Leonardo and the Death Machine

As the afterword explains, it is known that Leonardo da Vinci probably arrived in Florence in 1466 and that he was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio. This modest amount of information available about Leonardo is expanded into an adventure story based around the feud between the de’ Medici family and Luca Pitti, a wealthy Florentine.

With the caveat in mind that apart from these basic facts the story is entirely a fabrication, readers can enjoy a tale of derring-do set in the noble buildings and back lanes of Renaissance Florence. Action abounds, and young Leonardo is shown as something of a superkid as he extricates himself from one tight situation after another. Alessandro Botticelli also puts in an appearance as a good footballer and a close ally of Leonardo’s. In fact, the whole drama begins when Botticelli, injured in a football match, calls on Leonardo to complete a portrait of Lucrezia Donati for Lorenzo de’ Medici. Leonardo, hiding from Lorenzo, witnesses a murder and becomes aware of a plot against the young de’ Medici heir. At this stage the story more or less becomes a chase through Florence and the surrounding countryside, until Leonardo realizes that plans which have fallen into his possession are for a machine built to assassinate Lorenzo’s father.

While the historical evidence for events in its pages is flimsy or non-existent, young readers may become aware of Leonardo and his time through this novel, or if nothing else, they will be highly entertained.