Who is Leonardo? A review of Gopnik's article...

                Adam Gopnik’s article to me, felt like a book review (I am unaware of the actually context of the article). He begins his adventure into the mystery of Leonardo by introducing the idea of a story that he wrote as a teenager. Enthralled by the man who was the father of so many inventions and undoubtedly way ahead of his time, he writes about how strangely un-human the man truly was. “To make a long, and rather shamelessly rod Serlingish, story short, the art historian (Adam) eventually discovers, in a previously unknown codex that Leonardo was an alien, that the rocks were the landscape of his native planet, and that the fingers were pointing longingly back home.” (Gopnik, 1)

                Gopnik also dove into the readings by some of the current popular books about Leonardo. Nicholl’s, “Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind” and Kemp’s “Leonardo”.  He outlines the main difference of these two books being primarily their perspective; Kemps from the inside out, Nicholl’s from the outside in.
                Kemp’s strategy of decoding Leonardo was to “define what he thought Leonardo was doing, and why” (Gopnik, 1). Suggesting that what Leonardo was searching for was a universal system of proportion- beyond the aesthetic.  Kemp writes, “Leonardo was the first to tie the artist’s nothing of proportional beauty into the wider setting of the proportional action of all the powers of nature.” (Gopnik, 2) He also suggested that the thought processes driving Leonardo’s research were based on a visual intellect, as compared to a mathematical one.

 

                Nicholl’s account of Leonardo was much different. His book follows the restless activities of Leonardo during what he describes as a “lucky life”. Gopnik seemed to favor Nicholl’s approach by describing it as worldly narrative, detailed, vivid and human (Gopnik, 2). He dives into the complexity of Leonardo’s thoughts and how he created himself an image that the patrons pursued. Personally, I find his notebooks fascinating and have added this book to my reading wish list.

               

                “Nicholl makes Leonardo not less strange, perhaps, but surprisingly more appealing and well rounded—not a spaceman but an artistic type whose lineaments one recognizes: the artist as     self-sufficient man, with a strong, private sense of ironic humor, affectionate but not much          engaged with his family and lovers, devoted to the realization of this images, surrounded by a court of helpers and hangers- on whom he watches with detached amusement… (Gopnik, 2).

                Gopnik also dived briefly into the DaVinci code calling it, “plain burn-at-the-stake blasphemous,” (Gopnik, 4). Another, a personal thought; I find this hilarious, because I thought it was a terrible movie and it completely turned me off of wanting to read the book.

                Gopnik ends his review by recapping the achievements that Leonardo made. He also creates for us a timeline of large movements and reminding us that much of Leonardo’s work was unavailable to the masses for centuries. He Ask us to question how much he actually provided us for some large movements- including the scientific revolution or the Renaissance.  

                It is no surprise to me that a one-of-a-kind man probably lived a one-of-a-kind life.  The truth is, we tear apart his words, his scribbles, and his paintings. Everyone has an opinion or a point of view of who Leonardo really was as a man. But truthfully, no one really knows for sure. Maybe that is one of the things about the man that makes him so great to us today. Perhaps we just want to know the secret that made him so great. Maybe he didn’t contribute so much to these giant movements that we previously have given him credit for. But, maybe instead- he was the pioneer for the people- to at least plant seeds in their heads to let them know that great things can happen when you think or do things a little differently; or even by just doing things for yourself- the things that you love.

                His ideas in many ways were groundbreaking. He was the first great mind to try so many things that no one else had ever done before. He scribbled inventions in the margins of his notebooks that work perfectly several hundred years later and managed to capture a smile in a painting that still resonates. Who wouldn't want to know his secrets?