''Leonardo's Swans'' is an international bestseller by
Karen Essex, published by Doubleday in 2006. The novel tells the story of the rivalry between the powerful
Este sisters,
Beatrice and
Isabella, princesses of the House of Ferrara, as they competed for the attentions of both the Duke of Milan and
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
when the artist was court painter in the High Renaissance. Also included are excerpts from Leonardo's own journals and letters, which reflect the contents of each chapter.
Reception
The ''Washington Post'' praised Essex’ portrayal of Leonardo. “Leonardo's character is one of the great surprises of this book, and in portraying him the author never seems to engage in post-Dan Brown opportunism. The reader may be constantly reminded of Leonardo's genius, but he is an understated figure, a brilliant but disorganized mind whose twitchy intelligence makes him interested in starting countless projects but able to finish few. One of the pleasures of reading this book is learning the secret history behind paintings like ''
The Last Supper'' and ''
The Virgin of the Rocks''.
The novel was widely read and acclaimed in Italy and won the Premio Roma for Foreign Fiction in 2007. It is published in twenty-five languages.
[Author website]
KarenEssex.com
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References
External links
Review at BookBrowse.com
2006 novels
Novels about artists
Historical novels
Works about Leonardo da Vinci
House of Este
Doubleday (publisher) books
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