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Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind
In this engaging and thoroughly researched biography, Charles Nicholl uncovers the man behind the myth of the great Renaissance master. At times a painter, sculptor, inventor, draftsman, and anatomist, Leonardo’s life cannot easily be summarized. And yet, Nicholl skillfully traces the artist’s early days as an illegitimate child in Tuscany; his apprenticeship with Verrocchio in Florence; his service with some of the most powerful Renaissance families; his relationships with Michelangelo and Machiavelli; and his final days at the French royal court. In addition, Nicholl looks beyond the well-known stories of Leonardo’s famous masterpieces, and gives us a glimpse into the artist’s everyday life. We learn of Leonardo’s penchant for jokes, his fascination with flight, his obsessive note making, and even what he ate. Nicholl weaves these details together in a fascinating portrait that goes far towards revealing the enigmatic figure who continues to fascinate present-day readers.
502 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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3308 people want to read
About the author
Charles Nicholl
28 books68 followersCharles Nicholl is an English author specializing in works of history, biography, literary detection, and travel. His subjects have included Christopher Marlowe, Arthur Rimbaud, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Nashe and William Shakespeare. Besides his literary output, Nicholl has also presented documentary programs on television. In 1974 he was the winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer Award for his account of an LSD trip entitled 'The Ups and The Downs'.
Nicholl was educated at King's College, Cambridge, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has lectured in Britain, Italy and the United States. He lives in Lucchesia in Italy with his wife and children. He also lectures on Martin Randall Travel tours.
Nicholl was educated at King's College, Cambridge, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has lectured in Britain, Italy and the United States. He lives in Lucchesia in Italy with his wife and children. He also lectures on Martin Randall Travel tours.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
October 8, 2014
To write a biography of Leonardo that does not make the reader feel uselessly unaccomplished and inadequate, or dewy eyed with adoration, is quite a feat. Of course Leonardo considered himself something of a failure, but that’s just poppycock on his part; though it is worth pondering why he was so unsatisfied with his countless accomplishments, just as it is to ask why Thomas Aquinas near the end of his life considered all his writings to be so much straw.*
This is a portrait in the Leonardo manner - a refined and patient attention to details that are then subsumed by a mystery-engendering sfumato in the larger composition: thousands of details closely observed funnel into the mind to be formed into a larger project, but which are instead caught up in whirlpools of a restlessly ramifying intellect, and never quite totally coalesce, which in the end is probably closer to reality anyway. And Leonardo was first and foremost interested in reality, so we shouldn’t begrudge him his many incomplete projects. Reality and the human mind are endless…
Nicholl does not channel his energies into overt psychological analysis (leaving that to Freud) or an over-interpretation of the art works. Instead he fleshes out terse (decidedly un-literary) notebook entries into a living portrait, a roughly day-to-day Leonardo. Nicholl pored over these notebooks and found in rather innocuous entries - lists of books owned, lists of people known, even simple word lists – insight into Leonardo’s character. This approach is anatomized in the introduction where he shows his method by focusing on a late notebook entry on serious artistic/scientific matters that is interrupted by Leonardo telling himself that he better go eat because his soup is getting cold. Leonardo always had one eye on the “heavens” and one eye on the bowl of soup in front of him.
Without being cloying or excessive, or too far fetched, Nicholl brings Leonardo down to earth - though Leonardo’s “down-to-earth” is decidedly dandyish (how his hands smelled of rose water is mentioned a few times) - through cautiously speculative extrapolation of notebook entries and historical mentions of Leonardo; but he only brings him down to earth in order to more clearly show how his imagination soared.
This is not Leonardo as genius or magus, but Leonardo as a man; not to say that he wasn’t a genius or even a magus, but what is delivered here is a Leonardo as (hypothetically) known by an intimate personal companion, and through this hypothetical companion I now have the illusion that I actually know Leonardo, however much the numerous residual mysteries overwhelm my knowledge.
* With a deft tweak of interpretation these two monumentally aberrant self-appraisals can begin to sound inspirational to us more common folk; they can tell us that accomplishments do not in the end matter, that what matters is the individual and his/her own apprehension of truth and authenticity, and living a life as such, which is ever fluctuating (or should be), while works and accomplishments are like limited snapshots; but still, we’d all like to actually do something, right?, to give some kind of shape to the entangled whirlwinds of our emotional and intellectual lives.
This is a portrait in the Leonardo manner - a refined and patient attention to details that are then subsumed by a mystery-engendering sfumato in the larger composition: thousands of details closely observed funnel into the mind to be formed into a larger project, but which are instead caught up in whirlpools of a restlessly ramifying intellect, and never quite totally coalesce, which in the end is probably closer to reality anyway. And Leonardo was first and foremost interested in reality, so we shouldn’t begrudge him his many incomplete projects. Reality and the human mind are endless…
Nicholl does not channel his energies into overt psychological analysis (leaving that to Freud) or an over-interpretation of the art works. Instead he fleshes out terse (decidedly un-literary) notebook entries into a living portrait, a roughly day-to-day Leonardo. Nicholl pored over these notebooks and found in rather innocuous entries - lists of books owned, lists of people known, even simple word lists – insight into Leonardo’s character. This approach is anatomized in the introduction where he shows his method by focusing on a late notebook entry on serious artistic/scientific matters that is interrupted by Leonardo telling himself that he better go eat because his soup is getting cold. Leonardo always had one eye on the “heavens” and one eye on the bowl of soup in front of him.
