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Or you can just read it on Gutenberg

I love old art history books, especially ones I can order for free via my Kindle.  However, the Gutenberg version has reproductions of Leonardo’s paintings, while the free Kindle version does not.  Looking at them, I liked the warm color scheme these book versions have.

Or maybe that resulted from someone scanning them onto Gutenberg.

Speaking of Brockwell, click here for a profile on the man.  According to the link, his area of concentration focused on Northern Renaissance art, and he worked for Roger Fry.  The book itself is short and gives all the bullet points of Vinci’s life, each categorized by his artwork and his travels.  Speaking of travels, he claims that Vinci traveled as far as Egypt and Armenia and worked for the Sultan.  I did a quick Google search on him and Egypt, but I found nothing solid.  However, I did find some connection between the artist and Armenia.  This link gives various connections between Vinci and the country.  However, if you want Vinci’s own views on Armenia, click here.  Plus, the author gives his own opinions on the artworks of Vinci’s.  All in all, Brockwell wrote off Leonardo as a genius, but he did have doubts over some paintings attributed to the Renaissance man.  If you have read the link provided, it showed that Brockwell made his career out of researching proper and improper attributions to artworks.  In other words, expect a lot of writing about the Verrocchio/Vinci connection.  One example comes from his doubts over who really painted Virgin of the Rocks. 

On a humorous note, Brockwell lets the reader in on a tale about how the “Prior of the Convent” told Ludovico Sforza (Vinci’s patron) that Vinci went too slow in painting The Last Supper.  Leonardo hears this, and threatens to paint his face on the Judas character.

We call this “pulling a Michelangelo.”  Speaking of Michelangelo, Brockwell also says that Vinci helped approve of the site to install David.  The author also gives a history of the restorations of Vinci’s paintings.  There he claims that after so many cleanings, the Mona Lisa bears no resemblance to the portrait Vinci made.

He also challenges Giorgio Vasari’s claims on Vinci, but then again, who hasn’t?  All in all, I read this book in one sitting, and found it a quick and enjoyable read.  I especially liked reading about the history of people taking care of Vinci’s paintings and drawings and the problems that arose from it.

ETA: Rewrote a link and some parts in my review.