People That Changed the Course of History: The Story of Leonardo Da Vinci 500 Years After His Birth

People That Changed the Course of History: The Story of Leonardo Da Vinci 500 Years After His Birth PDF Author: Antone Pierucci
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Company
ISBN: 1620234262
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book Here

Book Description
A quick internet search will yield results of Leonardo da Vinci’s legendary paintings, the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, and you might even catch a glimpse of his well-known sketches of machines, human bodies, and animals. However, there’s so much more to da Vinci than his paintings and drawings. This 16th-century Italian man embodied the Renaissance spirit — he was intensely interested in everyone and everything. His curiosity spanned every discipline, from geometry to anatomy to the link between art and science. 500 years ago was a time of insight, of investigation, and in this sense, da Vinci fit in perfectly. However, in another sense, he didn’t belong at all — he was a loner living in his own world. An illegitimate child with 17 half-siblings, Leonardo also shrouded himself in secrecy. He wrote in a mirror script, meaning that you could only understand what he had written by holding it up to a mirror. He believed that we all have potential to do amazing things, but he also had lots of unfinished projects and struggled with lifelong self-doubt. Delve in to these pages to find out why Leonardo di Ser Piero d’Antonio di Ser Piero di Ser Guido da Vinci — yes, this was his full name — was as mysterious as his painting of Mona Lisa’s famous smile.

People That Changed the Course of History: The Story of Leonardo Da Vinci 500 Years After His Birth

People That Changed the Course of History: The Story of Leonardo Da Vinci 500 Years After His Birth PDF Author: Antone Pierucci
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Company
ISBN: 1620234262
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book Here

Book Description
A quick internet search will yield results of Leonardo da Vinci’s legendary paintings, the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, and you might even catch a glimpse of his well-known sketches of machines, human bodies, and animals. However, there’s so much more to da Vinci than his paintings and drawings. This 16th-century Italian man embodied the Renaissance spirit — he was intensely interested in everyone and everything. His curiosity spanned every discipline, from geometry to anatomy to the link between art and science. 500 years ago was a time of insight, of investigation, and in this sense, da Vinci fit in perfectly. However, in another sense, he didn’t belong at all — he was a loner living in his own world. An illegitimate child with 17 half-siblings, Leonardo also shrouded himself in secrecy. He wrote in a mirror script, meaning that you could only understand what he had written by holding it up to a mirror. He believed that we all have potential to do amazing things, but he also had lots of unfinished projects and struggled with lifelong self-doubt. Delve in to these pages to find out why Leonardo di Ser Piero d’Antonio di Ser Piero di Ser Guido da Vinci — yes, this was his full name — was as mysterious as his painting of Mona Lisa’s famous smile.

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (Complete)

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (Complete) PDF Author: Leonardo da Vinci
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465514147
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1118

Get Book Here

Book Description
A singular fatality has ruled the destiny of nearly all the most famous of Leonardo da Vinci's works. Two of the three most important were never completed, obstacles having arisen during his life-time, which obliged him to leave them unfinished; namely the Sforza Monument and the Wall-painting of the Battle of Anghiari, while the third—the picture of the Last Supper at Milan—has suffered irremediable injury from decay and the repeated restorations to which it was recklessly subjected during the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. Nevertheless, no other picture of the Renaissance has become so wellknown and popular through copies of every description. Vasari says, and rightly, in his Life of Leonardo, "that he laboured much more by his word than in fact or by deed", and the biographer evidently had in his mind the numerous works in Manuscript which have been preserved to this day. To us, now, it seems almost inexplicable that these valuable and interesting original texts should have remained so long unpublished, and indeed forgotten. It is certain that during the XVIth and XVIIth centuries their exceptional value was highly appreciated. This is proved not merely by the prices which they commanded, but also by the exceptional interest which has been attached to the change of ownership of merely a few pages of Manuscript. That, notwithstanding this eagerness to possess the Manuscripts, their contents remained a mystery, can only be accounted for by the many and great difficulties attending the task of deciphering them. The handwriting is so peculiar that it requires considerable practice to read even a few detached phrases, much more to solve with any certainty the numerous difficulties of alternative readings, and to master the sense as a connected whole. Vasari observes with reference to Leonardos writing: "he wrote backwards, in rude characters, and with the left hand, so that any one who is not practised in reading them, cannot understand them". The aid of a mirror in reading reversed handwriting appears to me available only for a first experimental reading. Speaking from my own experience, the persistent use of it is too fatiguing and inconvenient to be practically advisable, considering the enormous mass of Manuscripts to be deciphered. And as, after all, Leonardo's handwriting runs backwards just as all Oriental character runs backwards—that is to say from right to left—the difficulty of reading direct from the writing is not insuperable. This obvious peculiarity in the writing is not, however, by any means the only obstacle in the way of mastering the text. Leonardo made use of an orthography peculiar to himself; he had a fashion of amalgamating several short words into one long one, or, again, he would quite arbitrarily divide a long word into two separate halves; added to this there is no punctuation whatever to regulate the division and construction of the sentences, nor are there any accents—and the reader may imagine that such difficulties were almost sufficient to make the task seem a desperate one to a beginner. It is therefore not surprising that the good intentions of some of Leonardo s most reverent admirers should have failed.