Without being cloying or excessive, or too far fetched, Nicholl brings Leonardo down to earth - though Leonardo’s “down-to-earth” is decidedly dandyish (how his hands smelled of rose water is mentioned a few times) - through cautiously speculative extrapolation of notebook entries and historical mentions of Leonardo; but he only brings him down to earth in order to more clearly show how his imagination soared.
This is not Leonardo as genius or magus, but Leonardo as a man; not to say that he wasn’t a genius or even a magus, but what is delivered here is a Leonardo as (hypothetically) known by an intimate personal companion, and through this hypothetical companion I now have the illusion that I actually know Leonardo, however much the numerous residual mysteries overwhelm my knowledge.
* With a deft tweak of interpretation these two monumentally aberrant self-appraisals can begin to sound inspirational to us more common folk; they can tell us that accomplishments do not in the end matter, that what matters is the individual and his/her own apprehension of truth and authenticity, and living a life as such, which is ever fluctuating (or should be), while works and accomplishments are like limited snapshots; but still, we’d all like to actually do something, right?, to give some kind of shape to the entangled whirlwinds of our emotional and intellectual lives.
July 15, 2016
I strongly discommend this book. If you're looking for a good, comprehensive book on Leonardo da Vinci, I'd recommend you to continue your search.
I've read a number of reviews on a number of different books on Leonardo, to find the right one for me, and ended up with this one because of its high average rating. However I must admit that it was a huge disappointment, for the following reasons:
1. Even though Leonardo led a pretty chronological life, the author skillfully manages to mess up the timeline so much that one is left with confusion regarding the dates of paintings, Leonardo moving to different places, meeting different people, doing different things. The author jumps from A to C, then back to B, then to K, then back to B, and then to O.
2. The vast majority of paintings, drawings and architectural structures the author talks about is not represented in the book. One has to google them, and most of the time will not find the right image, as many drawings/paintings by various artists have the same name, or because the reference by the author is vague (e.g. "drawing in Paris MS 10")
3. There's as much psychology in this book as arts. The author tries to explain pretty much everything Leonardo says/paints with some subconscious motives, referring many times to Freud. He sees patterns where there are none, and tries to link a painting done by Leonardo when he was 50 with a dream he had when he was a little kid, "because the shadow in the painting looks like a bird, and Leonardo had this strange dream about a bird when he was a kid". This highly resembles for example people who see the face of Jesus in everything, from toasts to rock formations.
4. The way the book is written distracts consistently from the main points. The author keeps dropping names just to show that he has done his research: "Leonardo attended this fair, where also was present, A, B, C, D, E, F (whom Leonardo has met before), G, H, I, J, K and L. Possibly also M, N and O". With no link whatsoever to their importance in Leonardo's life. Another example is the shopping lists - the author just keeps throwing in Leonardo's shopping lists (he bought A for 5 soldi, B for 7 soldi, C for 2 ducats, D for 13 soldi, E for 5 ducats). And each time, the reader is left with the question "so what?". It's nice to see some small, mundane details once a while, but the author just keeps repeating and repeating them.
5. In combination with the points above, the (literary) way this book is written makes reading this book an actual struggle. It's definitely not easy-to-read, and I've considered many times just putting it down, despite my great motivation to learn as much as possible about Leonardo. I finished this book just for the sake of finishing the book.
6. As mentioned by another reader below, this book mostly focuses on Leonardo as a painter, and even fails in that massively. It's technical analysis of the paintings is extremely limited, most of it being (incorrect) interpretation, or mentioning that there are preparatory sketches of a particular painting, or that it was probably done by someone else while Leonardo supervised. Regarding Leonardo's other achievements, the book provides just a brief description, mainly focusing on just Leonardo's sketches for manned flight.
7. The book is full of hypotheses and (Freudian) misinterpretations. An example: "Leonardo traveled to Milan, with him was A and B. It's possible that C was also with him, we don't know it. Also with him could be D and E, again we don't know. It could be that Leonardo met F in Milan [just because F happens to live in Milan], but again we don't know. G and H could have come to visit him, but it's also possible that G and H were somewhere else". A daunting amount of maybe-s, possibly-s. could be-s, without any substantiation whatsoever just proves that this book is mainly based on guesswork to make it more dramatic/romantic or to try to link Leonardo to as many people as possible.
8. Finally, the short review on the books cover says that "the book brings Leonardo down from his lonely pedestal", because apparently many people feel bad about themselves after reading about Leonardo's achievements. The book succeeds in this so much, that one is actually left with the feeling that Leonardo is an underachiever - just another ordinary painter from the 15th-16th century; no big deal. This provides an extremely incorrect image - and is even disrespectful - of a great artist and intellectual, a true homo universalis.
I've read a number of reviews on a number of different books on Leonardo, to find the right one for me, and ended up with this one because of its high average rating. However I must admit that it was a huge disappointment, for the following reasons:
1. Even though Leonardo led a pretty chronological life, the author skillfully manages to mess up the timeline so much that one is left with confusion regarding the dates of paintings, Leonardo moving to different places, meeting different people, doing different things. The author jumps from A to C, then back to B, then to K, then back to B, and then to O.
