Leonardo da Vinci on nature: knowledge and representation (original) (raw)

Leonardo da Vinci on Nature: Knowledge and Representation. Ed. Fabio Frosini and Alessandro Nova (Sixteenth Century Journal, 2017)

The Sixteenth Century Journal, 2017

By examining the theme of “nature,” this elegant and groundbreaking volume reassesses the image of Leonardo in the history of culture and outlines the state of scholarship concerning his thought. Its interdisciplinary approach explores a variety of issues for which Leonardo has become a unique testing ground in both artistic and scientific research, and serves to dispel recurring myths that have emerged from his critical reception over time, thereby providing a solid basis for the study of the sources of his creative process.

Excerpt from the 30-Second Leonardo; Edited by Marina Wallace; Foreword by Martin Kemp; Chapters by Francis Ames-Lewis, Juliana Barone, Paul Calter, Brian Clegg, Matthew Landrus, Domenico Laurenza, and Marina Wallace, Ivy Press, 2014

30-Second Leonardo da Vinci: His 50 Greatest Ideas and Inventions, Each Explained in Half a Minute, 30-Second Series. London and New York: Ivy Press and Metro Books, February 2014, 160 pp., in hard cover and Kindle formats, £13.

In December 2012, members of the Leonardo da Vinci Society were approached for contributions to the 30-Second book series, which in February 2014 resulted in the 30-Second Leonardo da Vinci. Because of the interdisciplinary and often profound nature of Leonardo’s work, summarizing his contributions into essential components is an interesting task, particularly for Leonardo specialists. Society members wrote most of this book, and portions of the authors’ fees were donated to the Society. The book is designed to help readers understand Leonardo in a series of relatively brief readings and images, divided into seven sections: painting and sculpture, geometry, mechanics, civil engineering, military engineering, nature, and anatomy and anatomical studies. As Martin Kemp notes in the foreword: “Leonardo roundly criticized the ‘abbreviators’ – those who try to take shortcuts to knowledge. This book is necessarily about abbreviation. We have, in the face of the daunting range of delightful and often exceedingly difficult material in his surviving legacy, to effect some kind of summary and synthesis.” The 30-Second Leonardo Vinci provides this useful synthesis for new and experienced students of Leonardo.