"Two of Leonardo's notebooks, having been officially lost since 1830, were rediscovered in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, in 1965... On the basis of the wealth of new material in the notebooks, a group of the world's leading Vincians contributed to a reassessment of the many facets of Leonardo's genius, a large-scale collection of essays, which was published as The Unknown Leonardo. The present book...is reprinted in smaller format from that voluminous work"--from Introduction (page 7)
Studies Leonardo's artistic theories and the works produced during the most prolific period of Leonardo's artistic achievement--the Mona Lisa, Virgin of the Rocks, Last Supper, Sala della Asse, Cartoon of St. Anne, and Battle of Anghiari
Here is a complete picture of the techniques and working philosophy of one of the greatest artistic geniuses of the Renaissance. Assembled by a brilliant scholar from Leonardo's own writings--Notebooks and The Treatise on Painting--as well as his artistic production, the book offers a carefully balanced view of the artistÕs intellectual growth. Drawing on all the relevant writings, and rectifying many errors made by previous scholars, this work differs from earlier studies in its systematic grouping of the passages of Leonardo's writings concerning painting. In organizing the materials, the editor focuses on problems of interpretation; the result is the direct opposite of a simple anthology, offering instead a reconstruction of the underlying meaning of Leonardo's words. For each section, noted French art scholar André Chastel has provided an informative introduction and notes, and substantial bibliographic and reference materials for the book as a whole. More than
Leben. Werk. Epoche
Die Ausdrucksformen der Künste
