Living with Leonardo: Fifty Years of Sanity and Insanity in the Art World and Beyond

Living with Leonardo chronicles art historian Martin Kemp's fifty-year career studying Leonardo da Vinci's work and legacy. Through personal experiences and professional investigations, Kemp recounts his involvement with major Leonardo discoveries, controversies, and scholarly debates. The book takes readers behind the scenes of authentication battles, museum politics, and media frenzies surrounding Leonardo-related findings. Kemp provides firsthand accounts of examining newly discovered works and navigating the complex networks of dealers, collectors, and experts who shape the Leonardo landscape. Key episodes include the Salvator Mundi painting authentication, the search for the Battle of Anghiari fresco, and various technical analyses of Leonardo's notebooks and drawings. The narrative moves between past and present, connecting Renaissance history to modern scientific methods. The work ultimately explores broader questions about art history methodology, the nature of expertise, and how cultural institutions and market forces influence our understanding of historical figures. Through Leonardo's case, Kemp examines the intersection of scholarship, commerce, and public fascination with artistic genius.

Readers describe the book as a memoir-style account of Kemp's experiences studying Leonardo da Vinci's works, rather than a traditional art history text. Many note the book's accessible tone and behind-the-scenes glimpses into art authentication and museum politics. Liked: - Personal anecdotes about authenticating Leonardo works - Details about art world controversies and debates - Clear explanations of technical analysis methods - Insights into museum operations and acquisitions Disliked: - Some sections feel repetitive - Too much focus on defending past academic positions - Limited discussion of certain major Leonardo works - Occasionally meanders into tangential topics Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (54 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (31 ratings) Notable review quote: "Kemp brings both scholarly rigor and entertaining storytelling to the fascinating world of Leonardo attribution battles" - Amazon reviewer "More memoir than art history, which may disappoint readers seeking deep analysis of the artworks themselves" - Goodreads reviewer

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🎨 Martin Kemp has spent over half a century studying Leonardo da Vinci, longer than Leonardo's own career as an artist and inventor (which lasted about 40 years). 🖼️ The book details the controversial authentication of the "Salvator Mundi" painting, which later sold for $450.3 million in 2017, becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. 📚 Kemp, an emeritus professor at Oxford University, has examined more claimed Leonardo works than any other scholar, including numerous fakes and misattributed pieces. ✏️ The author reveals how Leonardo's left-handedness affected his distinctive drawing style, creating a "left-handed hook" that helps authenticate his sketches. 🔍 Throughout the book, Kemp describes his encounters with "Leonardo loonies" - people with outlandish theories about hidden codes and conspiracies in da Vinci's works, predating Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" by decades.