2. The vast majority of paintings, drawings and architectural structures the author talks about is not represented in the book. One has to google them, and most of the time will not find the right image, as many drawings/paintings by various artists have the same name, or because the reference by the author is vague (e.g. "drawing in Paris MS 10")
3. There's as much psychology in this book as arts. The author tries to explain pretty much everything Leonardo says/paints with some subconscious motives, referring many times to Freud. He sees patterns where there are none, and tries to link a painting done by Leonardo when he was 50 with a dream he had when he was a little kid, "because the shadow in the painting looks like a bird, and Leonardo had this strange dream about a bird when he was a kid". This highly resembles for example people who see the face of Jesus in everything, from toasts to rock formations.
4. The way the book is written distracts consistently from the main points. The author keeps dropping names just to show that he has done his research: "Leonardo attended this fair, where also was present, A, B, C, D, E, F (whom Leonardo has met before), G, H, I, J, K and L. Possibly also M, N and O". With no link whatsoever to their importance in Leonardo's life. Another example is the shopping lists - the author just keeps throwing in Leonardo's shopping lists (he bought A for 5 soldi, B for 7 soldi, C for 2 ducats, D for 13 soldi, E for 5 ducats). And each time, the reader is left with the question "so what?". It's nice to see some small, mundane details once a while, but the author just keeps repeating and repeating them.
5. In combination with the points above, the (literary) way this book is written makes reading this book an actual struggle. It's definitely not easy-to-read, and I've considered many times just putting it down, despite my great motivation to learn as much as possible about Leonardo. I finished this book just for the sake of finishing the book.
6. As mentioned by another reader below, this book mostly focuses on Leonardo as a painter, and even fails in that massively. It's technical analysis of the paintings is extremely limited, most of it being (incorrect) interpretation, or mentioning that there are preparatory sketches of a particular painting, or that it was probably done by someone else while Leonardo supervised. Regarding Leonardo's other achievements, the book provides just a brief description, mainly focusing on just Leonardo's sketches for manned flight.
7. The book is full of hypotheses and (Freudian) misinterpretations. An example: "Leonardo traveled to Milan, with him was A and B. It's possible that C was also with him, we don't know it. Also with him could be D and E, again we don't know. It could be that Leonardo met F in Milan [just because F happens to live in Milan], but again we don't know. G and H could have come to visit him, but it's also possible that G and H were somewhere else". A daunting amount of maybe-s, possibly-s. could be-s, without any substantiation whatsoever just proves that this book is mainly based on guesswork to make it more dramatic/romantic or to try to link Leonardo to as many people as possible.
8. Finally, the short review on the books cover says that "the book brings Leonardo down from his lonely pedestal", because apparently many people feel bad about themselves after reading about Leonardo's achievements. The book succeeds in this so much, that one is actually left with the feeling that Leonardo is an underachiever - just another ordinary painter from the 15th-16th century; no big deal. This provides an extremely incorrect image - and is even disrespectful - of a great artist and intellectual, a true homo universalis.
May 8, 2012
Really loved this. I can't imagine there being a more exhaustive book on da Vinci. Nicholl goes over all that is known about his life and works and while managing to give all the facts, also indulges in a lot of "what if's" and context, all of which brings what could otherwise be an overly dry and academic book to life. The world that he lived in is vividly described and the broader cultural and political movements are all given full consideration. And where gaps in the knowledge exist, he gives plausible descriptions of what things might have been like based on what we know of other, similar circumstances from the same time.
That, and da Vinci is just a fascinating man - full of contradictions and complexity, undeniably a genius, yet also deeply flawed and imperfect. In some ways that was what I enjoyed most about this book. One can tend to think of genius as springing up fully formed, yet it is the failings and shortcomings and struggles that form the ground for that genius to emerge.
A really great book. While maybe a bit too academic for some people, if you are at all a history buff like me, or are simply interested in da Vinci, I highly recommend it.
That, and da Vinci is just a fascinating man - full of contradictions and complexity, undeniably a genius, yet also deeply flawed and imperfect. In some ways that was what I enjoyed most about this book. One can tend to think of genius as springing up fully formed, yet it is the failings and shortcomings and struggles that form the ground for that genius to emerge.
A really great book. While maybe a bit too academic for some people, if you are at all a history buff like me, or are simply interested in da Vinci, I highly recommend it.
December 10, 2015
Leonardo da Vinci’s biography with a very detailed description of his work. A stream of citations and details that mostly, if not only, concern those who want to study da Vinci in detail rather than read about him. Several published reviews claimed that this is an easy book to read, while in fact it is anything but. I’d recommend it to students and teachers who deal with the subject and da Vinci’s era but not ‘amateur’ da Vinci readers.
August 20, 2022
4 stars - English Ebook
Nicholl aims for the man behind the myth in this penetrating, highly detailed biography, which recognizes da Vinci's "mysterious greatness as an artist, scientist and philosopher".
It avoids hagiography (and nearly steers clear of the word "genius"). The illegitimate child of a Tuscan peasant girl and a local notary, da Vinci (1452–1519) was apprenticed as a teen to Florence sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio.
This story conjectures convincingly about Leonardo's early career, though he tends to dwell overlong on technical aspects of Renaissance art production. Leonardo established a Florentine studio in 1477, but it was not until he moved to Milan five years later that he began to produce his iconic works: the painting Virgin of the Rocks, the famous Vitruvian Man drawing.
This book chronicles the production of The Last Supper and makes a firm statement about the Mona Lisa's identity. Numerous questions about Leonardo's life remain, unavoidably, unanswered, but Nicholl fills in the gaps with insight into the artist's cultural milieu, offering tidbits about Leonardo's sexuality, the sordid goings-on at the Borgia court and the multifarious fruits of the artist's astonishingly fertile curiosity and imagination.
