Christopher Heath Brown

Jean-Pierre Isbouts

For the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, an acclaimed art historian and an art connoisseur uncover how this elusive artist became a pop icon with megastar status in modern times. Virtually everyone would agree that Leonardo da Vinci was the most important artist of the High Renaissance. Although he produced few finished works, it was Leonardo who singlehandedly created the defining features of Western art: a realism based on subtle shading; depth using atmospheric effects; and dramatic contrasts between light and dark. What has never been told before, however, is how these revolutionary inventions were inserted into the bloodstream of Western art--and how they made Leonardo the internationally-renowned icon he is today. This is the great mystery of Leonardo's legacy: if his tangible output was so limited, how did his mystique as a solitary genius survive five centuries of European history? And why does it continue to fascinate us in modern times? The da Vinci Legacy is the first book to unravel this mystery by taking an immersive journey through the art, literature, science, and politics of Europe, from the Renaissance to today. Through captivating text enhanced by one hundred color images, this book takes off where Walter Isaacson's portrait of Leonardo left off. It captures not only the reason for the enduring allure of The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper but also explores the secrets of Leonardo's creativity, and the strange phenomena that intervened to make sure Leonardo was not forgotten to the dusty pages of history.

How a 16th Century Solitary Genius Became a Global Pop Icon

The Da Vinci Legacy

This immersive dive into the life and work of Salvador Dalí unlocks the secret of this creative genius and reveals for the first time how his erotically charged paintings changed the world of modern art. In turns beloved and reviled, twentieth century art, painter, filmmaker, and designer Salvador Dalí set Europe and the United States ablaze with his uncompromising genius, sexual sadism, and flirtations with megalomania. His shocking behavior and work frequently alienated critics; his views were so outrageous, even prominent Surrealists tried to ostracize him. Still, every morning he experienced "an exquisite joy--the joy of being Salvador Dalí," and, through a remarkable talent that invited bewilderment, anger, and adoration, rose to unprecedented levels of fame--forever shifting the landscape of the art world and the nature of celebrity itself. In this stunning volume, rich with full-color images, noted art historians Jean-Pierre Isbouts and Christopher Heath Brown discuss the historical, social, and political conditions that shaped Dalí's work, identify the impact of Modern as well as Old Master art, and present an unflinching view of the master's personal relationships and motivations. With their deeply compelling narrative, Isbouts and Brown uncover how Dalí's visual wit and enduring cult of personality still impacts fashion, literature, and art, from Andy Warhol to Lady Gaga, and seeks to answer why, in an age of shock and awe, Dalí's art still manages to distress, perplex, and entertain.

The Dalí Legacy

Following the announcement of another Mona Lisa portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, held in a Swiss bank vault for over 40 years, this book is the first to analyze the meaning of this astonishing discovery, and how it radically changes our understanding of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. By tracing Leonardo's movements in Florence on an almost day-to-day basis, Drs. Isbouts and Brown are able to reconstruct the fascinating chronology of the Mona Lisa portrait, and show how the subject ultimately became an obsession in the latter part of Leonardo's life. The authors posit that whereas the Swiss Mona Lisa is clearly a portrait drawn from life of a young Florentine woman, the Louvre Mona Lisa is the culmination of Leonardo's lifelong quest for the mystery of motherhood, as expressed in his more than ten paintings of the Madonna motif. Written as narrative history, yet grounded in modern scholarship, The Mona Lisa Myth not only shatters the portrait's mythology, but also offers a bold new interpretation of the world's most famous painting that will revolutionize our understanding of Leonardo life and work.

How New Discoveries Unlock the Final Mystery of the World's Most Famous Painting

The Mona Lisa Myth

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. 0.

The Evolution of a Revolutionary Artist, 1472-1499

Young Leonardo

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. 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 a long-ignored, life-sized copy of the Last Supper, now in a remote convent in Belgium, 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.

Christopher Heath Brown

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