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Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image
Toby Lester—the award-winning author of The Fourth Part of the World, celebrated by Simon Winchester as “a rare and masterly talent”—takes on one of the great untold stories in the history of ideas: the genesis of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.Everybody knows the picture: a man, meticulously rendered by Leonardo da Vinci, standing with arms and legs outstretched in a circle and a square. Deployed today to celebrate subjects as various as the grandeur of art, the beauty of the human form, and the universality of the human spirit, the drawing turns up just about everywhere: in books, on coffee cups, on corporate logos, even on spacecraft. It has, in short, become the world’s most famous cultural icon—and yet almost nobody knows about the epic intellectual journeys that led to its creation. In this modest drawing that would one day paper the world, da Vinci attempted nothing less than to calibrate the harmonies of the universe and understand the central role man played in the cosmos.
Journalist and storyteller Toby Lester brings Vitruvian Man to life, resurrecting the ghost of an unknown Leonardo. Populated by a colorful cast of characters, including Brunelleschi of the famous Dome, Da Vinci’s Ghost opens up a surprising window onto the artist and philosopher himself and the tumultuous intellectual and cultural transformations he bridged. With sparkling prose and a rich variety of original illustrations, Lester captures the brief but momentous time in the history of western thought when the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance, art and science and philosophy converged as one, and all seemed to hold out the promise that a single human mind, if properly harnessed, could grasp the nature of everything.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published May 27, 2011
120 people are currently reading
2140 people want to read
About the author
Toby Lester
4 books49 followersI'm a journalist, an editor, and an independent scholar. Most recently, I'm the author of Da Vinci's Ghost (2012), about Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, and The Fourth Part of the World (2009), about the map that gave America its name. I'm also a longtime contributor to The Atlantic, for whom I've written extensively, on such topics as the reconstruction of ancient Greek music, the revisionist study of the Qur'an, and the attempt to change alphabets in Azerbaijan.
Between 1995 and 2005 I worked for The Atlantic in a number of different editorial capacities—as a staff editor, as the executive editor of the Web site, as a senior editor, and as a managing editor. During those years I also served briefly as the editor of Country Journal and the executive editor of DoubleTake. My writing has appeared in not only The Atlantic but also Smithsonian, The Boston Globe, The American Scholar, The Wilson Quarterly, BBC News Magazine, and the London Times, as well as a number of anthologies, including the lead chapter of the recent New Literary History of America.
Prior to 1995, I worked in international relief and development: monitoring intifada-related activity in the West Bank, as a refugee-affairs officer for the United Nations; helping establish programs in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as a Peace Corps country desk officer; and teaching English in a mountain school, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yemen. I graduated from the University of Virginia in 1987 with degrees in English and French, and now live in the Boston area with my wife and three daughters.
I come from a family of writers. My father, James Lester, was a member of the first successful American Everest expedition, and is the author of Too Marvelous for Words (1994), the only biography of the jazz pianist Art Tatum. My mother, Valerie Lester, is the author of, among other works, Fasten Your Seat Belts: History and Heroism in the Pan Am Cabin (1995), and Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens (2004)—a biography of her great-great grandfather, Hablot Knight Browne, who was Charles Dickens’s principal illustrator. And my sister, Alison Lester, is the author of Locked Out (2007), a collection of short stories about expatriate life.
Between 1995 and 2005 I worked for The Atlantic in a number of different editorial capacities—as a staff editor, as the executive editor of the Web site, as a senior editor, and as a managing editor. During those years I also served briefly as the editor of Country Journal and the executive editor of DoubleTake. My writing has appeared in not only The Atlantic but also Smithsonian, The Boston Globe, The American Scholar, The Wilson Quarterly, BBC News Magazine, and the London Times, as well as a number of anthologies, including the lead chapter of the recent New Literary History of America.
Prior to 1995, I worked in international relief and development: monitoring intifada-related activity in the West Bank, as a refugee-affairs officer for the United Nations; helping establish programs in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as a Peace Corps country desk officer; and teaching English in a mountain school, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yemen. I graduated from the University of Virginia in 1987 with degrees in English and French, and now live in the Boston area with my wife and three daughters.
I come from a family of writers. My father, James Lester, was a member of the first successful American Everest expedition, and is the author of Too Marvelous for Words (1994), the only biography of the jazz pianist Art Tatum. My mother, Valerie Lester, is the author of, among other works, Fasten Your Seat Belts: History and Heroism in the Pan Am Cabin (1995), and Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens (2004)—a biography of her great-great grandfather, Hablot Knight Browne, who was Charles Dickens’s principal illustrator. And my sister, Alison Lester, is the author of Locked Out (2007), a collection of short stories about expatriate life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
January 3, 2013
Few mortals have captured the imagination of so many as has Leonardo Da Vinci.
We tend to see him as the ultimate genius of the Renaissance period. Yet, as Toby Lester reminds us here, he was a man of remarkable imagination who was self-educated, unable to retain full-time employment because he failed to meet deadlines and was prone to go off in search of new projects while leaving current ones uncompleted.
That said, it does not diminish the wealth of his accomplishments. It simply makes him more human.
