Leonardo da Vinci: An Untraceable Life

About the Book

How our image of the Renaissance's most famous artist is a modern myth.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) never signed a painting, and none of his supposed self-portraits can be securely ascribed to his hand. He revealed next to nothing about his life in his extensive writings, yet countless pages have been written about him that assign him an identity: genius, entrepreneur, celebrity artist, outsider. Addressing the ethical stakes involved in studying past lives, Stephen J. Campbell shows how this invented Leonardo has invited speculation from figures ranging from art dealers and curators to scholars, scientists, and biographers, many of whom have filled in the gaps of what can be known of Leonardo's life with claims to decode secrets, reveal mysteries of a vanished past, or discover lost masterpieces of spectacular value.

In this original and provocative book, Campbell examines the strangeness of Leonardo's words and works, and the distinctive premodern world of artisans and thinkers from which he emerged. Far from being a solitary genius living ahead of his time, Leonardo inhabited a vibrant network of artistic, technological, and literary exchange. By investigating the politics and cultural tensions of the era as well as the most recent scholarship on Leonardo's contemporaries, workshop, and writings, Campbell places Leonardo back into the milieu that shaped him and was shaped by him. He shows that it is in the gaps and contradictions of what we know of Leonardo's life that a less familiar and far more historically significant figure appears.

About the Author :

Stephen J. Campbell is the Henry and Elizabeth Wiesenfeld Professor in the Department of the History of Art at Johns Hopkins University. His books include Andrea Mantegna: Humanist Aesthetics, Faith, and the Force of Images and The Endless Periphery: Toward a Geopolitics of Art in Lorenzo Lotto's Italy.

Review :
"A fascinating biographical investigation and a staunch piece of social criticism."---Dan Hofstadter, Wall Street Journal "[An] erudite study. . . . buttressed by scrupulous research and extensive knowledge of his subject, [Leonardo da Vinci] is a thought-provoking reassessment of an artistic giant and his legacy." "Perceptive and authoritative…. [Leonardo da Vinci is] a vigorous meditation on life-writing and one artist’s reality." "Campbell’s An Untraceable Life is a bold re-evaluation of Leonardo da Vinci, challenging the myths surrounding one of history’s most iconic figures. Campbell’s intelligent re-contextualization presents Da Vinci not as an unreachable genius but as a deeply human artist of his time, making this a thought-provoking read for those drawn to the nuances of Renaissance art."---Megan Fox Kelly, Observer.com "An erudite treatise."---Trevor Fairbrother, The Arts Fuse "Campbell’s Leonardo da Vinci reminds us of the lies and self-congratulations we employ to create useful history, making historical figures serve our current ideas."---Joseph Bottum, Washington Examiner "Stephen Campbell does a learned, lively and convincing demolition job in Leonardo da Vinci: An Untraceable Life . . . .It removes—like Salome’s seven veils or layers of archeological encrustations—the many contemporary distortions of Leonardo and places the artist in a less fanciful but more authentic historical context."---Jeffrey Meyers, The Article "Searingly brilliant. . . .Campbell is unfailingly authoritative and compelling. And in so expertly skewering the legends about this most famous of artists, he has given us a Leonardo who is infinitely more fascinating – and unfamiliar – than ever before."---Alexander Lee, The Spectator "Campbell’s writing is erudite yet accessible, engaging yet rigorously skeptical. He challenges the reader to reconsider not just Leonardo, but the very way we approach history and biography. . . .For anyone seeking a fresh, thought-provoking perspective on Leonardo da Vinci, An Untraceable Life is an essential read." "Fascinating. . . .Campbell’s study covers a broad terrain, and he deftly explains some of the methodological approaches in art-historical writing and complex Renaissance theoretical concepts for a non-specialist reader."---Sarah McBryde, The Art Newspaper "The value of, and perhaps urgent need for, an ‘antibiography’ seems evident. . . . Campbell’s critical handling of the textual material, from Leonardo’s own writings and contemporary biographical and art-theoretical texts to nineteenth- and twentieth-century criticism and publications of the last few years, is exemplary."---Francis Ames-Lewis, Burlington Magazine "Campbell meticulously distinguishes between myth and fact."---Barbara Spindel, Wall Street Journal "Campbell has done something different. Framing his absorbing book as an “anti-biography”, he explores instead the fictions we create about the lives of artists, about genius, and ultimately about ourselves."---Gemma Tipton, Irish Times