Young Leonardo: The Evolution of a Revolutionary Artist, 1472-1499 by Jean-Pierre Isbouts (PDF)

Description

Provocative and original, this fresh look at Leonardo da Vinci’s formative years in Florence and Milan provides a radically different scenario of how he created his signature style that would transform Western art forever.The traditional view of Leonardo da Vinci’s career is that he enjoyed a promising start in Florence and then moved to Milan to become the celebrated court artist of Duke Ludovico Sforza. Young Leonardo presents a very different view. It reveals how the young Leonardo struggled against the prevailing style of his master Verrocchio, was stymied in his efforts to produce his first masterpiece in Florence, and left for Milan on little more than a wing and a prayer. Once there, he was long ignored by Duke Ludovico, and enjoyed only tepid Sforza support after his great equestrian project came to nothing. Meanwhile, all the major Sforza commissions went to artists whose names are now forgotten. Isbouts and Brown depict Leonardo’s seminal years in Milan from an entirely new perspective: that of the Sforza court. They show that much of the Sforza patronage was directed on vast projects, such as the Milan Cathedral, favoring a close circle of local artists to which Leonardo never gained entry. As a result, his exceptional talent remained largely unrecognized right up to the Last Supper. The authors also explore a mysterious link between the Last Supper and the fresco of the Crucifixion on the opposite wall, a work that up to now has fully escaped public attention. Finally, they present a sensational theory: that two long-ignored, life-sized copies of the Last Supper, now in Belgium and the U.K., were actually commissioned by the French King Louis XII and painted under Leonardo’s direct supervision. Young Leonardo is a fascinating window into the artist’s mind as he slowly develops the groundbreaking techniques that will produce the High Renaissance and change the course of European art.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐About Leonardo’s career leading up to the Last Supper, and the story of that, beyond the fresco. Provides frame of reference to better understanding the revolutionary aspects of the artistic qualities that Leonardo brought ‘to the table’ in those days, apart from the experimental application of fresco. This book takes the reader on the quest to find (1 of 3) oil-on-canvas’ real-size original replica made by the Da Vinci studio. The book is published ahead of a similarly titled documentary movie, and results of academic/scientific research in posed (by author) theory that the Master himself would have had a hand in the Tongerlo replica (to date no update/news there-1/3/20). Insightlful, with many images to illustrate concepts. Bought this after visiting the Tongerlo replica, without ever seeing the Milan fresco original, understanding that what I saw was more complete than the original; in a way it served like a ‘carbon copy’ 🙂 Njoy !

⭐The authors document how Leonardo and his pupils came to paint two versions of the Last Supper ON CANVAS, one for Louis XII, the French king who conquered Milan in 1499, and one for the man Louis appointed the French governor of Milan, Georges d’Amboise. Louis was a much greater patron of Leonardo than Sforza, the Medici, or the Florentine Signoria ever were. Louis XII recognized a masterpiece when he saw it. His “copy,” was the same size as the original. Paint analysis, comparison with the Milan version, and logic suggest that Christ and John (the figure to Christ’s right who may these authors and Isaacson suggest may indeed be a woman and not John) were probably painted by Leonardo himself. The authors convince us that Leonardo would have painted some of the figures and have supervised his pupils’ work. Isaacson, in his biography, and these authors point out that the French were Leonardo’s most supportive patrons. After Louis XII, Francois premier brought Leonardo to France, gave him a stipend, chateau, and servants, & required nothing in return. In contrast, the Sforza and Medici expected Leonardo to design spectacles, costumes, and to paint portraits of their mistresses. Louis XII’s painting now resides at the Royal Academy, London. His appointee’s copy ended up at Tongerlo Abbey in Belgium in its own museum, currently closed.

⭐Awesome read.

⭐An entertaining and engaging, scholarly book about the young Davincii and the last supper. The illustrations are fantastic. The authors, a professor and an oral surgeon show keen insight and develop a very compelling case for attribution to Leonardo. I look forward eagerly to their next book!

⭐I truly enjoyed this very well written scholarly book. It is so refreshing to also have a Christian perspective and not the blasphemy about the Last Supper such as in Dan Browns Davinci Code. Was an easy one day read as I didn’t want to put it down . Some truly amazing research and new discoveries. Bravo!!!!!!5 stars

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