Leonardo is the greatest, most multi-faceted and most mysterious of all Renaissa
nce artists, but extraordinarily, considering his enormous reputation, this is t
he first full-length biography in English for several decades. Prize-winning aut
hor Charles Nicholl has immersed himself for five years in all the manuscripts,
paintings and artefacts to produce an intimate portrait' of Leonardo. He uses th
ese contemporary materials - his notebooks and sketchbooks, eye witnesses and ea
rly biographies, etc - as a way into the mental tone and physical texture of his
life and has made myriad small discoveries about him and his work and his circl
e of associates.
