Leonardo Da Vinci - Hardcover

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was arguably the greatest draftsman in the history of Western art. Best known as a painter, he also excelled as a sculptor, architect, musician, anatomist, botanist, engineer, geologist, and mapmaker. But since he completed few of his projects, most of his work is known to us only through his drawings and notes.
The collection of drawings by Leonardo at Windsor Castle is the most important in the world. This selection from Windsor Castle of one hundred sheets covers every aspect of his genius, reproducing in color for the first time many unfamiliar drawings as well as a range of better-known works.
Included are preparatory sketches for the paintings such as the Adoration of the Magi and the Last Supper, designs for equestrian monuments, war machines, and costumes for court entertainments; studies relating to his enduring interest in water, flight, the divinely beautiful, and the comically grotesque; his striking and highly accurate maps; his analyses of human and equine proportion; and his studies in anatomy, taking the subject single-handedly from medieval traditions to the threshold of modern knowledge.

Martin Clayton is Assistant Curator in the Print Room, the Royal Library, Windsor Castle.