Leonardo Da Vinci: The Graphic Work

This was mind-blowing. For Taschen. Nathan and Zollner compiled into one book the most complete amalgamation of Da Vinci’s drawings ever assembled, from their current locations across the globe. They add in quite copious essays and notes on each section, ranging from anatomy to military engineering to drapery studies. It was that diversity of subject matter that still astonishes me about Da Vinci — he was legitimately the best in the world, or close to the best in the world, at 5-6 seemingly unrelated fields of artistry, science, and engineering, all at the same time.

This book takes a while to get through — it is quite physically heavy in hardcover, and it does tire your eyes to look through each work and its full commentary, over and over, for sustained periods of time. But it is well, well worth the effort.