Leonardo da Vinci and his Super-brain

In Cox’s tour of da Vinci’s world it is very soon apparent that this is not going to be the Kenneth Clark or E H Gombrich approach to art history. We are told that Renaissance Florence is ‘a happening place’, and chapter titles such as ‘Get in the Know … at Studio Verrocchio’, ‘Ciao, Big Nob! Gizza Job!’(!), and ‘The Fresco Kid’, give us a clue as to the kind of thing we’re in for. Goddard’s cartoons (that’s the modern meaning of the word) are equally irreverent, and the two authors combine to give the ‘Rip-roaring Renaissance’ the full contemporary treatment, from Leonardo’s childhood in the village of Vinci to his death in the king’s arms (‘that’s the King of France’s arms, not the well-known pub’).

Putting aside my instinctively pompous reaction to this current populising trend, and any debates about whether it really is the most effective way to impart knowledge to young people, I did find this both informative and, at times, amusing. The use of dry, ironic ‘yoof’ idioms (Leonardo was born ‘near the fortified hilltop village of Vinci. Wow! What an amazing coincidence! Not!’) may or may not strike a chord with the intended audience age-group, but this adult reader quickly got over the irritation factor to broaden his knowledge of the Medicis, the breadth of Leonardo’s creativity and esoteric matters such as sfumato techniques in painting.