haunts of Apache gangsters and its cafes the gathering places of murderous anarchists. In 1911, it fell victim to perhaps the greatest theft of all time--the taking of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Immediately, Alphonse...

Leonardo da Vinci is best known for his art, including the portrait of Mona Lisa, but there was so much more to this man. His genius extended into his greatest passions: scientific discovery, experimentation, and design. Nothing in (or out of) this world was unworthy of his curiosity; he pursued the study of botany, anatomy, engineering, military defense, flight, the behavior of water and light, astronomy … and more. This book is an excellent starting...