It took my attention to da Vinci's polymathic pursuits, as well as his own translations from the artist's numerous notebooks, are some of this dense but readable volume's most compelling aspects.
Illustrated edition.
Nicholl aims for the man behind the myth in this penetrating, highly detailed biography, which recognizes da Vinci's "mysterious greatness as an artist, scientist and philosopher".
It avoids hagiography (and nearly steers clear of the word "genius"). The illegitimate child of a Tuscan peasant girl and a local notary, da Vinci (1452–1519) was apprenticed as a teen to Florence sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio.
This story conjectures convincingly about Leonardo's early career, though he tends to dwell overlong on technical aspects of Renaissance art production. Leonardo established a Florentine studio in 1477, but it was not until he moved to Milan five years later that he began to produce his iconic works: the painting Virgin of the Rocks, the famous Vitruvian Man drawing.
This book chronicles the production of The Last Supper and makes a firm statement about the Mona Lisa's identity. Numerous questions about Leonardo's life remain, unavoidably, unanswered, but Nicholl fills in the gaps with insight into the artist's cultural milieu, offering tidbits about Leonardo's sexuality, the sordid goings-on at the Borgia court and the multifarious fruits of the artist's astonishingly fertile curiosity and imagination.
It took my attention to da Vinci's polymathic pursuits, as well as his own translations from the artist's numerous notebooks, are some of this dense but readable volume's most compelling aspects.
Illustrated edition.
August 10, 2019
"How could you describe this heart without filling a whole book?" -written by Leonardo under an anatomical drawing of the human heart.
EDIT: This book changed my life, and when I reread an earlier version of the review I felt like I didn't do it enough justice. This book brings you back to Quattrocentro Italy at the start of the renaissance, which not only fostered new ideas and innovations, but also meant the crumbling of basically all conventional beliefs and knowledge. Leonardo was born out of wedlock in a modest little stone house rented by his grandfather to farmhands. From there, Nicholl shows us Leonardo's humble, unlettered origins and takes us on a wonderful journey through his life that charmingly portrays him as a full and real human being, as far away as possible from the coldness of the term "genius".
In this book, Leonardo da Vinci, polymath and genius was a young boy caught up in the complicated family dynamics of step-parents and siblings. A young man ashamed of his own sexuality. An old man haunted by the works he never completed, convinced that he was never productive enough to leave a lasting impact on the world. He was the guy with clever word games, fun picture puzzles. A guy who wrote dirty jokes he happened to hear on the street, bought dandy clothes, who got angry and sad and disappointed, and who was, in many instances, a victim of circumstances like the rest of us.
The book itself is masterfully-written and well-researched. Aside from Leonardo's own journals, Nicholl references many other contemporaries, from the diary of Florentine apothecary Luca Landucci to Niccolo' Machiavelli and Marsilio Ficino, along with other general insights into life in Quattrocento Italy. People who enjoy learning more about history would love this book, though I highly urge everybody to read it, if only just to see that they do share a vulnerable, tender part of themselves with one of the most famous and brilliant people in the world.
In short: absolutely beautiful, rich, and memorable. I've read it like 3 times already and am still amazed by it. GO READ IT.
EDIT: This book changed my life, and when I reread an earlier version of the review I felt like I didn't do it enough justice. This book brings you back to Quattrocentro Italy at the start of the renaissance, which not only fostered new ideas and innovations, but also meant the crumbling of basically all conventional beliefs and knowledge. Leonardo was born out of wedlock in a modest little stone house rented by his grandfather to farmhands. From there, Nicholl shows us Leonardo's humble, unlettered origins and takes us on a wonderful journey through his life that charmingly portrays him as a full and real human being, as far away as possible from the coldness of the term "genius".
In this book, Leonardo da Vinci, polymath and genius was a young boy caught up in the complicated family dynamics of step-parents and siblings. A young man ashamed of his own sexuality. An old man haunted by the works he never completed, convinced that he was never productive enough to leave a lasting impact on the world. He was the guy with clever word games, fun picture puzzles. A guy who wrote dirty jokes he happened to hear on the street, bought dandy clothes, who got angry and sad and disappointed, and who was, in many instances, a victim of circumstances like the rest of us.
The book itself is masterfully-written and well-researched. Aside from Leonardo's own journals, Nicholl references many other contemporaries, from the diary of Florentine apothecary Luca Landucci to Niccolo' Machiavelli and Marsilio Ficino, along with other general insights into life in Quattrocento Italy. People who enjoy learning more about history would love this book, though I highly urge everybody to read it, if only just to see that they do share a vulnerable, tender part of themselves with one of the most famous and brilliant people in the world.
In short: absolutely beautiful, rich, and memorable. I've read it like 3 times already and am still amazed by it. GO READ IT.
December 5, 2013
Leonardo da Vinci was truly a fascinating man and this book does an excellent job of highlighting his unique brilliance. In an age of the Renaissance man, da Vinci managed to stand out, not an easy thing to do among the other famous men of his day: Michelango, Raphael, Bramante, Cesare Borgia, three different popes, etc. He lived through tumultuous times with the exile of the Medici and Sforza in Florence and Milan, respectively, and then their return years later. The French and the young violent Borgia also caused havoc in the region and it seems that everyone that was anyone was vying for Leonardo's attentions for paintings, engineering, sculpting, architecture, etc. Nicholl does a wonderful job explaining the significance of his works and his eccentricity of trying to make man fly and his bravery to go against the Pope in his anatomical studies and dissections.
