Netgalley: The Real Leonardo Da Vinci by Rose Sgueglia

 

The Real Leonardo Da Vinci by Rose Sgueglia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publiher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars for the love of Da Vinci.

Who doesn't know Leonardo Da Vinci or Mona Lisa in these modern days? So many books, articles, movies and documentaries were made based on his life and his works. Leonardo inspired so many people either artists or writers or anyone who came in contact with his art. He is a riddle, an enigma that keeps fascinating us. He is the subject that will never get old. But can we say that we know the real Leonardo Da Vinci after all these years?

It was a pleasure reading this book because you never know with every book written about Da Vinci, you might discover a new thing or see things differently from a new perspective either about himself or about his art. Here, the author made us discover what are the things that influenced Leonardo from his birth to his last days, from his parents to his patrons to his students. Also, she talks about the period in which Leonardo lived " The Renaissance" a time where art was a way of life and the world was open to a new fresh start after a dark medieval age, where Florence was the place to be for anyone who called himself an artist. Leonardo was surrounded by the greatest masters of that era either in art or in power. The author doesn't only name the persons that influenced Leonardo's life but give us details about who were these people like Verrocchio, Salai, Sforza, Cesare Borgia, Michelangelo his said nemesis and so on. Also, all the cities were he lived and were he grew to become this wise amazing genius with a long beard.

This book could be a good read for a reader who doesn't know much about Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance this could be a good introduction but for those readers who had a great idea about the subject, this book might not be for them, really I have to be honest. I have to say that there will be some critiques.

First, I felt like the book was presented as a final thesis made by a student in art, then, there is the title "The Real Leonardo Da Vinci" sorry, but all what the author wrote in this book was nothing new given all what she mentioned was already written by other researchers in their own books. Who knows who was the "Real" Leonardo Da Vinci even if you bring Freud's analysis.

There were no pictures!! This was a big NO for me even if I know all the paintings named but it is still a big miss for a book about an artist. Also, sorry but I didn't care about how Mona Lisa or the Last Supper were altered during the COVID or before or the memes on Instagram or Twitter, really it was irrelevant, yes Leonardo was an icon but this chapter gave me a headache because it could have been shorter with really less details that I don't care about and also due to the overuse of the word ICON and it is not the only repetition in the book! I would say that this book might need some editing and illustrations.

View all my reviews