The Art Of Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci had an insatiable desire to understand the world around him and the place of humanity in it, and believed that the knowledge he sought could only be gained through direct experience. It was not enough to reason that human beings existed because blood appeared to flow through their veins; he wanted to know how the veins transported their precious life-giving force and how humans finally aged and decayed. To this end, he embarked on a systematic process of dissection and personal observation, making careful drawings which he surrounded with explanatory text. This book is rich in illustration, in breadth of coverage and, most importantly, in quotation, with many extracts from Leonardo's own writings to reveal the complex workings of his mind. It demonstrates to the full Leonardo's unique and lasting positioning social, cultural, artistic and scientific history.