A fascinating study of Leonardo da Vinci—master painter, sculptor and architect, scientist, engineer and inventor.

In this amazing story of the most versatile genius who ever lived, Elma Levinger pays due respect to the painter, but she places particular emphasis on his discoveries in science and his inventions in mechanics and engineering that might well be the product of a twentieth-century mind, rather than those of a fifteenth-century Renaissance painter.

Leonardo evidenced unusual artistic talent when still very young, and his father sent him to Florence, apprenticing him to one of the leading artists of that city. Here da Vinci worked for ten years, perfecting the techniques of his craft and exploring the sciences of botany, zoology, biology and anatomy which he felt were closely related to art.

Through the good graces of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence, Leonardo was summoned to the Court of Milan. Here he spent his most productive years. Under the patronage of the Duke of Milan, the artist painted portraits and altar pieces, installed modern plumbing into the castello and filled his famous notebooks with designs of every type—from the Cathedral of Milan to the royal stable. During this period he worked out an elaborate scheme for ideal cities built on a higher and a lower level. His plans would do credit to any modern city-planning board—but like so many of his projects they remained buried in his notebooks for centuries after his death.

When the Turks threatened to invade Venice, Leonardo impressed the military authorities with some of his startling modern ideas, like his diving apparatus and a ship that moved under water to attack the enemy. Later Caeser Borgia appointed Leonardo as his military engineer. This successful warrior was greatly interested in da Vinci's carefully sketched plans for military fortifications, scaling ladders and machine guns.

Da Vinci designed the first known self-propelled vehicle as well as a workable parachute. He spent years improving his model of the Great Bird by means of which he meant to fly above the mountains. What happened when the inventor made his first flight is the precursor of our modern airplane is one of the many mysteries in a life remarkable both for its achievements and frustrations.

Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years as court painter to the King of France for whom he designed palaces and gardens, canals and prefabricated houses to be used as royal hunting lodges. He planned to revise and edit his voluminous notes but this task, like so many of his pictures and scientific works, remained unfinished.

Since a large part of da Vinci's life was concerned with painting, sculpture and architecture, no biography could be written without reference to his major works. These, as well as his interest in anatomy, botany and geology, are all a part of the story, set against the brilliant background of Renaissance Italy with its lords and artists, city states, glittering courts and magnificent gardens.

This excellent biography offers the reader an introduction to one of the most creative minds the world has ever known.

From the book

Illustrated with photographs and with sketches from da Vinci's notebooks.