What do you think?
Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings
A concise, compact, portable edition of the comprehensive Da Vinci retrospective published in 2000 offers a rich portrait of the artist, covering his life, creative process, and of course, his art--presented in more than 295 illustrations that span the length and breadth of his career. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1986
About the author
Pietro C. Marani
56 books2 followersPietro Cesare Marani is an Italian art historian and curator. He is among the leading authorities on the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci having written of over 200 publications on the artist. These include book-length studies on the Portrait of a Musician and The Last Supper, an overview on Leonardo's time in Venice, and one of the two modern catalogue raisonné of Leonardo's works, the other being by Frank Zöllner.
He is currently a professor of art history at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
He is currently a professor of art history at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 3, 2019
On this day exactly 500 years ago one of the greatest geniuses in civilization died peacefully in france. Leonardo was not only a fantastic painter but he was also a deeply inquiring mind. And so as I homage to him I took this book down from my shelf and spent 2 glorious hours looking deeply at his paintings. He was a true renaissance man.
November 8, 2024
Leonardo’s paintings are superb. Marani follows him from humanist workshop and scientific observation via a new portraiture to classicism and the idea.
Read
April 10, 2025Sorrowful eyes and enigmatic smiles
This is a book about Leonardo's paintings, barely even mentioning his inventions and scientific discoveries, and leaving his personal life and personality almost completely unmentioned.
Mostly the book offers some historical and philosophical perspectives into the paintings and what Leonardo might have been inspired by. I would have enjoyed more information about Leonardo's methods, goals and his personal idea(l)s.
While not inaccurate, I feel like hypothetical assumptions miss that to Leonardo (who refrained from philosophical questions that could not be empirically answered), art was a form of research and understanding. His methods were the meaning behind his art, and his methods were born from who he was.
But Leonardo never explained himself, and his work has thus always remained shrouded in secrets and mystery. This book does little to enlighten us.
It does however, feature an incredible collection of Leonardo's artistic output. The art itself makes this book worth reading.
This is a book about Leonardo's paintings, barely even mentioning his inventions and scientific discoveries, and leaving his personal life and personality almost completely unmentioned.
Mostly the book offers some historical and philosophical perspectives into the paintings and what Leonardo might have been inspired by. I would have enjoyed more information about Leonardo's methods, goals and his personal idea(l)s.
While not inaccurate, I feel like hypothetical assumptions miss that to Leonardo (who refrained from philosophical questions that could not be empirically answered), art was a form of research and understanding. His methods were the meaning behind his art, and his methods were born from who he was.
But Leonardo never explained himself, and his work has thus always remained shrouded in secrets and mystery. This book does little to enlighten us.
It does however, feature an incredible collection of Leonardo's artistic output. The art itself makes this book worth reading.
April 13, 2019
Some intriguing bits, but nothing really stands out.
February 18, 2009
"Leanardo da Vinci" by P. Marani, 2003. At first glance Pietro Marani's beautifully produced book appears to be a simple catalogue of Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings.
The first paragraph reads: "An anonymous denunciation to the city officials in Florence on April 9, 1474, states that one Jacopo Saltarelli, about seventeen years old, 'has been part to many wretched things, and consents to please those persons who request such wickedness of him.' Among the 'dozens' of people whom Jacopo satisfied, four are named. They are an interesting mix of rich and poor. Listed second on the document is a twenty four year old youth named "Lionardo di Ser Piero da Vinci" destined to become the most famous painter of the Italian Renaissance. The document concludes by making it very clear that all the men 'had sodomized the above mentioned Jacopa' "
This work is obviously much more than a simple catalogue. Pierto Marani, a brilliant scholar and leading conservator of art, is the preeminent expert on Leonardo's life and art work. Using an arsenal of methods, including the analysis of brush strokes, finger prints, and x-rays, he is able to explore the many re-drawn revisions, the various collaborations with other artists, the shamefully executed restorations of the past as well as the very often asked questions regarding attribution and authenticity.
The first paragraph reads: "An anonymous denunciation to the city officials in Florence on April 9, 1474, states that one Jacopo Saltarelli, about seventeen years old, 'has been part to many wretched things, and consents to please those persons who request such wickedness of him.' Among the 'dozens' of people whom Jacopo satisfied, four are named. They are an interesting mix of rich and poor. Listed second on the document is a twenty four year old youth named "Lionardo di Ser Piero da Vinci" destined to become the most famous painter of the Italian Renaissance. The document concludes by making it very clear that all the men 'had sodomized the above mentioned Jacopa' "
This work is obviously much more than a simple catalogue. Pierto Marani, a brilliant scholar and leading conservator of art, is the preeminent expert on Leonardo's life and art work. Using an arsenal of methods, including the analysis of brush strokes, finger prints, and x-rays, he is able to explore the many re-drawn revisions, the various collaborations with other artists, the shamefully executed restorations of the past as well as the very often asked questions regarding attribution and authenticity.
October 27, 2007
The text is not consistently valuable to someone without a knowledge of art history or painting (it was occasionally incomprehensible to me), but the illustrations are marvelous. Just taking the time to consider Da Vinci's development as a painter, in the context of his mentor's sculptural work and other influential contemporary artists, is a satisfying experience.
April 5, 2008
One of the largest books I have. The size helps to do justice to many of the paintings. In this book, they don't just look like pictures, but look like paintings. There are several foldouts that cannot be missed.
October 5, 2016
I enjoyed looking more at the pictures than trying to read the book. The print was too small for me to read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews