Reviews

Leonardo Da Vinci: The Renaissance of the World by Marwan Kahil, Ariel Vittori

ifollowedthatrabbit's review against another edition

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4.0

"Learning never exhausts the mind".

I really liked it.
Leonardo Da Vinci is one of my favourite artists, so I had to read this.
Overall, I highly enjoyed it. I think this is a good idea to call the attention of young readers and it seems, to me, as a good teaching tool as well.

I absolutely recommend it.

Pub Date: 18 Aug 2020

Thanks to Papercutz / NBM Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

geekwayne's review against another edition

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3.0

“Leonardo, da Vinci: The Renaissance of the World“ by Marwan Kahil, with illustrations by Ariel Vittori, is a graphic novel about the famous artist.

This graphic novel attempts to tell the story of Leonardo over multiple different times in his life. The story is not chronological, which can be confusing to people who are not familiar with his story. There is a lot of political intrigue, some romantic elements and a lot of unfinished projects.

I liked the art well enough but if you’re looking to learn about Leonardo da Vinci, there are better sources out there that are not as confusing.

mimyexplore's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing

4.0

Gran novela gráfica.

thefussyreader's review against another edition

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2.0

The moment I saw a Leonardo Da Vinci graphic novel, I had to read it. He is a person who has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I've read many books on him and visited many museums. Obsessed is an understatement.

This graphic novel was okay, but not much more than okay, unfortunately. I wanted to really like it, because it's Da Vinci, but I just couldn't get into it.
Everything about it felt so rushed and sloppy. So many big events happen over a single page and are only brushed over.

Leonardo's release from prison and Simonette's death are also both explored through all of one page and neither are explained. The fact that both are shown on the same page makes the two events seem connected, which they aren't. And then Giuliano's assassination is completely brushed over. I know this is a story about Leo, but these were important Florentine events.

The dialogue isn't the clearest. I'd have to read some pieces several times and still found it unclear.

The art style was bizarre, to say the least. The characters would be talking, but the images shown would be random objects in the room, or random insects eating each other. Was this somehow to depict how observant Leo was? If so, I get what the artist was trying to achieve, but I don't think the outcome is effective.
The art also gave me big 90s childrens' book vibes. As a 90s kid, it felt really reminiscent of the books I read as a kid. In other words, the art styles felt very dated. (If such a thing is possible, but this is the only way I can think to describe it.)

I'm left a little confused as to the purpose of this book. There wasn't enough information in enough detail to make it educational. More page time was given to trivial things like Salai's drinking and gambling then it was to, say, Leo's arrest, or his flying machine, or his work for the Borgias as a military engineer. It was just so rushed, and lacked focus.
Leo Da Vinci was a genius with one of the most fascinating lives in history and that just isn't displayed to its fullest potential in this book. The possibilities are endless with Da Vinci, but this was so surface level.

I feel this book would have benefitted from focusing on a single period in Leo's life and exploring it in detail, instead of trying to rush through his entire life.

Digital copy provided by Netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

antonellath's review against another edition

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3.0

«Los detalles hacen la perfección y la perfección no es un detalle»

antonellath's review

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3.0

«Los detalles hacen la perfección y la perfección no es un detalle»

etienne02's review

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3.0

Well done but not for me. The art style didn't please me and I would have like it to go deeper a bit. Still I agree that this might be a good and simple way to get introduce into the life of this amazing man and learn about it without being overwhelm, after that, if you want to go deeper, well there is a lot of work you could go for.
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