Lester also demonstrates that even the most accomplished of geniuses benefits from the works of those who have gone before. Leonardo’s self-education benefited from the invention of the printing press, which made cheap books available to the populace, and the existence of libraries like the one at Pavia.
Even the iconic image known as the Vitruvian Man and associate with Da Vinci had its roots in an obscure tome written by a Roman architect and military engineer. Marcus Vitruvius appears to have first described the human body analogy, which later became a central tenet of Christian thought. Though other artists had attempted a visual depiction of the idea, it was Da Vinci who perfected the image of a human figure in a square enclosed in a circle.
Lester speculates Da Vinci may have drawn the image for his proposed anatomical treatise on the human body—another work apparently never completed. No one knows for certain exactly when or why he drew the image.
But that’s beside the point. Da Vinci was a genius who made the world richer by his presence. Lester has done a wonderful job of giving us fresh insights into Da Vinci and his time.
We tend to see him as the ultimate genius of the Renaissance period. Yet, as Toby Lester reminds us here, he was a man of remarkable imagination who was self-educated, unable to retain full-time employment because he failed to meet deadlines and was prone to go off in search of new projects while leaving current ones uncompleted.
That said, it does not diminish the wealth of his accomplishments. It simply makes him more human.
Lester also demonstrates that even the most accomplished of geniuses benefits from the works of those who have gone before. Leonardo’s self-education benefited from the invention of the printing press, which made cheap books available to the populace, and the existence of libraries like the one at Pavia.
Even the iconic image known as the Vitruvian Man and associate with Da Vinci had its roots in an obscure tome written by a Roman architect and military engineer. Marcus Vitruvius appears to have first described the human body analogy, which later became a central tenet of Christian thought. Though other artists had attempted a visual depiction of the idea, it was Da Vinci who perfected the image of a human figure in a square enclosed in a circle.
Lester speculates Da Vinci may have drawn the image for his proposed anatomical treatise on the human body—another work apparently never completed. No one knows for certain exactly when or why he drew the image.
But that’s beside the point. Da Vinci was a genius who made the world richer by his presence. Lester has done a wonderful job of giving us fresh insights into Da Vinci and his time.
February 29, 2012
A History of Thought
I’d always heard that the Dark Ages were a horrible era when the Bubonic Plague ran rampant, the Greco/Roman masters were ignored, and people lived short grubbing lives. In ‘Da Vinci’s Ghost” Toby Lester brings to light the succession of learning tracing it from the Greeks to the Romans and then threads it through to Medieval times and on to the Renaissance. He focuses on DaVinci but brings up many others, mostly unheard of to me, who kept the wisdom alive and added to it. During the Middle Ages there were vast libraries that were passed down and shared with other thinkers. Because this book was focused on DaVinci I expected that it would be about art history but it was much more than that because DaVinci was much more than an artist. He read thought and created much more in addition to his paintings. Lester focuses on Vitruvian Man, a tradition based on the ideal proportions of man’s body and as such it was a symbol of the ideal of the universe; man and his body seen as a microcosm of the Divine. This was an enlightening book. I would advise getting the hard copy vs. the Kindle version of this book because the nine full color plates and the 53 pencil figure drawings add a lot to the understanding of the concepts.
I’d always heard that the Dark Ages were a horrible era when the Bubonic Plague ran rampant, the Greco/Roman masters were ignored, and people lived short grubbing lives. In ‘Da Vinci’s Ghost” Toby Lester brings to light the succession of learning tracing it from the Greeks to the Romans and then threads it through to Medieval times and on to the Renaissance. He focuses on DaVinci but brings up many others, mostly unheard of to me, who kept the wisdom alive and added to it. During the Middle Ages there were vast libraries that were passed down and shared with other thinkers. Because this book was focused on DaVinci I expected that it would be about art history but it was much more than that because DaVinci was much more than an artist. He read thought and created much more in addition to his paintings. Lester focuses on Vitruvian Man, a tradition based on the ideal proportions of man’s body and as such it was a symbol of the ideal of the universe; man and his body seen as a microcosm of the Divine. This was an enlightening book. I would advise getting the hard copy vs. the Kindle version of this book because the nine full color plates and the 53 pencil figure drawings add a lot to the understanding of the concepts.
February 7, 2012
Albert Einstein wrote that the mind “always has tried to form for itself a simple and synoptic image of the surrounding world.” During the Renaissance, when the ancient Greek idea of man as the measure of all things leapt to the forefront of intellectual life, the human body became a preferred object for this type of “synoptic” speculation. In a widely read treatise titled “Divina Proportione” (1509), the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli echoed fashionable opinions of the day by declaring that our body measurements express “every ratio and proportion by which God reveals the innermost secrets of nature.” Pacioli’s close friend Leonardo da Vinci provided illustrations.
In the richly rewarding history “Da Vinci’s Ghost,” Toby Lester, a contributing editor at The Atlantic, shows that Leonardo had long been fascinated by the concept of man as a microcosm of the universe. Before the Pacioli collaboration, the idea had inspired what has since become one of Leonardo’s most famous images, “Vitruvian Man” (circa 1490), a careful line drawing of a nude male figure whose outstretched arms and legs fit perfectly in the bounds of a circle and a square. “Vitruvian Man” has entered popular culture as an emblem of Leonardo’s genius — redolent of secret knowledge, referred to in the initial crime scene of “The Da Vinci Code” and reproduced on the face of...
