Tuesday, September 29, 2020

10 True Things About Leonardo da Vinci That May Surprise You by Brian McPhee #10Things

Brian McPhee lived in Glasgow, Scotland until he was 21, when he moved to London. In his early 40s, he emigrated with his wife and daughter to Maryland, USA. After a successful career in IT marketing and management, he and his wife moved once more, to Monpazier in southwest France. All Visible Things is his third novel.

WEBSITE: https://www.ententepublishing.com/

10 True Things About Leonardo da Vinci That May Surprise You

All Visible Things is set in the world of Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest all-round genius to ever live. Here are ten true things about Leonardo that appear in the novel that may surprise you.

1. There is a strong probability that Leonardo was an animal-loving vegetarian.

2. Leonardo was strikingly handsome and a rather vain dandy.

3. He probably spent more time and made more money from designing pageants and spectacles than from painting.

4. In his day, he was considered a superb musician and singer.

5. He was accused of the crime of committing homosexual acts, but not punished.

6. Leonardo and Machiavelli were good friends

7. He is thought to have dissected over thirty corpses

8. Leonardo and Michelangelo were rivals and even enemies; but they were each commissioned to paint a huge mural in what is now the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. This high-profile contest between the two greatest artists of all time resulted in … nothing. Well, they both made designs and even started work, but neither completed his commission.

9. The only complete version of Leonardo’s masterpiece, The Last Supper, is in London, in the Royal Academy.

10. It’s really OK to call him ‘da Vinci’. Yes, it means ‘of Vinci’ but it was how he was addressed, even as ‘Leonardo da Vinci of Florence’. It isn’t any more wrong than calling that other famous Leonardo, ‘DiCaprio’ – in fact, it is exactly the same, just with a space.

About the Book:

All Visible Things is a dual-timeline novel moving seamlessly between modern-day and Renaissance England and Italy.

When Lauren Patterson discovers the diary of a young assistant to Leonardo da Vinci, we are immediately immersed in the personalities and intrigues surrounding the archypical Renaissance man–and animal lover, vegetarian, dandy and bearer of grudges. When not executing the commissions of ungrateful clients, Leonardo juggles finances, apprentices, friends and rivals, all the while making time for his true passion–his pioneering scientific enquiries.

The diaries document a series of dramas–extortion, murder, defamation, betrayal and bitter artistic rivalries–played out against everyday struggles to extract money from clients, manage a hectic studio and, amidst the chaos, create timeless masterpieces, in particular the Mona Lisa, whose complex saga weaves through the narrative. The enthusiastic diarist is Paolo del Rosso, endlessly captivated by the vibrant life of Florence and enamoured of Chiara, Leonardo’s beautiful goddaughter and the model in some of his greatest paintings. Their tender, decades-long relationship is the constant thread through the Renaissance tapestry, as their lives are unwittingly unravelled by a devastating intrigue that unspools down the years.

The discovery of the diaries is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Lauren, but one threatened by academic jealousies, unwanted media attention and personal insecurities. However, a partnership and friendship develops between the young American researcher and an English art dealer as they come together to find the final pages of the diary and track down Paolo’s charming portrait of Chiara, drawn with the encouragement and assistance of Leonardo–a trail they follow from Renaissance Florence to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust to a thrilling dénouement when the portrait gives up its astonishing secret and our protagonists embrace their future.

While All Visible Things is a work of fiction, its themes and settings are based on extensive research into the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci and everyday life in sixteenth century Italy. It combines the sweep and drama of Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy with the intimacy of Tracy Chevalier’s The Girl with a Pearl Earring.