The problem I had with the book is that so much of it is conjecture. Leonardo left a wealth of information about his works, but not about himself. In his "infinite notebooks" there are jottings of his feelings, especially as he was aging, but they are not diaries in the normal sense. When he is in the service of the Borgia he says nothing, he says nothing about the discovery of the Americas and Caribbean. The book is full of "probably," "maybe," "perhaps," etc. There just isn't enough personal information to tell a real story. I couldn't come away with any real ideas of his personality, was he dreamy? arrogant? Practical despite his creative inventions (science fiction even)?
All in all I did learn a lot and I am very impressed by Nicholl's research, his bibliography is extensive and his passion is evident. It just wasn't as cohesive as a narrative as I was hoping and at times I felt bored with the lists of household expenses and the constant wondering if this person was really that person.
The problem I had with the book is that so much of it is conjecture. Leonardo left a wealth of information about his works, but not about himself. In his "infinite notebooks" there are jottings of his feelings, especially as he was aging, but they are not diaries in the normal sense. When he is in the service of the Borgia he says nothing, he says nothing about the discovery of the Americas and Caribbean. The book is full of "probably," "maybe," "perhaps," etc. There just isn't enough personal information to tell a real story. I couldn't come away with any real ideas of his personality, was he dreamy? arrogant? Practical despite his creative inventions (science fiction even)?
All in all I did learn a lot and I am very impressed by Nicholl's research, his bibliography is extensive and his passion is evident. It just wasn't as cohesive as a narrative as I was hoping and at times I felt bored with the lists of household expenses and the constant wondering if this person was really that person.
July 8, 2007
After I came back from Italy I became obssessed with anything to do with Leonardo Da Vinci. On my bookshelf I must have 10 or so books about him. This is my least favorite book as it is not a true picture of the man as a whole. This book only deals with his life in art, not in technology, religion of the mysteries surrounding his involvement in the Iluminati. I can recommend better books.
January 18, 2016
It was a bit of a slog to make it through this biography. The overall outline of Leonardo's life and works was interesting, and I appreciate the author's frequent citations of contemporary sources, but I was less than impressed with how he went about interpreting the sources and filling in the details.
The author was definitely most interested in Leonardo Da Vinci as a painter. He speculates about the origins, possible models, and hidden meanings of Leonardo's paintings ad nauseum while giving a competent, but relatively brief treatment of most of Leonardo's other accomplishments. He also indulges in rampant speculation (often of an absurd Freudian nature) regarding Leonardo's childhood, relationship with his parents, and alleged homosexuality. On occasion he even dismisses statements by Leonardo's acquaintances and contemporaries because they don't line up with his own pet theories...personally, I would think those sources should be taken more seriously than conjectures by later scholars, but that's just me.
Overall: There is an amazing amount of detail in this book, but unless you are primarily interested in Leonardo da Vinci as a painter or in trying to deduce details of his family relationships through Freudian analysis, you might want to find a different biography.
The author was definitely most interested in Leonardo Da Vinci as a painter. He speculates about the origins, possible models, and hidden meanings of Leonardo's paintings ad nauseum while giving a competent, but relatively brief treatment of most of Leonardo's other accomplishments. He also indulges in rampant speculation (often of an absurd Freudian nature) regarding Leonardo's childhood, relationship with his parents, and alleged homosexuality. On occasion he even dismisses statements by Leonardo's acquaintances and contemporaries because they don't line up with his own pet theories...personally, I would think those sources should be taken more seriously than conjectures by later scholars, but that's just me.
Overall: There is an amazing amount of detail in this book, but unless you are primarily interested in Leonardo da Vinci as a painter or in trying to deduce details of his family relationships through Freudian analysis, you might want to find a different biography.
May 17, 2008
This is the first book I've read on DaVinci, but it was really well written. I learned a lot about him.
June 10, 2024
Wow, I finally finished! GR says I have been reading this since 2012, which is even longer than I realized. It's interesting, but dense, so it didn't take a lot of motivation to put down for long stretches, but I was determined to read it all, so I occasionally went back to it, and now I finally put in the final stretch.
It's so incredibly detailed of Leonardo's life to a far deeper degree than I really care to know. It talks about everyone he seemingly has ever met. It covers every little scrap of anything written down by him or about him. I even now know how much he paid to have his gear and luggage hauled from Milan to Rome in 1512 (12 ducats). It's just too much.
Although it's only 502 pages, plus about 60 pages of footnotes (which I read) and bibliography (which I did not read), it feels more like 1500 pages due to the density but also pretty small print. This book doesn't inspire me to go find other biographies from Nicholl. This is a great reference book, though.
It's so incredibly detailed of Leonardo's life to a far deeper degree than I really care to know. It talks about everyone he seemingly has ever met. It covers every little scrap of anything written down by him or about him. I even now know how much he paid to have his gear and luggage hauled from Milan to Rome in 1512 (12 ducats). It's just too much.
Although it's only 502 pages, plus about 60 pages of footnotes (which I read) and bibliography (which I did not read), it feels more like 1500 pages due to the density but also pretty small print. This book doesn't inspire me to go find other biographies from Nicholl. This is a great reference book, though.