The rest of my review is available free online at the website of The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/boo...
In the richly rewarding history “Da Vinci’s Ghost,” Toby Lester, a contributing editor at The Atlantic, shows that Leonardo had long been fascinated by the concept of man as a microcosm of the universe. Before the Pacioli collaboration, the idea had inspired what has since become one of Leonardo’s most famous images, “Vitruvian Man” (circa 1490), a careful line drawing of a nude male figure whose outstretched arms and legs fit perfectly in the bounds of a circle and a square. “Vitruvian Man” has entered popular culture as an emblem of Leonardo’s genius — redolent of secret knowledge, referred to in the initial crime scene of “The Da Vinci Code” and reproduced on the face of...
The rest of my review is available free online at the website of The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/boo...
September 7, 2014
You may not have known it was called the "Vitruvian Man" but you are doubtless familiar with the Da Vinci's drawing of the man with the intense stare in the circle and square - reproduced in posters, T-shirts, mugs, etc. This is the story of that drawing, inspired by architect Vitruvius, who proceeded him by hundreds of years with the publication of work of 10 volumes on architecture.He felt that the human body could be made to fit inside a circle, to express the divine, and a square, related to more earthly matters.
I almost hate to give the book only 2 stars because the research is impressive and the writing smooth, but the problem is the book is only 227 pages long before notes and bibliography suggestions and page 197 contains the line "Which brings us, at last, to Virtruvian Man". So most of the book is a meandering look at European history, art, architecture, religion and literature. Probably more than I wanted to know. I usually have a fiction and non-fiction book on my nightstand for some reading before turning in. I got in the habit of reading this one last as it can be a most capable snooze inducer despite some interesting tidbits along the way.
I almost hate to give the book only 2 stars because the research is impressive and the writing smooth, but the problem is the book is only 227 pages long before notes and bibliography suggestions and page 197 contains the line "Which brings us, at last, to Virtruvian Man". So most of the book is a meandering look at European history, art, architecture, religion and literature. Probably more than I wanted to know. I usually have a fiction and non-fiction book on my nightstand for some reading before turning in. I got in the habit of reading this one last as it can be a most capable snooze inducer despite some interesting tidbits along the way.
July 2, 2015
A remarkable book for its research and detail. I actually didn't realise there were differing ideas as to what Da Vinci's Created Man really was/is. To me I thought it was Da Vinci capturing man in motion, or rather the upper and lower limbs as the torso keeps in the same position. But there is so much more to the story than simply a drawing. Indeed it is well known that Da Vinci was a man of many interesting facets and he was many things in his time. It is also true that he was a man obsessed with learning and with his questioning; and a genius. What is very interesting is how buildings, architecture, play a crucial role in this story. One will have to take a closer look at architecture in Europe from the 12-13th century onwards. Although it is funny in a way that men didn't think women had equally proportioned bodies in those days, however, there may be the more obvious reason in that a lot of master craftsmen in those days were homosexual. Very unlikely to look at the naked forms of women with a particular eye for detail and form. As been mentioned else where young boys were substituted as models for naked women...and yes that does account for a lot with naked women (in paintings, etc.) of a certain period! That aside a very well worthwhile read and very much recommended whether you know of Da Vinci a lot or hardly at all. You will get a greater appreciation.
February 22, 2012
Apparently Da Vinci’s most famous drawing, Vitruvian Man, was an idea that was well known and employed by architects and artists during the Renaissance. Historian Toby Lester does a solid job of tracing the origin and application of the Platonic ideal of man prior to Da Vinci’s rendering of him. This book was not as exciting as the title nor was it what it purported to be - a study of Da Vinci’s legacy. Never the less, this was an interesting work. It is always fun to learn so much about a single work. Lester isn’t as engaging as some I’ve read who write in this style. The book lacked the small “aha” moments that connect the topic to the reader’s world. But, it was a well written study and a pleasant read.
February 9, 2014
I listened to this, and that was good and bad. Good, because I didn't have to stumble over the Roman and Italian names...bad because there was elegant language I would have loved to linger over and think about. I cobbed a quote from another review: "Man is the model of the world." Leonardo created the perfect embodiment of that...
http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/s...
I don't know if the book itself has illustrations, and listening in the car I couldn't stop and google...which I did at home.
Vetruvian Man...we've seen him, it seems forever...but actually, the drawing was only recently (relatively speaking) found...1950's was our new introduction...The face is probably Leonardo, looking back at us with that intensity of intelligence that must have been intimidating and frustrating for his friends and family.
The book begins with the Roman Vitruvius, architect and author of ten volumes of architecture analysis, without one illustration. That boggles my brain. For hundreds, over a thousand years, no one could read and comprehend...but there was a description of a circle, a square, and the figure of a man...the embodiment of the cosmos.
After Vitruvius, Lester takes us through medieval European philosophy, and on to Leonardo...