A History of Mass Communication

A History of Mass Communication PDF Author: Irving Fang
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 113604681X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Get Book Here

Book Description
This exciting new text traces the common themes in the long and complex history of mass communication. It shows how the means of communicating grew out of their eras, how they developed, how they influenced the societies of those eras, and how they have continued to exert their influence upon subsequent generations. The book is divided into six periods which are identified as 'Information Revolutions' writing, printing, mass media, entertainment, the 'toolshed' (which we call 'home' now), and the Information Highway. In looking at the ways in which the tools of communication have influenced and been influenced by social change, A History of Mass Communication provides students of media and journalism with a strong sense of the way their chosen field affects how society functions. Providing a broad-based approach to media history, Dr. Fang encourages the reader to take a careful look at where our culture is headed through the tools we use to communicate with one another. A History of Mass Communication is not only the most current text on communication history, but also an invaluable resource for anyone interested in how methods of communication affect society.

Becoming Leonardo

Becoming Leonardo PDF Author: Mike Lankford
Publisher: Melville House
ISBN: 1612197159
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Wall Street Journal Book of the Year A Spectator Book of the Year “A truly intimate portrait of one of the greatest creators in human history,” this biography of Leonardo Da Vinci “has the pace, elegance, and authorial omnipresence of a novel,” bringing both artist and Renaissance Italy to life (Noah Charney, author of The Art of Forgery) Why did Leonardo Da Vinci leave so many of his major works uncompleted? Why did this resolute pacifist build war machines for the notorious Borgias? Why did he carry the Mona Lisa with him everywhere he went for decades, yet never quite finish it? Why did he write backwards, and was he really at war with Michelangelo? And was he gay? In a book unlike anything ever written about the Renaissance genius, Mike Lankford explodes every cliché about Da Vinci and then reconstructs him based on a rich trove of available evidence—bringing to life for the modern reader the man who has been studied by scholars for centuries—yet has remained as mysterious as ever. Seeking to envision Da Vinci without the obscuring residue of historical varnish, the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of Renaissance Italy—usually missing in other biographies—are all here, transporting readers back to a world of war and plague and court intrigue, of viciously competitive famous artists, of murderous tyrants with exquisite tastes in art . . . Lankford brilliantly captures Da Vinci’s life as the compelling and dangerous adventure it seems to have actually been—fleeing from one sanctuary to the next, somehow surviving in war zones beside his friend Machiavelli, struggling to make art his way or no way at all . . . and often paying dearly for those decisions. It is a thrilling and absorbing journey into the life of a ferociously dedicated loner, whose artwork in one way or another represents his noble rebellion, providing inspiration that is timeless.

The Story of Leonardo Da Vinci 500 Years After His Death

The Story of Leonardo Da Vinci 500 Years After His Death PDF Author: Antone R E Pierucci
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Company
ISBN: 1620234254
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book Here

Book Description
A quick internet search will yield results of Leonardo da Vinci's legendary paintings; the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper; and you might even catch a glimpse of his well-known sketches of machines; human bodies; and animals. However; there's so much more to da Vinci than his paintings and drawings. This 16th-century Italian man embodied the Renaissance spirit -- he was intensely interested in everyone and everything. His curiosity spanned every discipline; from geometry to anatomy to the link between art and science. 500 years ago was a time of insight; of investigation; and in this sense; da Vinci fit in perfectly. However; in another sense; he didn't belong at all -- he was a loner living in his own world. An illegitimate child with 17 half-siblings; Leonardo also shrouded himself in secrecy. He wrote in a mirror script; meaning that you could only understand what he had written by holding it up to a mirror. He believed that we all have potential to do amazing things; but he also had lots of unfinished projects and struggled with lifelong self-doubt. Delve in to these pages to find out why Leonardo di Ser Piero d'Antonio di Ser Piero di Ser Guido da Vinci -- yes; this was his full name -- was as mysterious as his painting of Mona Lisa's famous smile.