November 21, 2015
This was an interesting book. The author presents Leonardo's life from a number of perspectives including his notebooks, his art, public documents, other people's biographies, etc. The reader is left with a patchwork vision of what Leonardo's life must have been. The author's technique reminded me of academic study regarding the historical Jesus, but the author doesn't give much in the way of formal explanation for how he evaluated the credibility of his various sources. It might be interesting to see the claims being made from the perspective of independent attestation, dissimilarity, contextual credibility, etc. At times, I felt like the author was choosing the "story" that he liked best without fully explaining why that was the most likely interpretation (even while he denigrates other authors for doing the same thing).
In the end, I was left with a simpler view of Leonardo than I had expected. The book clearly documents the forays of Leonardo (back and forth between Florence and Milan, with various excursions to Rome and around Italy, finally ending up in Amboise, France, where he died) and his relationships (the patronage of the Medicis and various French political leaders, his casual acquaintance with Machiavelli and his rivalry with Michelangelo, his slowly acquired entourage of followers, students, and apprentices, etc.). It was informative, if not necessarily what I expected.
In the end, I was left with a simpler view of Leonardo than I had expected. The book clearly documents the forays of Leonardo (back and forth between Florence and Milan, with various excursions to Rome and around Italy, finally ending up in Amboise, France, where he died) and his relationships (the patronage of the Medicis and various French political leaders, his casual acquaintance with Machiavelli and his rivalry with Michelangelo, his slowly acquired entourage of followers, students, and apprentices, etc.). It was informative, if not necessarily what I expected.
August 14, 2015
High 3. Nicholls has painstakingly researched the minutiae of the note-books which constitute as much of the great Renaissance man’s legacy as do his magisterial works of art. As such, the author has provided valuable insights and theories on how both can proffer a more detailed picture of the man behind the myth. Thus, Nicholls explores signature works for any clues which they may hold relating to the attitudes and lifestyle of the artist. The reader is also given the most revealing interpretation of how the artist’s illegitimate roots may have coloured da Vinci’s visual interpretations and choices of subject. Similarly, the artist’s fascination with flight and nature is also persuasively dealt with. Yet, perhaps the biography’s greatest achievement is that, through poring over the multitude of interests which occupied da Vinci’s thoughts and made their way onto the pages of his Codex Atlanticus, the book offers the polymathic nature of the man as the answer to the riddle as to why an artist with so many unfinished pieces can retain such a prominence amongst the ranks of those heralded as the greatest artists of all time. This is an excellent biography, though at times it does become mired by the quantity of detail and the lengthy discussion of artistic technique.
April 4, 2011
The biography is based on journals that Da Vinci kept, in addition to secondary sources of information. I found the inclusion of things like Leonardo's grocery list a little tedious at times, but I appreciate how much detail the author included for the reader's benefit.
I started reading this book as most people would, from the beginning to the end, and ended up putting it back on the shelf for awhile. I picked it up again and skipped to the chapters I was most interested in and ended up reading the remainder of the book out of sequence. It seems to work though because the author wrote chapters that can pretty much stand alone.
The author's input about famous artists' biographers like Vasari was very interesting. He included so much detail and background so the reader could really get a full idea of what life was like in Renaissance Italy.
I started reading this book as most people would, from the beginning to the end, and ended up putting it back on the shelf for awhile. I picked it up again and skipped to the chapters I was most interested in and ended up reading the remainder of the book out of sequence. It seems to work though because the author wrote chapters that can pretty much stand alone.
The author's input about famous artists' biographers like Vasari was very interesting. He included so much detail and background so the reader could really get a full idea of what life was like in Renaissance Italy.
April 28, 2020
Това е може би най-подробната биография за Леонардо, която може да се намери на български (добре е да се прочетат и тези на Айзъксън и Уайт за някои пропуски от страна на Никъл). За съжаление, досега на родния книжен пазар така и не е излязла монография от водещ Леонардов специалист (като Марани, Кемп или Педрети например), с изключение на фундаменталното изследване на сър Кларк, издадено от "Български художник" през соца. Има и едно кратко изследване от Цьолнер на "Ташен", но то е твърде кратко действително за любознателния читател (става за пропедевтично запознаване само). Така че биографията на Никъл заесга е най-обемното и систематично изследване по темата. Препоръчвам.
February 20, 2008
For some reason I have recently been on a big Leonardo kick and I have read a few biographies. This one has been by far the best. It is scholarly and very well researched but is also very readable and rewarding. The author succeeds very well at creating a whole and believable person out of the myths and legends that surround a man like Leonardo. The book is filled with many drawings and painting details and contains a large section of color slides. This is really one of my favorite books now.
June 24, 2015
What an incredible character and so multitalented. This biography of Leonardo charts his life and some of the key incidences of his childhood and career which painted him into the picture her was. The book goes into a lot of detail about some of the more political elements of his life which I found a little boring to be honest but I could also see how that added context to his paintings also. It describes some of the incredible subtleties in some of his greatest paintings which were very interesting also. Certainly worth the read but I warn you that it is a detailed book.
August 30, 2015
I give it 5 stars for content, but 2 stars for presentation. I loved all the facts I learned about Da Vinci; he truly is a giant. However, the book is exhaustive in its presentation and is a slog to get through. That being said, every time you feel like tossing it against the wall out of boredom, you run into another interesting exploration of Da Vinci, such as the description of the Last Supper. It's the best reviewed of the Da Vinci biographies on Goodreads, so if you are in a Da Vinci frame of mind, this is probably the best bet.
December 25, 2014
For nine years this book has been on my nightstand. I started it, finally, in September. And only got 50 pages in...I just can't.
