Leonardo da Vinci is a legend, everyone knows his name and the famous paintings, including the Mona Lisa, but how much do we know about the man himself? "The Real Leonardo da Vinci" tells the story of Leonardo based on what little evidence is there. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in this historical figure.

Excellent well researched book on leonardo da. Vinci and his life,It covers his social life and his early life as a painter before becoming a inventor of different designs and masterpieces.It also covers his relationships with his models and other artists of his day and how he is perceived by many in this modern age.

This is one of those books that makes you realise how little you knew before you started. It is written with a warmth that feels like an invitation to share the author's admiration and affection for such an incredible man. The invitation isn't needed though, as Leonardo Da Vinci's life, skills, and achievements speak for themselves and draw you in. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and getting to know "The Real Leonardo Da Vinci".

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Thank you toNetgalley and the publiher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars for the love of Da Vinci.

Who doesn't know Leonardo Da Vinci or Mona Lisa in these modern days? So many books, articles, movies and documentaries were made based on his life and his works. Leonardo inspired so many people either artists or writers or anyone who came in contact with his art. He is a riddle, an enigma that keeps fascinating us. He is the subject that will never get old. But can we say that we know the real Leonardo Da Vinci after all these years?

It was a pleasure reading this book because you never know with every book written about Da Vinci, you might discover a new thing or see things differently from a new perspective either about himself or about his art. Here, the author made us discover what are the things that influenced Leonardo from his birth to his last days, from his parents to his patrons to his students. Also, she talks about the period in which Leonardo lived " The Renaissance" a time where arts was a way of life and the world was open to a new fresh start after a dark medieval age, where Florence was the place to be for anyone who called himself an artist. Leonardo was surrounded by the greatest masters of that era either in art or in power. The author doesn't only name the persons that influenced Leonardo's life but give us details about who were these people like Verrocchio, Salai, Sforza, Cesare Borgia, Michelangelo his said nemesis and so on. Also, all the cities were he lived and were he grew to become this wise amazing genius with a long beard.

This book could be a good read for a reader who doesn't know much about Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance this could be a good introduction but for those readers who had a great idea about the subject, this book might not be for them, really I have to be honest. I have to say that there will be some critiques.

First, I felt like the book was presented as a final thesis made by a student in art, then, there is the title "The Real Leonardo Da Vinci" sorry, but all the author wrote in this book was nothing new given all what she mentioned was already written by other researchers in their own books. Who knows who was the "Real" Leonardo Da Vinci even if you bring Freud's analysis.
There were no pictures!! This was a big NO for me even if I know all the paintings named but it is still a big miss for a book about an artist. Also, sorry but I didn't care about how Mona Lisa or the Last Supper were altered during the COVID or before or the memes on Instagram or Twitter, really it was irrelevant, yes Leonardo was an icon but this chapter gave me a headache because it could have been shorter with really less details that I don't care about and also due to the overuse of the word ICON and it is not the only repetition in the book! I would say that this book might need some editing and illustrations.

The book started out strong, but did not remain so around the 20% mark. Some issues with editing and polishing would be beneficial..

First, more editing. This reads like a college term paper at best and does not read as a professional author writing about easily the greatest polymath in history, his scores of interests, and unparalleled genius. Word choice, especially adjectives. Also phrasing. Tenses changed sometimes from paragraph to paragraph.

There are structural changes that would help the book flow better. Within chapters, information was further broken down into sometimes very short sections - for example, when discussing da Vinci's friends. This lead to the reading being very choppy and disjointed. This occurred in other chapters as well, such as that which explored (very surface-level only) da Vinci's own words on all manner of topics. I would much rather have seen his journals quoted than for the author to attempt to tell me what he thought or meant about any given subject.

We were given far more information than necessary about the Medicis, the Borgias, and the Templars even. I found the extra information about family members not needed. Really, the only figures necessary to talk about would be the ones da Vinci worked for. The author also addresses the issue of whether or not da Vinci was a Templar, and delved into The Da Vinci Code for a few pages.

The section on Freud analyzing da Vinci was super weird. I have said many times with historical figures that it is incredibly dangerous and also not really professional for someone from the modern era to attempt to diagnose or analyze someone so far removed from our world today. (Henry VIII is an excellent example, and everyone wants to to drop medical diagnoses on him and it doesn't matter, nor will we ever know for sure.) Plus, Freud is also dead, so any questions we might have about his thoughts/findings on da Vinci can't even be clarified.

There's a ton of repetition from section to section and chapter to chapter. There's also a lot of contradictions where there should not be, despite the fact that the author tells us eleventy bajillion times that da Vinci was a man of contradictions.

With major editing and polishing, I think this could be a decent contribution to texts on Leonardo da Vinci. At this time I can only recommend it with caution in this form as an ARC.

This was a really fascinating read by a very engaging author. I really enjoyed it and felt that the author had captured as she had intended the world of Leonardo and his associates. But the book was diminished by a lack of illustrations and didn't feel scholarly despite the author's obvious knowledge.

Sorry wasn't given notice that it was arching the day after i got the e mail to say it was accepted. I had come on as soon as I had seen the email and it was archived so I couldn't download it

This was a really interesting biography about a man that I've always been curious about. I've read quite a few biographies about Leonardo da Vinci but none of them were as upfront about his sexuality as this one. I've always know that Leo was a gay man, but this book really went into the evidence of it and even talked about things that he wrote in his journals that pointed to his homosexuality. I just found that the book didn't flow as easily as I would've liked it to, it felt like things jumped all over the place and focused a lot on other people. Otherwise, I learned a lot from this book, which is always great to get from a non-fiction!