As I listened to his incredible passion for learning , for knowing, for looking at the world through the poetic lens of metaphor, the teacher in me began to itch to have him in my class...but I realized he would be that kid with breath-taking ideas who never finished a project. He was so brilliant he couldn't focus on just one thing, OR he focused so completely on one thing, he lost sight of other responsibilites...He appeared to be an ADD nightmare of soo much going on behind his eyes that his head must have been humming at all times.
The book leaves us with Lester's experience holding the drawing...seeing the pin-pricks Leonardo's compass made, examining Leonardo's pen strokes, so strong and sure they almost creased the paper...
Vitruvian Man, with or without his guitar, is a gift from Leonardo to us all. This book is a gift as well.
http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/s...
I don't know if the book itself has illustrations, and listening in the car I couldn't stop and google...which I did at home.
Vetruvian Man...we've seen him, it seems forever...but actually, the drawing was only recently (relatively speaking) found...1950's was our new introduction...The face is probably Leonardo, looking back at us with that intensity of intelligence that must have been intimidating and frustrating for his friends and family.
The book begins with the Roman Vitruvius, architect and author of ten volumes of architecture analysis, without one illustration. That boggles my brain. For hundreds, over a thousand years, no one could read and comprehend...but there was a description of a circle, a square, and the figure of a man...the embodiment of the cosmos.
After Vitruvius, Lester takes us through medieval European philosophy, and on to Leonardo...
As I listened to his incredible passion for learning , for knowing, for looking at the world through the poetic lens of metaphor, the teacher in me began to itch to have him in my class...but I realized he would be that kid with breath-taking ideas who never finished a project. He was so brilliant he couldn't focus on just one thing, OR he focused so completely on one thing, he lost sight of other responsibilites...He appeared to be an ADD nightmare of soo much going on behind his eyes that his head must have been humming at all times.
The book leaves us with Lester's experience holding the drawing...seeing the pin-pricks Leonardo's compass made, examining Leonardo's pen strokes, so strong and sure they almost creased the paper...
Vitruvian Man, with or without his guitar, is a gift from Leonardo to us all. This book is a gift as well.
July 27, 2024
RIP da Vinci you would have loved adderall
August 19, 2012
The drawing is well known, if not universally recognized (and I mean universal in the literal sense). Leonardo DaVinci’s print of the human male figure, arms and legs outstretched, touching both a square and a circle drawn within the square, can be found on t-shirts and mousepads, corporate logos, as well as parodies including The Simpsons. It’s on the €1 Euro coin, but perhaps most impressively, it’s been launced into space on several long distance and very long term missions.
It’s called “Vitruvian Man”, and among Leonardo’s eclectically vast tableau of work it remains one of his most enigmatic pieces. Author Toby Lester delves deeply into this single DaVinci masterpiece to expose its roots, its meanings and its lasting impressions.
Lester provides insight into the genesis of this work which currently resides at the Accademia Gallery in Venice, though it’s not currently on display. The name comes from the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius: “Writing at the dawn of the Roman imperial age, Virtuvius proposed that a man can be made to fit inside a circle and a square, and some fifteen hundred years later Leonardo gave that idea memorable visual form. But there’s much more to the story than that. Vitruvius had described his figure in an architectural context, insisting that the proportions of sacred temples should conform to the proportions of the idea human body – the design of which, he believed, conformed to the hidden geometry of the universe.”
Lester identifies some seriously heavy metaphysical connotations of the drawing as well, and the concept that it engenders. “The circle represented the cosmic and the divine; the square represented the earthly and the secular. Anybody proposing that a man could be made to fit inside both shapes was therefore making an age-old metaphysical statement. It was the world, in miniature.”
He continues, “It’s an idealized self-portrait in which Leonardo, stripped down to his essence, takes his own measure, and in doing so embodies a timeless human hope: that we must might have the power of mind to figure out how we fit into the grand scheme of things.”
Leonardo’s Virtuvian Man is estimated to be drawn in about 1490, but it’s just a guess since he didn’t date the work. The timing fits in with the style of draftsmanship, kinds of paper and pen he used, and even his handwriting of the time. Most importantly, it would place the work during “the very period in his career when he was immersed in his intensive study of human proportions and had a special interest in comparing his own measurements to those listed in Virtruvius’ work," wrote Lester.
Leonardo spent many years examining the human body in great detail, and he left numerous drawings based on his first-hand anatomical dissections. He started to make specific connections between the human body and architecture, which one can see creep into his notebook doodlings in the 1480s.
Vitruvius provided specific measurements of the idealized male form and these measurements act as a starting point for Leonardo’s work. Leonardo expands and improves upon the original description. Lester writes that DaVinci “corrected previous interpretations of an ancient text…to capture the essential message of (Vitruvius): that the human form embodied the natural harmonies present in the circle and the square.”
And the face upon the Vitruvian man is likely Leonardo’s self-portrait as well.
The book includes detailed notes and a plethora of images, taking advantage, in the digital form, to link seamlessly back and forth from the various reference points within the ebook edition.