July 24, 2011
Historically excruciating detail down to a moving list with too much speculation by author -- otherwise an interesting account of the man known as Leonardo Da Vinci
August 10, 2018
Honestly this book took ages to read, and whilst very well researched, it was pretty dry! The recent biographies I read about Amelia Earhart, and Elon Musk were much more engaging!
May 26, 2021
As luck would have it, I was reading Charles Nicholl’s biography Leonardo da Vinci Flights of Mind concomitant with arranging for some landscaping work in our backyard. Since the older I get the less adept my mind becomes with multitasking, Leonardo and Vince from Yeoman Landscaping will now always be the same person in my mind.
Let me tell you about Vince. He does great work, has unique ideas, and comes off as charismatic when you meet him. He assured me we were in good hands, the job was doable, and things will look fantastic, so I signed on the dotted line.
Come the day work was to commence, Vince showed up slightly late with his crew. He had a foreman; let’s call him Salai for ease of reference. He also had a new trainee; let’s call him Melzi, again for ease of reference. Through the window I hear Vince addressing his crew. Seems the plan is for Salai to quickly teach Melzi how to use the power washer on the various surfaces to be spray cleaned that day. Meanwhile, Vince will head off to another job, probably in the Pope’s garden or something, and once Melzi masters the power washer, Salai too will wander off to join Vince, not before coveting my silverpoint pen and rose colored stockings, no doubt.
That is exactly what ensued, well, except for the coveting part. Melzi did a more than capable job, and Vince did return later in the day to evaluate Melzi’s work and do some tweaks here and there. Next thing I knew I was writing Vince a big check. And no sooner were Vince and his retinue gone than I noticed some shortcomings in the job. For the most part things look great, but I can’t help feeling things would look even better had Vince given my project his undivided attention.
Now I’m sitting here contemplating buyer’s remorse, a strangely smirkish smile on my face.
Let me tell you about Vince. He does great work, has unique ideas, and comes off as charismatic when you meet him. He assured me we were in good hands, the job was doable, and things will look fantastic, so I signed on the dotted line.
Come the day work was to commence, Vince showed up slightly late with his crew. He had a foreman; let’s call him Salai for ease of reference. He also had a new trainee; let’s call him Melzi, again for ease of reference. Through the window I hear Vince addressing his crew. Seems the plan is for Salai to quickly teach Melzi how to use the power washer on the various surfaces to be spray cleaned that day. Meanwhile, Vince will head off to another job, probably in the Pope’s garden or something, and once Melzi masters the power washer, Salai too will wander off to join Vince, not before coveting my silverpoint pen and rose colored stockings, no doubt.
That is exactly what ensued, well, except for the coveting part. Melzi did a more than capable job, and Vince did return later in the day to evaluate Melzi’s work and do some tweaks here and there. Next thing I knew I was writing Vince a big check. And no sooner were Vince and his retinue gone than I noticed some shortcomings in the job. For the most part things look great, but I can’t help feeling things would look even better had Vince given my project his undivided attention.
Now I’m sitting here contemplating buyer’s remorse, a strangely smirkish smile on my face.
April 20, 2023
Overall a good biography of Leonardo. A bit outdated, since it was written I think in 2004, but what it says it's still valid. A few mistakes here and there, but not important stuff. Even if it bothers me to read that Cesare Borgia's older brother becomes the younger one, making the murder of the latter commissioned by Cesare completely nonsense. A few cities of northern Italy spelled wrong, too. The translation of original manuscripts by Leonardo and other characters seems right to me, being Italian and being able to read and understand the originals.
For the most part it's good, it tells a lot of details and sometimes gets lost in them, without telling more important stuff. This happens especially when it comes to the first period of Leonardo's stay in Milan (1482 ca - 1499). Sometimes the author also gives strange personal opinions to Leonardo's life and romanticizes it a little too much, especially when he has to end a chapter or a paragraph and needs something dramatic. He focuses too much on what Leonardo COULD have felt, which is good to underline his humanity, but the read itself is a bit too much robotic, sometimes a list of events, names, and other events. I know it's a biography, but it makes it all so boring. And to bore me when it comes to Leonardo is a talent.
The edition I read had pictures and a lot of references, and it's useful, but didn't have a timeline, a scheme, and it would have beene really useful since it gets confusing sometimes.
For the most part it's good, it tells a lot of details and sometimes gets lost in them, without telling more important stuff. This happens especially when it comes to the first period of Leonardo's stay in Milan (1482 ca - 1499). Sometimes the author also gives strange personal opinions to Leonardo's life and romanticizes it a little too much, especially when he has to end a chapter or a paragraph and needs something dramatic. He focuses too much on what Leonardo COULD have felt, which is good to underline his humanity, but the read itself is a bit too much robotic, sometimes a list of events, names, and other events. I know it's a biography, but it makes it all so boring. And to bore me when it comes to Leonardo is a talent.
The edition I read had pictures and a lot of references, and it's useful, but didn't have a timeline, a scheme, and it would have beene really useful since it gets confusing sometimes.
February 28, 2022
Whether you enjoy this book will depend on the level of detail you are looking for in a biography. This one is extremely detailed. In general I found the detail to be helpful in constructing a picture of what Leonardo's life was really like. Details such as descriptions of places he lived, descriptions of the countryside at particular times of year etc. really help transport the reader to Leonardo's world. At other times I found the details tedious - long descriptions of the history of the succession of owners of a particular painting or manuscript and where it has been housed over the centuries since Leonardo produced it were not of interest to me, though they may be to others. Having said that, it is possible to just skim read the bits of detail that do not particularly interest you personally. Overall, the book is incredibly well-researched and Nicholl is meticulous in giving us his sources so that we can chase up any that interest us. The reason I rate the book as 4 stars is Nicholl's success in giving us a rich picture of Leonardo from many perspectives - Leonardo the man, the scientist, the lover, the artist, the genius. We get a feel for the type of person he was, for how he interacted with others and for his deep attachment to his work.
