M. Capati - April 2009 - paperback; cm 17x24. pp. 176 - 118 color illustrations -

"There is no solution of continuity between the preparatory drawing for an altarpiece. the invention of a working tool. the project of a church or a fortress. Drew floor plans. measuring buildings. design weapons and mechanical appliances. are plagued with questions about the geology. hydraulics. optics. astronomy. mathematics. And the order of its chaotic codes found a formula expressive congenial to his personality. his perfect counterpoint to painting. "Engineer. scientist. philosopher. architect and painter. Leonardo da Vinci is the figure who best represents the ideal. the Renaissance and beyond. the universal genius. But. paradoxically. the versatility of his interests has come to play down to modern eyes the greatness of his art. often viewed only in the light of his extraordinary creative vitality.This essay retraces. from historical and biographical data. all the paintings of Leonardo. dall'apprendistato at Verrocchio's workshop to formal perfection of the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. and ending with the last works attributed to the master or his circle as the mysterious San Giovanni Battista / Bacchus in the Louvre. Massimiliano Capati was born in Viterbo in 1968. Graduate in modern history. and writer with many interests. He is the author. inter alia. Cantimori. Contini. Garin. Crisis of a culture idealistic (1997). The Master abnormal. Benedetto Croce and Italy in the Twentieth Century (2000). pandemonium. A reading of the Italian Novecento (2000). literary history of the 900 Italian (2002). He edited a collection of writings of Cesare Brandi entitled heritage threatened (2001).