Lester’s book is a good read. It’s most successful, in my opinion, in its details surrounding Leonardo the man, his motivations, and the outline of his career. It fails, however, in its dubious connections presumed by author Lester, based upon an unfortunately incomplete record and circumstantial evidence. Leonardo spent some time with individuals that had their own connections with Vitruvius' work, and he had access to many historical works with various ties to the ancient work as well. Lester sometimes acknowledges that it’s “impossible to say”, for example, how much of certain concepts Leonardo was able to absorb by reading, but too often relies on ideas that Leonardo 'must have' read this, or 'likely' spoke to someone about that.
I enjoyed this book. Lester does a nice job writing readable history. The concepts are, at times, tough to wrap ones arms around, and Lester does well in providing just enough background and context to make things attainable.
It’s called “Vitruvian Man”, and among Leonardo’s eclectically vast tableau of work it remains one of his most enigmatic pieces. Author Toby Lester delves deeply into this single DaVinci masterpiece to expose its roots, its meanings and its lasting impressions.
Lester provides insight into the genesis of this work which currently resides at the Accademia Gallery in Venice, though it’s not currently on display. The name comes from the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius: “Writing at the dawn of the Roman imperial age, Virtuvius proposed that a man can be made to fit inside a circle and a square, and some fifteen hundred years later Leonardo gave that idea memorable visual form. But there’s much more to the story than that. Vitruvius had described his figure in an architectural context, insisting that the proportions of sacred temples should conform to the proportions of the idea human body – the design of which, he believed, conformed to the hidden geometry of the universe.”
Lester identifies some seriously heavy metaphysical connotations of the drawing as well, and the concept that it engenders. “The circle represented the cosmic and the divine; the square represented the earthly and the secular. Anybody proposing that a man could be made to fit inside both shapes was therefore making an age-old metaphysical statement. It was the world, in miniature.”
He continues, “It’s an idealized self-portrait in which Leonardo, stripped down to his essence, takes his own measure, and in doing so embodies a timeless human hope: that we must might have the power of mind to figure out how we fit into the grand scheme of things.”
Leonardo’s Virtuvian Man is estimated to be drawn in about 1490, but it’s just a guess since he didn’t date the work. The timing fits in with the style of draftsmanship, kinds of paper and pen he used, and even his handwriting of the time. Most importantly, it would place the work during “the very period in his career when he was immersed in his intensive study of human proportions and had a special interest in comparing his own measurements to those listed in Virtruvius’ work," wrote Lester.
Leonardo spent many years examining the human body in great detail, and he left numerous drawings based on his first-hand anatomical dissections. He started to make specific connections between the human body and architecture, which one can see creep into his notebook doodlings in the 1480s.
Vitruvius provided specific measurements of the idealized male form and these measurements act as a starting point for Leonardo’s work. Leonardo expands and improves upon the original description. Lester writes that DaVinci “corrected previous interpretations of an ancient text…to capture the essential message of (Vitruvius): that the human form embodied the natural harmonies present in the circle and the square.”
And the face upon the Vitruvian man is likely Leonardo’s self-portrait as well.
The book includes detailed notes and a plethora of images, taking advantage, in the digital form, to link seamlessly back and forth from the various reference points within the ebook edition.
Lester’s book is a good read. It’s most successful, in my opinion, in its details surrounding Leonardo the man, his motivations, and the outline of his career. It fails, however, in its dubious connections presumed by author Lester, based upon an unfortunately incomplete record and circumstantial evidence. Leonardo spent some time with individuals that had their own connections with Vitruvius' work, and he had access to many historical works with various ties to the ancient work as well. Lester sometimes acknowledges that it’s “impossible to say”, for example, how much of certain concepts Leonardo was able to absorb by reading, but too often relies on ideas that Leonardo 'must have' read this, or 'likely' spoke to someone about that.
I enjoyed this book. Lester does a nice job writing readable history. The concepts are, at times, tough to wrap ones arms around, and Lester does well in providing just enough background and context to make things attainable.
March 9, 2012
Not really sure there is the content here for a whole book, but it is a good light read for someone like me who is a history/science/philosophy nerd. It's interesting to know more about the concept of why Da Vinci would make that drawing, and the sources from which that inspiration came from. When I read about Da Vinci I always think about people I've know that are kind of like him, but how in this modern era it doesn't bespeak of greatness to be smart, have energy and yet not the discipline to accomplish the big projects. I think a lot of how successful a person becomes can depend on personality plus circumstance, including which century and country they are born into.
August 5, 2016
Excellent read regarding Da Vinci during his youth as a young man, as well as how "Leonardo created the world in his own image," set during the dawn of the Roman imperial age. Vitruvius proposed that a man be made to fit inside a circle and a square, and some fifteen hundred years later Leonardo gave that idea memorable visual form. But there's much more to the story than that.
July 5, 2015
Complex, Vivid & Intriguing! A Fascinating Read! I Enjoyed It!