September 25, 2022
This was a book I bought years ago and decided to tackle in the interests of clearing my shelves. What I thought would be quite a dry, longwinded book was a real treat.
It is a book about Leonardo da Vinci, which would seem obvious from the title, but it is about the man first, or what we can try and know of him, and about the artist second. In fact the pictures didn't feature that much, which is probably as Leonardo would have preferred, as it is clear from this biography, that it is the engineering that is Leonardo's greatest interest. However, what I didn't realise was that Leonardo was also a talented musician (which is how he ended up going to Milan in the first place) as well as someone capable of putting on extravagant and theatrical pageants.
The author sometimes speculates where first hand evidence is not available, but he does make clear where and why he has formed these opinions. The book is quite a long read, but has just the right illustrations and the right amount of information to make the reader feel as though they have learnt a lot about someone who is probably the most famous artist who has lived.
It is a book about Leonardo da Vinci, which would seem obvious from the title, but it is about the man first, or what we can try and know of him, and about the artist second. In fact the pictures didn't feature that much, which is probably as Leonardo would have preferred, as it is clear from this biography, that it is the engineering that is Leonardo's greatest interest. However, what I didn't realise was that Leonardo was also a talented musician (which is how he ended up going to Milan in the first place) as well as someone capable of putting on extravagant and theatrical pageants.
The author sometimes speculates where first hand evidence is not available, but he does make clear where and why he has formed these opinions. The book is quite a long read, but has just the right illustrations and the right amount of information to make the reader feel as though they have learnt a lot about someone who is probably the most famous artist who has lived.
October 10, 2021
This older version of Leonardo’s biography started with a memory, possibly a dream of a bird that posed on his lips and since then became a destiny that took his mind to fly. Fantasy was the air that made this genius to fly through new discoveries, inventions and innovations.
The way he lived was the way he finished his days by giving his most passionate and ardent affection to his surroundings, which were repaid by keeping his memory alive with records of his imagination, the secrets of his dreams and as the author said by the flights of his mind.
In the XIX century a poet excavated and found bones with a skull. Would they be from Leonardo? Nobody knows for certain, but what it is certain is that cage was empty, because that wonderful mind has already flown to ETERNITY.
The way he lived was the way he finished his days by giving his most passionate and ardent affection to his surroundings, which were repaid by keeping his memory alive with records of his imagination, the secrets of his dreams and as the author said by the flights of his mind.
In the XIX century a poet excavated and found bones with a skull. Would they be from Leonardo? Nobody knows for certain, but what it is certain is that cage was empty, because that wonderful mind has already flown to ETERNITY.
August 2, 2024
Every year I pick a subject about which I would love to know more. This year I chose Leonardo. One might think that one tome of a biography would be enough.
Not so. Nicholl’s book is beloved scholarship and I enjoyed it very, very much. I’m reading Walter Isaacson’s now and find it extraordinarily engaging: far more Leonardo quotes and many moments of humor.
For those interested in the Italian Renaissance, it will be very hard not to build an entire library of histories: the Medici of Florence, the Visconti-Sforzas of Milan, the Borgias of Rome, Popes and the power of the Vatican, Savonarola…worth every moment.
Not so. Nicholl’s book is beloved scholarship and I enjoyed it very, very much. I’m reading Walter Isaacson’s now and find it extraordinarily engaging: far more Leonardo quotes and many moments of humor.
For those interested in the Italian Renaissance, it will be very hard not to build an entire library of histories: the Medici of Florence, the Visconti-Sforzas of Milan, the Borgias of Rome, Popes and the power of the Vatican, Savonarola…worth every moment.
May 31, 2018
Informative, accessible, based on an immense amount of research, and despite its wealth of detail never overly dry - an interesting and comprehensive biography of an immensely fascinating figure. The only thing that bugged me on occasion was the author's tendency to repeat previously made statements and re-use quotes in several instances, though not to such extent that it impeded my enjoyment of the book.
March 19, 2020
Aslında kitaba puanım 3 fakat Da Vinci'nin muhtesem hayati bunu vermemi engelledi. Bu kitap Leonardo Da Vinci'nin hayat hikayesinin kanitlara ve cagdaslarinin hayatlarindan detaylarla cikarimlara dayanan oldukça detayli bir biyografi kitabi olmuş. Fakat okurken bu detaylar bir süre sonra odak noktanizi kaybetmenize neden olabiliyor. Hususi olarak Da Vinci uzerine arastirma yaparken basucunda bulundurulabilir veya çok uzun vadede sindire sindire okunursa tam anlamiyla faydali olabilir.
February 27, 2022
Was er al eerder aan begonnen maar kwam er toen niet door. Dat is voor mij uitzonderlijk en hoewel het nu wel gelukt is, begrijp ik nog steeds niet goed waarom ik het zo’n tough read vind. Aan het onderwerp ligt het niet en de kritiek op de psychologische analyses begrijp ik wel maar die zijn niet het probleem voor mij. Misschien komt het doordat een ideaalbeeld is afgebroken, maar dat is nu juist de opzet van het boek 😊
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