Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius

In an effort to understand the developmental processes that culminate in mature works, researchers have long focused on the early years of the creative genius. This may well be the first such inquiry into the young Leonardo, and Brown, an eminent da Vinci scholar and curator of Italian Renaissance Painting at the National Gallery, has done a masterly job of tracing early influences and the emergence of da Vinci's intense curiosity about nature and ability to re-create it in drawing and painting. The chapter on "Ginevra de'Benci" is a splendid example of how art history and contemporary scientific techniques can be combined in the examination and attribution of a painting. The excellent full-page reproductions and small detail examples are carefully placed within the text for ease of reference, something too often lacking in works of this type. The bibliography is extensive, and the index is a guide not only to the text but to the additional notes as well. A fine critical study accessible to both interested lay readers and scholars; highly recommended for large general collections and all art libraries.?Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York
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