LEONARDO POP-UPS

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a painter, architect, inventor and student of all things scientific and his natural genius crossed many disciplines that epitomised the term 'Renaissance Man'. Today he remains best known for his two masterpieces, the famous and admired Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. This marvellously engineered pop-up book produced to high quality by the publishers Thames & Hudson has 16 magnificent pages measuring 31.2 x 34cm and the magnificent pop-ups are of The Annunciation which depicts the biblical story of the Archangel Gabriel announcing to the Virgin Mary that she would be the mother to the Son of God. Ornithopter is da Vinci's design for a flying machine which was an enduring pre-occupation. Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the infant St. John the Baptist is the beautiful charcoal and chalk on paper, a masterpiece where within the triangle the young Christ reaches for the lamb, symbolising the sacrifice he would make for humanity. Portrait of a Man in red chalk with his long hair and equally lengthy beard over his shoulders and chest display a solemn, pensive, noble man with eyes fixed on some unknown far point - he pops forward from the pages as well. Most spectacular is the Vitruvian Man from 1490, ink on paper, the man stands, feet together and arms horizontal to the ground contained within the square. Superimposed, the same figure is shown with raised arms and spread feet, legs forming an equilateral triangle, standing approximately 10" high from the book. And the final double page pop-up spread is architecture, various designs, all shown here in pop-up for churches and cathedrals, symmetrical buildings, a fortress with circular tower and a pulley system method for the construction of a garden wall. The last double page spread is devoted to il Cavallo dello Sforza, a bronze sculpture design from 1482 never completed and here shown in technical drawings where the measured horse is in profile. Sepia and colour.
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