Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman (New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Series)

Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman (New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Series)

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) stands as a supreme icon in the history of Western civilization. With much of his work lost or unfinished, the key to his legacy is without doubt to be found in the enormous body of his extant drawings and accompanying manuscript notes. Famous for their beauty and technical virtuosity, Leonardo’s drawings were avidly sought by collectors even during his lifetime. This handsome book offers a unified and fascinating portrait of Leonardo as a draftsman, integrating his diverse roles as an artist, scientist, inventor, theorist, and teacher. A chronological framework is also provided in order to shed light on his extraordinary life and career. The essays and entries―written by the world’s leading Leonardo scholars―survey the wide variety of drawing types that Leonardo used and also examine a small group of works by artists critical to his artistic development in Florence and to his multifaceted activity in Milan. Published in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art Artist, theorist, scientist, and inventor--these words cannot capture the genius that is Leonardo DaVinci. However, curator and editor Carmen C. Bambach brings us a little closer to unlocking his mystery in Leonardo DaVinci: Mater Draftsman . The book comprises a collection of 11 essays by world-renowned Leonardo connoisseurs, along with 515 exquisite illustrations, to create a perfect balance between scholarship and aesthetics. Serving as the catalogue for the exhibition of the same name at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the book focuses on Leonardo's drawings: his studies for some of his unfinished, lost, or unrealized paintings and projects, stunning anatomical and engineering studies, 8 pages from the Codex Leicester (Leonardo's draft for a treatise on the dynamics of water), and his studies of grotesque physiognomies, which taken together, reveal the master's notion that beauty and ugliness are reciprocally enhanced by their juxtaposition. The result also sheds light on his extraordinary contribution as a draftsman "to the design process of narrative composition." Leonardo has left us a mere handful of mostly unfinished--albeit magnificent--paintings. Yet, as Bambach explains, the quantity of his extant drawings (about 4,000 or more) is about 4 times that of the most prolific 16th-century draftsman. To be sure, it is through these drawings, along with the eloquent commentary, that Leonardo's infinite and dynamic creative power can best be glimpsed. From the whimsical to the sublime, from the scientific to the mechanical, these drawings reveal Leonardo's dependence on observation and nature, as well as his tireless use of drawing as a means to explore and express his ever-probing mind. The catalogue takes us on a chronological journey, revealing the vast influence of Leonardo's teacher Andrea Verrocchio, and subsequently shows us Leonardo's influence on his students and beyond. The beauty, power, and scope of this book are evidence that there is no end to pondering his remarkable and enigmatic genius. --Silvana Tropea A house could be built out of all the books that have been written about the protean genius Leonardo, yet this volume is unique in its in-depth inquiry into the creation, content, and significance of his drawings, and in its glorious array of more than 500 superb reproductions. Bambach, a drawings and print curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, site of the unprecedented comprehensive international-loan exhibition on which this volume is based, observes that because Leonardo finished relatively few major projects, his legacy consists primarily of his drawings, of which some 4,000 survive, treasured for their "beauty and technical virtuosity." And then there are the notebooks, a mind-boggling wealth of material reflecting the phenomenal achievements of this largely self-taught, endlessly curious, and avidly observant "artist, author, scientist, inventor, theorist, and teacher." Adopting a chronological approach, Bambach and her impressive slate of contributors explore the synergy generated by Leonardo's many passions and consider such aspects of his work as the consequences of his left-handedness and the influence of his patrons. A milestone in Leonardo studies and in art publishing. Donna Seaman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved . . . . [I]mmense. . . . [A] valuable document for everyone who has seen the show. . . . -- (Ingrid Rowland, New York Review of Books) This book is the catalogue for the first comprehensive international-loan exhibition of Leonardo’s drawings in the United States. It will be held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from January 22 to March 30, 2003 and the Musée du Louvre, Paris, from April 28 to July 7, 2003. Published in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art Carmen C. Bambach is Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.