Author:
Vezzosi, Alessandro, author.
Edition Statement:English edition.
ImprintMunich ; New York : Prestel, [2019]
Imprint2019
Description319 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 35 cm
Note:Originally published in 2018 by Giunti Editore S.p.A., Florence-Milan as: Leonardo da Vinci : la pittura : un nuovo sguardo.
Note:Painting and the quest for perfection -- Lived painting. The origins -- Rudiments of writing, arithmetic and art -- Nature as the supreme master: Giotto and Masaccio -- Apprenticeship in Florence: Leonardo between Pollaiuolo and Verrocchio -- The inhabited cloths and draperies -- The problem of his early Madonnas -- Multiple contributions from Verrocchio's Circle -- Models and innovation -- Large works in Milan and Florence -- Disputes with clients -- Smiling masterpieces -- Must the painter be a loner? -- Searching for traces. Questions of attribution -- Leonardo's manuscripts -- Unrecognised masterpieces and their discovery in the twentieth century -- Leonardo the theoretician. Painting as a philosophy and science -- The nature of beauty -- Human proportions and physiognomy -- Anatomy in the service of painting -- The tools of the painter. Leonardo's picture supports -- The cartoons and Isabella d'Este -- The painter's inventions -- The art of perspective -- Fingerprints and traces of DNA -- Beyond the visible -- Plates -- The life of images. Leonardo's involvement in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ -- The landscape in The Virgin and Child with Two Angels -- The Annunciation -- The Madonna of the Carnation -- The St Petersburg Madonnas -- Ginevra de' Benci: a portrait of honour and virtue -- The Adoration of the Magi -- St Jerome -- The Virgin of the Rocks: the secrets of a metaphysical masterpiece -- Portrait of a musician -- Lady with an Ermine -- La Belle Ferronnière -- The Last Supper -- The Sala delle Asse -- Madonna of the Yarnwinder -- Mona Lisa: a portrait as the embodiment of painting -- The Virgin and Child with St Anne: cosmic dimensions -- St John the Baptist: heavenly and earthly love -- Appendix. Chronology -- List of works.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (pages 314-318).
Note:Shedding new light on the renowned Renaissance artist, this book examines all of da Vinci's known paintings using recent advances in technology and the latest art historical research. While Leonardo da Vinci is one of history's most studied and renowned artists, there are many myths surrounding his work. Beginning with his birth and early maturity in the workshops of the Florentine masters, Alessandro Vezzosi delves into the provenance of disputed works such as Madonna Litta and La Bella Principessa. He demonstrates how recent advances in technology have aided researchers in studying and restoring da Vinci's art--including uncovering forgeries--and he explores the artist's scientific achievements in the fields of optics and paint composition. An exquisitely produced plate section looks at the most significant aspects of da Vinci's work, and offers numerous comparative examples in the form of archival documents, preparatory studies, and contemporary paintings. A fitting tribute to da Vinci, this wide ranging book applies 21st-century knowledge to help answer centuries-old questions about the Renaissance genius.