January 10, 2018
Vitruvian Man was first drawn in the mid-20s BC by Greek engineer Vitruvius and still fascinates today. Why does a particular image continue to capture our imagination for centuries? Lester (author of my fave book The Fourth Part of the World) does a great job of tracing the concept through history. Leonardo DaVinci drew a version of V Man in 1490 that became slightly famous at the time, then it languished in his notebooks until 1956 when art historian Kenneth Clark used it in a book about nude forms. This launched the V Man image back into popular culture and it spread like wildfire with uses elegant and profane.
I have always liked the symbolism of the man inside a circle, suggesting that the proportions of the human body have divine relationships and there are natural harmonies between the circle and the square. Lester also discusses the idea that man’s body is a model of the whole world. One of my favorite parts of the book describes the monks who copied the V Man image in the 8th century and stored it away for rediscovery. Monks are always the heroes for historians like me. Lester is also my hero, for bringing obscure objects to light, then weaving them with history and people to make them live.
I have always liked the symbolism of the man inside a circle, suggesting that the proportions of the human body have divine relationships and there are natural harmonies between the circle and the square. Lester also discusses the idea that man’s body is a model of the whole world. One of my favorite parts of the book describes the monks who copied the V Man image in the 8th century and stored it away for rediscovery. Monks are always the heroes for historians like me. Lester is also my hero, for bringing obscure objects to light, then weaving them with history and people to make them live.
January 31, 2022
The Vitruvian Man is one of the most famous drawings of all time. Crafted five centuries ago by Leonardo da Vinci, the sketch of a human male body, perfectly arranged inside a square and a circle, is a masterpiece of geometry and anatomy.
But have you ever stopped and wondered why Leonardo da Vinci created this image?
Well, learning why he did, and how he did it, can teach us a lot about the central ideas and beliefs that forged the Renaissance. These blinks will show you exactly what these beliefs and ideas are.
Leonardo’s lifelong journey of discovery led him to the Vitruvian Man . It symbolizes many things: the striving of man, as well as his accomplishments, and the connection between the divine and the earthly. It’s not only an artistic achievement of the master Leonardo, but also of the ancient idea that the human body represents something greater than itself.
But have you ever stopped and wondered why Leonardo da Vinci created this image?
Well, learning why he did, and how he did it, can teach us a lot about the central ideas and beliefs that forged the Renaissance. These blinks will show you exactly what these beliefs and ideas are.
Leonardo’s lifelong journey of discovery led him to the Vitruvian Man . It symbolizes many things: the striving of man, as well as his accomplishments, and the connection between the divine and the earthly. It’s not only an artistic achievement of the master Leonardo, but also of the ancient idea that the human body represents something greater than itself.
July 13, 2020
تعد «رجل فيتروفيان» أحد أشهر الرسومات في التاريخ. رسمها قبل خمسة قرون ليوناردو دا فينشي بشكل مثالي داخل مربع ودائرة، فأصبحت لعدة أسباب تحفة في الهندسة والتشريح.
إن معرفة السبب الذي دفع دا فينشي لفعل ذلك، وكيفية فعله، يمكن أن تعلمنا الكثير عن الأفكار والمعتقدات المركزية التي شكلت عصر النهضة. وهذا بالظبط ما يتناوله الكتاب.
إن معرفة السبب الذي دفع دا فينشي لفعل ذلك، وكيفية فعله، يمكن أن تعلمنا الكثير عن الأفكار والمعتقدات المركزية التي شكلت عصر النهضة. وهذا بالظبط ما يتناوله الكتاب.
July 27, 2022
Read this for a paper I had to write for my Humanities class. Pretty well stocked with interesting information, I referenced this book quite a bit.
April 9, 2021
The book was informative and intriguing if interested in western civilization. I found the first 1/3 of the book the most fascinating.
September 22, 2015
Engrossing tale tracing the history of Da Vinci's drawing, the Vitruvian Man. Short, simple, but well researched and detailed. I enjoyed it. It was a good introduction to Florentine and Milanese architecture during the Renaissance period and especially the origin of their influences, starting with the Roman Emperor Augustus and his ideology which spawned this quest to capture the ideal human form in a statue of himself that in turn represented the perfect world and its dimensions on which all architectural endeavors should base their calculations.
From the early writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius (thus the name Vitruvian Man), through the medieval times, this concept of man containing the universe inside his own body, survived and when those Florentine artists/engineers of the Renaissance started playing with the idea, it propelled the innovative spirit of that century. It was the convergence of the three most important branches of the times: anatomy, astronomy, and philosophy. The circle representing the perfection of the universe/world, and the square, the earth, with its four corners, four cardinal points. That man could fit in those two figures proved so many ideas that these men were grappling with.
Of course, there were many attempts at drawing this throughout the ages, but only one man succeeded in drawing a figure that is both mathematical and beautiful all at once. Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is the perfect visual resume of what was going on in those times. Men were studying their own bodies, mapping out the world, and looking up at the stars all at once.
In his drawing, Da Vinci captured the essence of his era.
The crazy thing is, he actually drew this before he painted Mona Lisa or the Last Supper.
From the early writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius (thus the name Vitruvian Man), through the medieval times, this concept of man containing the universe inside his own body, survived and when those Florentine artists/engineers of the Renaissance started playing with the idea, it propelled the innovative spirit of that century. It was the convergence of the three most important branches of the times: anatomy, astronomy, and philosophy. The circle representing the perfection of the universe/world, and the square, the earth, with its four corners, four cardinal points. That man could fit in those two figures proved so many ideas that these men were grappling with.