Fascinating book about an more fascinating man. Most of us will have heard of Da Vinci but who he was as a man is well detailed here. Anyone who is studying or wants to know more about the great man should certainly start with this book.
I thoroughly enjoyed the way the book was written and proportioned.

The myth and the real man has been looked at with a wide lens as the writer tries to link the two to

form the life of Leonardo Da Vinci, From a lowly start as the illegitimate son of a lawyer and the death of his

beloved grandfather, Leonardo relocates to Florence to learn a profession. Without prior expectations, he

was free to pursue his own path. A fascinating glimpse into his world of art, anatomy, homosexuality

and discovery.. Set in the crossfire of Rome versus the Renaissance, this book is very well written and gives us

many clues about Leonardo..

A man ahead of his time who never finished the tasks that he was given as his mind was constantly racing, thinking of new ideas. This is what we consider a genius or a Renaissance Man today, but during Leonardo da Vinci’s time, it was just considered odd. Leonardo da Vinci was an engima. He could make the impossible possible. His art seemed to leap off the canvas with its realism. However, there are still so many mysteries surrounding his life and his works. What made this one artist/inventor so fascinating for centuries? In her book, “The Real Leonardo da Vinci” Rose Sgueglia opens the curtain to reveal Leonardo da Vinci’s truth and inner circle.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Pen and Sword Books for sending me a copy of this book. I am one of those people who is familiar with da Vinci’s works, but not so much with his actual life and what made him tick. I have always wanted to read biographies about the great artists of the Renaissance, but I didn’t know where to start. This was the perfect book to start my journey into art history.

To understand da Vinci’s lifestyle later in life, we have to understand his origins. His mother was an absent figure in his life as Leonardo was her illegitimate son, but his stepfather seemed to have taken care of him. Leonardo was trained under Verrochio where he would learn the skills that would be vital for his art career, however, it was his insatiable appetite for exploring new subjects that would make him a polymath to many.

Sgueglia dives into the intricacies of da Vinci’s life, including his love life which has been debated for centuries. As an illegitimate son, he was not tied down to one location so he frequently traveled and would be employed by some of the greatest families in Italy, including the Borgias, the Medicis, and Ludovico Sforza. Along the way, he would create his own following of artists that were loyal to him until the bitter end. Da Vinci would also encounter fellow masters Donatello and Michelangelo as he competed for commissions.

I think Sgueglia does a decent job introducing the Leonardo da Vinci that she has gotten to know through her research. She also included interviews between her and a researcher of the Mona Lisa as well as the director of a movie about Leonardo da Vinci within this book, which I found fascinating. I think it is these interviews and including the transcripts as part of the book that sets it apart from other biographies about Leonardo da Vinci.

There were a few things about this book that I found a bit off or lacking. My big concern was the lack of illustrations of his lesser-known pieces of art and the artwork of other artists that Sgueglia references. If this is a biography about a well-known artist and inventor, then let’s celebrate the masterpieces and the inventions. I had to find the obscure artworks online while I was reading to act as a companion to get the full impact of what she was writing about. I also think it was a tad repetitive and I would have personally liked to have seen more books in the bibliography for research purposes.

Overall, I found this book was an adequate biography about Leonardo da Vinci. It is easy to read with intriguing facts that will captivate those who are new to da Vinci’s story. There is something intriguing about looking at the man behind these masterpieces and I think Sgueglia does an excellent job of showing a unique side of this artist’s life. If you want a great book that will introduce you to this polymath’s life and times, I recommend you read, “The Real Leonardo da Vinci” by Rose Sgueglia.

have always loved learning about the lives of the famous Renaissance artists. So, of course, I love learning about Leonardo da Vinci! He is still one of the most influential polymath and I find his life so very extraordinary!

I really enjoyed this book on Leonardo’s fascinating life! He was such an incredible figure! Many books based on his life are quite long & boring. This author, however, summarizes his life into a simple and easily understandable form. I read the entire thing in a night! I do wish that the author would’ve written with a bit more enthusiasm in regards to Leonardo. She needs to show some more feeling towards this great man when writing about his life. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this biography.

“It is not just his life, of course, even his works are shrouded in mystery — the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper — and it doesn’t help that, 500 years after his death, we keep finding missing pieces of the puzzles that were his works of art, including paintings underneath his most famous paintings.”

** Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review! **

#PamelaReads2021 #100BooksIn2021 #TheRealLeonardoDaVinci #PenAndSwordHistory #NetGalley

The Real Leonardo Da Vinci by Rose Sgueglia is a reasonable summary of the life of one of the world’s most ingenious historical figures. Da Vinci is mostly known for his paintings such as Mona Lisa or The Last Supper – but the truth is, he was so much more. He was a sculptor, an architect, an inventor among many other thigs – in other words he was a classic Polymath. The true essence of the word.

Now this book takes us through his life, from humble beginnings to the time he really started to flourish in Florence, we follow him to Venice and Milan and also learn about his numerous wealthy benefactors such as the Medici, the Sforza and the Borgia. The author discusses his sexuality – although it was claimed he was asexual (figure that out). I found Leonardo’s antipathy towards Michelangelo fascinating – and yes it was mutual.Look, there lots of information here and it is comprehensive.

But I felt the delivery lacked any great sense of love or even enthusiasm for the subject of this great man. Maybe it was me – but I would’ve appreciated a little more feeling – this is a terrific subject. I’m also not sure if it’s the format this book was delivered to me – as it is from NetGalley, but there weren’t any illustrations of pictures of his inventions, works, paintings etc – this is essential in any Leonardo Da Vinci book.

But please forgive me if the copy that goes out to the public does contain such illustrations.