The Night Portrait

The Night Portrait PDF Author: Laura Morelli
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062993585
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 438

Get Book Here

Book Description
USA Today Bestseller "This is a truly original novel that has earned its place among my favorite works of historical fiction."--Jennifer Robson, USA Today bestselling author of The Gown An exciting, dual-timeline historical novel about the creation of one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings, Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine, and the woman who fought to save it from Nazi destruction during World War II. Milan, 1492: When a 16-year old beauty becomes the mistress of the Duke of Milan, she must fight for her place in the palace—and against those who want her out. Soon, she finds herself sitting before Leonardo da Vinci, who wants to ensure his own place in the ducal palace by painting his most ambitious portrait to date. Munich, World War II: After a modest conservator unwittingly places a priceless Italian Renaissance portrait into the hands of a high-ranking Nazi leader, she risks her life to recover it, working with an American soldier, part of the famed Monuments Men team, to get it back. Two women, separated by 500 years, are swept up in the tide of history as one painting stands at the center of their quests for their own destinies.

A Little History of the World

A Little History of the World PDF Author: E. H. Gombrich
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300213972
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Get Book Here

Book Description
E. H. Gombrich's Little History of the World, though written in 1935, has become one of the treasures of historical writing since its first publication in English in 2005. The Yale edition alone has now sold over half a million copies, and the book is available worldwide in almost thirty languages. Gombrich was of course the best-known art historian of his time, and his text suggests illustrations on every page. This illustrated edition of the Little History brings together the pellucid humanity of his narrative with the images that may well have been in his mind's eye as he wrote the book. The two hundred illustrations—most of them in full color—are not simple embellishments, though they are beautiful. They emerge from the text, enrich the author's intention, and deepen the pleasure of reading this remarkable work. For this edition the text is reset in a spacious format, flowing around illustrations that range from paintings to line drawings, emblems, motifs, and symbols. The book incorporates freshly drawn maps, a revised preface, and a new index. Blending high-grade design, fine paper, and classic binding, this is both a sumptuous gift book and an enhanced edition of a timeless account of human history.

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci PDF Author: Walter Isaacson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501139177
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 624

Get Book Here

Book Description
The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it…Most important, it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life” (The New Yorker). Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson “deftly reveals an intimate Leonardo” (San Francisco Chronicle) in a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history’s most creative genius. In the “luminous” (Daily Beast) Leonardo da Vinci, Isaacson describes how Leonardo’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance to be imaginative and, like talented rebels in any era, to think different. Here, da Vinci “comes to life in all his remarkable brilliance and oddity in Walter Isaacson’s ambitious new biography…a vigorous, insightful portrait” (The Washington Post).

Sophie's World

Sophie's World PDF Author: Jostein Gaarder
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1466804270
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 599

Get Book Here

Book Description
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

The Science of Leonardo

The Science of Leonardo PDF Author: Fritjof Capra
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307472922
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Get Book Here

Book Description
Leonardo da Vinci's scientific explorations were virtually unknown during his lifetime, despite their extraordinarily wide range. He studied the flight patterns of birds to create some of the first human flying machines; designed military weapons and defenses; studied optics, hydraulics, and the workings of the human circulatory system; and created designs for rebuilding Milan, employing principles still used by city planners today. Perhaps most importantly, Leonardo pioneered an empirical, systematic approach to the observation of nature-what is known today as the scientific method.Drawing on over 6,000 pages of Leonardo's surviving notebooks, acclaimed scientist and bestselling author Fritjof Capra reveals Leonardo's artistic approach to scientific knowledge and his organic and ecological worldview. In this fascinating portrait of a thinker centuries ahead of his time, Leonardo singularly emerges as the unacknowledged “father of modern science.” From the Trade Paperback edition.