Leonardo and The Last Supper by Ross King is just what it
purports to be, a detailed history of Leonardo da Vinci and his most famous painting.
In the process, King gets into the politics
of the day, the details of the renaissance as a movement, a set of ideals, a frame of mind.
There is a great deal of discussion of The Last Supper, but this book definitely
contextualizes the work in the time and in Leonardo’s life.
Actual time spent on the painting is fleeting, but
fascinating. The long history of its
decline, catastrophic “restorations,” its near destruction by a bomb in the
Second World War, and its final, definitive and controversial restoration are
treated, but only briskly.
This book is much more about Leonardo and his world than The
Last Supper. But it presents a
fascinating painting and a fascinating world.
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