Da Vinci For Dummies

by Jessica Teisch, Tracy L. Barr

The fun and easy way to understand his work, his methods, and his mind

Thanks to the phenomenal success of the bestselling The Da Vinci Code, interest in this famed Renaissance artist has never been higher. This friendly guide provides an easy-to-follow introduction to da Vinci's life and works, including the story behind celebrated paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, the lowdown on his inventions, which include the helicopter and bicycle, and plain-English explanations of his groundbreaking scientific work in anatomy, zoology, botany, geology, optics, aerodynamics, and hydrodynamics.

The book also discusses his famed notebooks, his relationship to the Catholic Church, and the factual basis of The Da Vinci Code.

Jessica Teisch, PhD (Berkeley, CA) is Managing Editor of Bookmarks magazine and has written hundreds of profiles and book reviews for this award-winning publication. She has also written books and articles on subjects ranging from literature to technological, environmental, intellectual, and cultural history.

Genres: Art

366 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2005

Reviews

[Lino Matteo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Da Vinci for Dummies
Jessica Teisch,

Tracy L. Barr
2005

I like Dummy books. I thought this might enlighten me. It seemed to be a counterpoint to the Da Vinci Code rather than a book to enlighten me about Da Vinci. Don’t get me wrong it was not bad, but it was not as good as I usually think Dummy books are.
Sorry!
Perhaps it is that Leonardo did too much. Was too much and created expectations that are too great. I remember going to an exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts… I remember feeling, wow, but when someone is full of imagination and insights, can the lay person fully appreciate them when they do not jump out and bite you?
It was a little like that with this book as well. The author tried to humanize Da Vinci but how to do it with someone who was an:
• Artist
• Engineer
• Scientist
• Inventor
• Architect
• Writer
• Philosopher
• Thinker

In many ways, Da Vinci did too much – and published too little – to be fully appreciated…
The Dummies team gets A for effort but a B- for results.

Lino Matteo ©™
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[Jovana Plavsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book from collection for the dummies, and the concept I really liked. In this specific book I maybe missed bigger pictures (and I understand that color in this edition is not option). But what was intriguing for me (maybe that is because of translation) is that whole chapter about book Da Vinci Code has a a bit angry and strongly critical tone. To be honest no one will take Da Vinci Code to learn history or to use as a primer sourse for education, so for me is ok for author to be free in creativity, that is bestseller... So I dont understand that tone and I dont see need for it... But as I mentioned maybe is only because of translation, but doub it...

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was Leonardo Da Vinci For Dummies by Tracy Barr et al which is an excellent book which I bought from Amazon. The Da Vinci part of his name meant he came from the town of Vinci in Italy and his proper name should be Leonardo. This book is very insightful and tells you all about his life including the many designs he produced during his including even a submarine which show he had a fantastic imagination. Leonardo tried to learn as much as possible during his life and there were many people among the gentry who similarly did this as the Renaissance heralded a time of pooling knowledge. Leonardo was a pacifist although he did design machines of war for money. Many of his designs used intricate gearing which was ahead of its time. He is also possibly the greatest artist of the Renaissance which ran from the 15th to 17th centuries. He had a domineering and doting mother as a child and his father largely rejected him. Sigmund Freud wrote a paper on him based on what he could analyse from his paintings and drawings. The Mona Lisa despite being his most famous work is not one of the most interesting and achieved great notoriety when someone walked out of the Louvre with it under his arm and stole although it was later recovered. His pictures used a 3d perspective unusual at that time and he was one of the first to have a made up background to his portraits. He did over 30 human dissections during his life which enhanced his knowledge of the human body and helped him become better at drawing people. In the novel the Da Vinci Code it was claimed he draw Mary Magdalene at the Last Supper although if that is the case one of the apostles is missing which seems strange. Often artists of that period used female models which is more probable. I really enjoyed reading this book which is very interesting and a fascinating subject.

[Anjanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's something comforting about For Dummies books and Complete Idiot's Guides. After all there are so many of them - if they make a whole series out of it, then you can't be the only dummy or complete idiot out there. But I feel that the Dummies and Idiot's Guides think a little to highly of themselves. They pretend to be quick research books, telling their readers right up front that they don't have to read the whole thing, just the part they are interested in. But who is going to buy a book just to read a handful of pages? So although they tell you one thing, they want to be something entirely different - a serious research book, told in a way any dummy could appreciate. They usually make horribly lame jokes (this one isn't so bad, but they go a bit overboard with the exclamation points). So what are you For Dummies and Complete Idiot's Guides? Are you the comedy driving school of the book world or do you want me to take you seriously?

[Rachel Kopel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since we have the excellent Da Vinci Experience exhibit at my workplace, San Diego Air & Space Museum, I am especially enjoying this survey of his life and times. http://www.davinciexperience.info/

Since both the exhibit and the job are gone I have declared this book over, even though it is not completely finished.

[Elly]

that is to say: the Dutch translation...