Inventing Leonardo

by A. Richard Turner

Compares the facts of Leonardo da Vinci's life with the interpretations of the man and the artist by Vasari, Goethe, Valery, Freud, and others to explore the current understanding of Leonardo and his contributions

Genres: Art, History, Biography

268 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 1993

About the author

A. (Almon) Richard "Dick" Turner was an expert on the Florentine Renaissance.

After achieving his master's degree (and doctorate in 1959) in art history at Princeton University (NJ), Professor Turner taught at the University of Michigan, Princeton University, Middlebury College (VT), and Grinnell College (IA). He was appointed director of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 1979, and later became dean of the faculty of arts and science, and director of the Institute for Humanities (NY). He retired from New York University in 2000.

Privately, he was an avid birder who volunteered at the Cape May Bird Observatory. Dick also served as a director of the New Jersey Audubon Society and Pinelands Preservation Alliance.

He died of lymphoma at Cape May, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Frank McAdam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Turner was an NYU professor at the time the book was written in 1992 and one has the feeling these twelve essays were actually a series of lectures he gave to his students year after year, polishing them as he went along. They're well written and erudite but unfortunately give the reader no new insights into Leonardo's life and work.

The book is divided into three parts. In the first, Turner gives a short biography of his subject that, though he professes to stick only to known facts, contains a great many phrases along the lines of "it can be assumed" or "it is likely." The second and most interesting part deals with those who have written about Leonardo in the centuries since his death. Here one encounters an unusual assortment of critics - Valery, Pater, Goethe, and even Freud, to name only a few. The third part is really just a random series of remarks and speculations on those points the author finds most interesting in his subject. Here he should have remembered his own comment on page 143 when discussing Freud's analysis of the artist: "As is the case with much of the writing on Leonardo thus far, the root issue may have been an attempt at self-definition on the part of the author."

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful little book on Leonardo, the "universal man," the sage, the painter of mysteries and enigma, the technologist and draftsman extraordinaire. Provides a brief account of the facts known about Leonardo's life, the various ways he has been appropriated by others -- especially in the 19th century -- and then provides a thematic treatment of some contemporary areas for thought about Leonardo. The second section is the strongest and provides immense value as intellectual history. The last section is rather sketchy but does inform. The first section on the facts provides the basic facts known from any source. But the basic thesis that each age invents a Leonardo in its own image seems strongly supported by the evidence.

[Alexander Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read for a class

[Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive, but mostly very interesting telling of his saga.

[Geoff Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turner looks at the history of interpretations of Leonardo's personality. These interpretations reveal more about the times and personalities of the interpreters but nonetheless, Turner attempts his own interpretation.