Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson, 2017

Leonardo da Vinci Review

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson is a full portrait of a restless mind. Published in 2017, it follows the notebooks, commissions, and experiments of a man who drew as well as he thought and thought as well as he drew. For you, this book offers a way to see curiosity as a daily craft: questions about light, anatomy, flight, and water feed the art and the science at once. It is generous, practical, and quietly inspiring.

Overview

Isaacson builds the narrative from Leonardo’s notebooks: sketches of muscles, vortices, wings, and smiles. You will notice how each obsession connects to a painting or a machine. The book treats genius as process: slow looking, endless revision, joyful detours. It respects mystery without turning it into myth.

Summary

The story moves from Vinci to Florence, Milan, Rome, and France. Early work sharpens his eye; the Milan years deepen his engineering. He studies bodies in the morgue, maps cities, designs stage sets, and keeps postponing perfection. The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper anchor the art, while flying machines and hydraulic plans anchor the science. Without spoiling small revelations, the point is clear: the notebooks are the masterpiece behind the masterpieces.

Author

Walter Isaacson writes biography as a guided tour. His style is patient, fact rich, and warm. You benefit from his habit of explaining technique in simple terms: paint layers, perspective tricks, and why certain experiments mattered.

Key Themes

You will see curiosity as discipline. You will meet art and science as twins. You will consider perfectionism as fuel and as brake. You will notice how observation turns into compassion: a better eye makes a kinder portrait.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: clear explanations, beautiful images on the page, and a focus on method over myth. Weaknesses: project lists can feel long, and some technical passages may read dry if you came only for drama. Overall: a handbook for creative living disguised as biography.

Target Audience

This book suits artists, engineers, teachers, and anyone who collects questions. It works for readers who like process notes as much as finished work.

Favorite Quotes

Short lines stand out: learning never ends, details teach truth, nature writes in patterns. They make useful prompts at a desk.

Takeaways

For you, the key takeaway is simple: follow your curiosity across boundaries. Draw the thing, then take it apart, then draw it again. Mastery is a loop, not a ladder.