Of course, there were many attempts at drawing this throughout the ages, but only one man succeeded in drawing a figure that is both mathematical and beautiful all at once. Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is the perfect visual resume of what was going on in those times. Men were studying their own bodies, mapping out the world, and looking up at the stars all at once.
In his drawing, Da Vinci captured the essence of his era.
The crazy thing is, he actually drew this before he painted Mona Lisa or the Last Supper.
July 18, 2012
Well, Toby Lester certainly comes full circle in his telling of Leonardo Da Vinci's life in relation to the the Vetruvian Man, created in 25 BCE by Vetruvius, a Roman engineer, and a nexus of inspiration for Leonardo over 1500 years later. Lester's style of writing sweeps the reader through the centuries as he traces the quest for understanding ourselves, our god(s), our earthly geography through the "analogy of man" as microcosm. What one comes away with is that Leonardo drew his inspiration from ancient classical concepts as well as the ideas/worldview of Medieval scholastics. In the passages describing Leonardo's belief that he had located the human soul in the "sensus communis," a part of the brain,I thought of our present-day physicists who are in search of "the god particle" in Bern.
It does help to have a passing knowledge of 15th century Renaissance artists, especially those from Florence and Milan. That said, Lester's lively style can bridge the gap and place our imagination in Leonardo's time, so that we understand the man more fully, at least Lester's notion of Da Vinci. And . . . I was quite taken with Lester's description of medieval libraries and bibliophiles. Where would we be without such things?
It does help to have a passing knowledge of 15th century Renaissance artists, especially those from Florence and Milan. That said, Lester's lively style can bridge the gap and place our imagination in Leonardo's time, so that we understand the man more fully, at least Lester's notion of Da Vinci. And . . . I was quite taken with Lester's description of medieval libraries and bibliophiles. Where would we be without such things?
July 24, 2012
Through one of Leonardo Da Vinci's most famous images, “Vitruvian Man,” Toby Lester gives us a view into the mind of this great artist and profound thinker, whose prodigious notebooks overflow with ideas. Spanning research on history, art, astronomy, geometry, geography and religion, Lester uses "Vitruvian Man" to reveal the landscape of human thought and achievement blossoming during Da Vinci's time, and to reveal Da Vinci's deeper nature -- driven, voraciously intelligent and compulsively curious. The book will make you want to delve deeper into the fascinating life of one of the greatest intellects in human history.
July 24, 2012
Suprisingly a very quick read I actually enjoyed it and would recommend it to someone interested in Da Vinci's works. The book really focused on his discoveries more than his life but was a quite interesting read and went into a good detail about the golden ratios and how Da Vinci equated everything to the human body (in structure mainly). For example he equated the build of the columns of a building with the side profile of a man. However I did find it interesting that he seemed to only study men, but then I would think in his time few women modeled for artists (nudely as he requested so the movements of the body were unrestricted by clothing).
December 16, 2011
Although Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is an iconic image, few know the story behind the image. Toby Lester not only tells the story of the image, but also presents the cultural backdrop that led to its creation. His prose is careful and readable, free of academic jargon. He makes his topic approachable rather than placing it on a pedestal. In some parts of the book, it's almost as if you are beside Lester in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, looking at Da Vinci's sketches. Rather than being an intrusive presence, Lester is a fine research companion.
April 6, 2013
The story of the Vitruvian Man is a most fascinating account of Leonardo Da Vinci, but also the time he lived in as mankind tried to come to grips with reality rather than just accepting myths. The author does a superb job of explaining 15th Century job and setting Da Vinci and his colleagues in it. I learned a great deal and intend to read the book again to better understand this pivotal period in human advancement. The author does an admirable job of keeping his story entertaining when it could have easily lapsed into dreary academic writing.
April 26, 2013
This is a magnificent contribution to the Da Vinci literature. A fascinating look at the Vitruvian Man (naked man in a circle and square or naked man doing jumping jacks) drawing by Leonardo in 1490, written in a completely accessible style, covering the roots of the knowledge it encompasses and the importance of those ideas throughout history from time of Christ until The Genius produced his unique and improved version. The book also conveys very interesting anecdotes about Da Vinci, only one of which I'll mention: he was a vegetarian. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
August 12, 2014
This book is history as story. insightful, good narration but the biography concludes with the vitruvious man.
June 12, 2019
Most people have heard of Leonardo Da Vinci. He was a famous Artist, Engineer, Inventor, and Architect. Da Vinci had an insatiable level of curiosity for everything. He would draw lifelike figures in his notebooks, and had many other idiosyncrasies. By all accounts, Da Vinci was an unparalleled genius. I know some things about him, but I am by no means an expert.
Da Vinci’s Ghost is a book that focuses on one aspect of Da Vinci’s genius, the drawing called Vitruvian Man. Even if you don’t know it by the title, it is such an iconic image that there is almost no way you could have never seen it or a derivative work. Vitruvian Man features a naked man doing jumping jacks while touching geometric figures.
