Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings

This jumbo-sized monograph cataloguing the works of Leonardo da Vinci serves as a comprehensive inventory of the Renaissance master's visual output. The volume includes a catalogue raisonné of all surviving and lost paintings, featuring high-resolution details of works like the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper." Beyond the canvases, the text examines Leonardo's scientific notebooks and anatomical sketches. It organizes his diverse technical drawings by category, covering his designs for flying machines, hydraulic systems, military fortifications, and foundational studies in human proportion and botany.

Art historians and students of technical illustration use this reference to analyze Leonardo's transition from traditional Florentine methods to his own techniques of sfumato and chiaroscuro. Readers look to this collection to understand the intersection of geometry and biology in 15th-century art. By studying the detailed reproductions, an observer gains a specific understanding of how Leonardo applied empirical observation to canvas. The book provides the necessary visual evidence for those investigating the evolution of Western draftsmanship and Renaissance engineering concepts.

Practical, outward-looking and clear-cut; a moderate read.

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