Buch, Englisch, 416 Seiten, Format (B × H): 189 mm x 246 mm
The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man
Buch, Englisch, 416 Seiten, Format (B × H): 189 mm x 246 mm
ISBN: 978-0-19-280725-0
Verlag: Oxford University Press
The classic account of Leonardo's art, science, and thought, giving an unparalleled insight into the full range of his achievements.
- Takes the reader on a journey through the whole span of Leonardo's career, illuminating the scientific, artistic, and intellectual foundations of masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper.
- Elegantly combines biography with art criticism to show clearly how Leonardo's work developed over time and how he functioned both as a thinker and an artist.
- Generously illustrated throughout with numerous plates and figures and including a new introductory chapter setting Leonardo's work in context.
This masterly account of Leonardo da Vinci and his vision of the world is now widely recognized as the classic treatment of Leonardo's art, science, and thought, giving an unparalleled insight into the broadening and deepening of Leonardo's intellect and vision throughout his artistic career.
Kemp, one of the world's leading authorities on Leonardo, takes us on a journey through the whole span of the great man's career, giving a fully integrated picture of his artistic, scientific, and technological achievements. Leonardo's early training in Florence provided a crucial foundation in the 'science of art', particularly perspective and anatomy. His period in the service of the Sforzas of Milan enlarged his outlook to embrace a wide range of natural sciences and mathematics, as he searched for scientific rules governing both man and the universe. It was these rules which provided the basis for his imaginative reconstruction of nature in great works such as the Last Supper, the Mona Lisa, and St John, which reveal his increasingly complex vision of man in the context of nature. And towards the end of his life, Leonardo became fascinated with the mathematics underlying the 'design of nature', behind which lay the ultimate force of the 'prime mover', as manifested with supreme power in his Deluge drawings.
Covering all areas of Leonardo's achievement, generously illustrated, and now including a new introductory chapter setting Leonardo's work in its historical context, this fully updated new edition provides an unparalleled insight into the marvellous works of this central figure in western art.
Reviews
- 'Review from previous edition 'sensitive and original descriptions of the master's paintings. combining the achievements of Kenneth Clark's classic on the artist with V. P. Zubov's unsurpassed account of the scientist in the context of his age' -E. H. Gombritch, The Times Literary Supplement
- 'the student of Leonardo, it seems to me, could not have the field more elegantly and scrupulously ordered' -The Burlington Magazine
- 'Here happily is a scholar who has found Leonardo the whole man, and given him to us' -British Journal for the History of Science
Contents
- Introduction
- 1 'Leonardo da Firenze'
- 2 The Microcosm
- 3 The Exercise of Fantasia
- 4 The Republic: New Battles and Old Problems
- 5 The Prime Mover
- Bibliography
Zielgruppe
All those interested in Leonardo da Vinci and Renaissance art, students of history and art history and their lecturers.