Now, initially, this book was disappointing. I did not think that this book would only cover Vitruvian Man, I thought it would go further into Da Vinci’s life and times. After I got through that initial disappointment though, I came to appreciate what went into the book and what it had to say. I have read books on Leonardo Da Vinci before, however, I had not read one that focused on one piece of art by him.
The book isn’t really that long, it is only eight chapters. It has many images and pictures that talk about Leonardo’s various works and interests. For instance, when he got interested in Human Anatomy he drew everything related to the human body.
The book was pretty good despite those issues I had with it.
Da Vinci’s Ghost is a book that focuses on one aspect of Da Vinci’s genius, the drawing called Vitruvian Man. Even if you don’t know it by the title, it is such an iconic image that there is almost no way you could have never seen it or a derivative work. Vitruvian Man features a naked man doing jumping jacks while touching geometric figures.
Now, initially, this book was disappointing. I did not think that this book would only cover Vitruvian Man, I thought it would go further into Da Vinci’s life and times. After I got through that initial disappointment though, I came to appreciate what went into the book and what it had to say. I have read books on Leonardo Da Vinci before, however, I had not read one that focused on one piece of art by him.
The book isn’t really that long, it is only eight chapters. It has many images and pictures that talk about Leonardo’s various works and interests. For instance, when he got interested in Human Anatomy he drew everything related to the human body.
The book was pretty good despite those issues I had with it.
January 6, 2023
I guess my expectations were too high going into this book. The book's preface made me excited to read it. But I quickly lost interest. What I had expected was an interesting dive into Leonardo Da Vinci, arguably one of the greatest polymaths and geniuses of the Italian Renaissance, and his work, the Vitruvian Man. Instead, I found ramblings and constant asides on European history, art, architecture, religion, and literature. Interesting? At times, yes. I even flagged things to do further research into. But those tidbits were not why I picked up this book.
The parts about the actual topic, Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, make up maybe a fourth of this book. The book is only 227 pages long (not counting the extensive notes, bibliography, suggestions, permissions/credits, and index, which push the book out to 275 pages). The chapters on Leonardo's life have sections discussing history, art, architecture, etc., and not always clearly focused on Leonardo. It isn't until page 197 that we, at last, get to the main subject of the book—Leonardo's Vitruvian Man.
The main problem is that there wasn't enough material on Leonardo and his Vitruvian Man to justify an entire book. If Lester was a more engaging writer, then maybe the book would work better. But as written, the book lacked cohesion. I felt it was a confusing stream of disjointed parts with no coherent focus and too much conjecture and supposition.
The parts about the actual topic, Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, make up maybe a fourth of this book. The book is only 227 pages long (not counting the extensive notes, bibliography, suggestions, permissions/credits, and index, which push the book out to 275 pages). The chapters on Leonardo's life have sections discussing history, art, architecture, etc., and not always clearly focused on Leonardo. It isn't until page 197 that we, at last, get to the main subject of the book—Leonardo's Vitruvian Man.
Which brings us, at last, to Virtruvian Man.
The main problem is that there wasn't enough material on Leonardo and his Vitruvian Man to justify an entire book. If Lester was a more engaging writer, then maybe the book would work better. But as written, the book lacked cohesion. I felt it was a confusing stream of disjointed parts with no coherent focus and too much conjecture and supposition.
September 28, 2019
The author investigates the roots and influences of Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" drawing, starting with the Romans. He discusses the underlying ideas found in that drawing of a man within a circle and a square and how thinkers at this time were entertaining the idea that the form of man was a microcosm of all creation as it was made in God's image. He shows how, for example, the proportions found in a column match those found in the human while the face's proportions are found to underlie those found in the capital of columns designed by architects influenced by these ideas. Architecture in particular was being influenced by the supposed divine nature of human form--especially the male form. The book had some very interesting moments but also seemed to drag at times as the author belabored his points. One interesting figure that comes up in the story and seems to be worth calling out for future research is Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th Century mystic and thinker who seems to have been quite extraordinary from what Lester includes in his book.
November 20, 2017
This book was intriguing since it covered maybe the best example of the Renaissance man in history (Da Vinci), and also revealed some of the history of a classic image, the Vitruvian Man. The book was a fairly dry rehashing of the various artists and thinkers who studied the relationship between the human body and God. It also mentioned various important people in Da Vinci's life who influenced him in various fields in which he was interested. I didn't find the book to be a very enticing read despite the subject matter. I think the author could have done much more with such interesting material. I would probably recommend other books on Da Vinci before this one. The Vitruvian Man didn't turn out to be as interesting a subject as I hoped.
May 22, 2022
I just love Leonardo da Vinci. This book is SO good! Vitruvian Man is one of my all-time pieces of art/work from any artist ever, so I absolutely enjoyed reading this insane story of how that artwork came to be. It's just bananas to me that something like Vitruvian Man was basically forgotten for hundreds of years, despite being the pinnacle of multiple complex fields. Architecture, biology, mathematics, science, anatomy, art, and cosmology all flow through Leonardo to create what is arguably one of the most information-packed pieces of art ever created.
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