'Leonardo da Vinci' may be Walter Isaacson's most unusual subject ever
Long before he became a famous biographer, Walter Isaacson cut his professional teeth as a young newspaperman in his native New Orleans, a city known for its vivid eccentrics. Isaacson has been writing about eccentrics ever since, his literary production yielding an aviary of odd birds. His previous books include a biography of Benjamin Franklin, the brilliantly idiosyncratic inventor who also helped create the United States; an account of Albert Einstein, the greatest scientific mind of the 20th聽century who could not, despite his gifts, keep his hair combed; and the story of Steve Jobs, who sparked a technological revolution even as he navigated an unconventional personal life.
With 尝别辞苍补谤诲辞听诲补听痴颈苍肠颈, his new life of the iconic 16th-century Italian artist and inventor, Isaacson brings readers into the company of perhaps his strangest subject to date. As in his previous books, he celebrates oddity as an opportunity for greatness, not an obstacle to be overcome.
鈥淗is lapses and oddities allow us to relate to him, to feel that we might emulate him, and to appreciate his moments of triumph even more,鈥� Isaacson writes of the man at the center of his latest book.
He begins 鈥湷⒈鸫遣圆拱宕翘宀固站辈猿扁�� with a bit of housekeeping, telling readers that 鈥渄aVinci鈥� can鈥檛 properly be used as a surname, since it was merely a descriptor referring to the great thinker鈥檚 family roots in聽Vinci. Isaacson calls his subject Leonardo throughout the book, creating a tone of intimacy with a man who, despite the biographer鈥檚 best efforts, retains an air of enigma.
Leonardo (1452-1519) is, paradoxically, one of the most well-documented yet elusive men of the Renaissance. He left an extensive paper trail in some 7,200 pages of writings, but they鈥檙e often cryptic, inviting more questions than they answer. Basic facts about his life, such as the site of his birth and death, are also hazy. By necessity, significant parts of 鈥湷⒈鸫遣圆拱宕翘宀固站辈猿扁�� must be speculative. In lieu of strict chronology, Isaacson uses paintings and other works of Leonardo as windows into his heart and mind. In that regard, the book鈥檚 beautiful production values are a great help. Exacting reproductions of masterpieces such as the 鈥淢ona Lisa鈥� tellingly evoke the originals, a big plus since Isaacson attempts to deconstruct their qualities in detail. That painting is such a tourist draw at The Louvre that it tends to endure as an object of publicity rather than reflection, its stature not so much argued as assumed.
Isaacson, to his credit, helps us see Leonardo鈥檚 artistic vision with fresh eyes. The 鈥淢ona Lisa鈥� exemplifies Leonardo鈥檚 digressive intellect 鈥� his tendency to move from project to project like a bee sampling nectar, eventually completing some artistic tasks, leaving others eternally unfinished. He started the 鈥淢ona Lisa鈥� in 1503, working on it intermittently until shortly before his death. 鈥淲hat began as a portrait of a silk merchant鈥檚 young wife became a quest to portray the complexities of human emotion, made memorable through the mysteries of a hinted smile, and to connect our nature to that of the universe,鈥� Isaacson observes. 鈥淭he landscape of her soul and of nature鈥檚 soul are intertwined.鈥� That duality is evident in the painting鈥檚 background, which features a mountain landscape that acts as another character in the scene.
Isaacson concludes that Leonardo鈥檚 outsider status helped feed his development. Born out of wedlock, he was prevented from pursuing mainstream professions and denied the chance to attend the respectable 鈥淟atin schools鈥� where intellectual conformity was encouraged. That 鈥渟aved him from being an acolyte of traditional thinking,鈥� Isaacson writes. Leonardo鈥檚 homosexuality further distanced him from the orthodoxy of his times.
Leonardo kept his own counsel in his notebooks, which Isaacson calls 鈥渢he greatest record of curiosity ever created.鈥�
Questions freckled his days. 鈥淲hy is the fish in the water swifter than the bird in the air,鈥� he asks, 鈥渨hen it ought to be the contrary since the water is heavier and thicker than air?鈥�
He freely indulged fantasy, conjuring ideas for tanks and aircraft that were centuries ahead of their time. 鈥淓ven at the height of his career,鈥� Isaacson notes, 鈥渕ost of his fighting and flying contraptions were more visionary than practical.鈥�
Isaacson鈥檚 roots as a journalist serve him well. He writes simply and clearly, and even though his principal character hails from antiquity, the narrative hums like a headline from the morning paper, alert to topical parallels between then and now.
鈥淗is genius was of the type we can understand, even take lessons from,鈥� Isaacson writes. 鈥淚t was based on skills we can aspire to improve in ourselves, such as curiosity and intense observation.鈥�
Isaacson sometimes lapses into the homiletic. Not quite confident that readers can draw their own conclusions about Leonardo鈥檚 life, he ends 鈥湷⒈鸫遣圆拱宕翘宀固站辈猿扁�� with a small tutorial listing the lessons we should learn, including such truisms as 鈥淟et your reach exceed your grasp.鈥� One occasionally feels that one of humanity鈥檚 most darkly complicated geniuses has been appropriated as a stand-in for Dale Carnegie.
Despite Isaacson鈥檚 suggestions for emulating Leonardo, we finish the book with a renewed conviction that the world鈥檚 most famous Renaissance man was, in essence, inimitable.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽聽聽聽聽
Danny Heitman, a columnist with The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana, is the author of 鈥� Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�
