Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture ed. by Gary Radke (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 269 taneously becoming less emotional. Funerals were now a carefully controlled show of hierarchy where men were stoic and honorable, which reflected their ideal nature. Conversely, women and the poor could grieve because lamentation reflected their irrational nature. These practices contrast directly with the previous century where men lamented their comrades in a show of honor. The strongest aspects of this work are Lansing’s analysis of medieval Italian literature and court cases. Her prose is lucid and insightful and the chapters on Italy teem with lively and illustrative anecdotes. The book is a welcome update to the subject of medieval death culture. My critique of Passion and Order is that Lansing’s analysis of classical thought on gender and emotion, while interesting , wanders away from her central topic. Her concentrated analysis of medieval Italy is more original than what is essentially an overview of classical and early medieval thought on gender. As well, the unconventional structure of Passion and Order causes Lansing to repeat herself in order to reestablish which part of her argument she is emphasizing. That being said, the reader comes away with a clear understanding of her points, which makes the repetition less of a concern. Lansing makes a spectacular contribution to the historical world with Passion and Order. It effectively argues a radical and interesting theory about gender in addition to examining a fascinating aspect of medieval Italian culture. Her deft integration of these varied sources demonstrates a sophisticated level of skill. Passion and Order combines social and cultural history, subtly incorporating literary analysis and creating a sturdy and compelling foundation for Lansing’s conclusions. This engaging and intellectually stimulating work should appeal to a vast audience, including scholars of gender, medieval history , and Italy, for years to come. KIMBERLY SHEPHARD, History, University of Southern California Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture, ed. Gary Radke (New Haven: Yale University Press 2009) 216 pp., color ill. Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It was edited by Gary Radke of Syracuse University and includes seven essays from scholars ranging from renowned Leonardo experts to less established figures in the field of art history. These essays are complemented by striking images beginning with the book jacket and continuing throughout the book. The gorgeous color photographs capture even the minute incised lines and blemishes on the surfaces of the statues and approximate the experience of visiting the exhibition more effectively than the vast majority of catalogues. Due to the lack of surviving Leonardo sculptures, the subject was not treated chronologically, but rather as a series of case studies. The first article, written by Radke, features an overview of Leonardo’s career and contextualizes his sculptural achievements, training, theories, and practices. The next essay is by Martin Kemp, a Leonardo specialist, and it deals with the paragone, or comparison between painting, sculpture, and poetry in the Renaissance. Kemp refers largely to Leonardo’s treatise on painting while explaining the artist’s primarily negative reaction to the medium of sculpture, which he concludes was REVIEWS 270 prompted by the competitive nature of the courtly context in which the treatise was written. Kemp goes on to describe how Leonardo was indeed a “great plastic visualizer” who actually had a great appreciation for sculpture. Pietro Marani’s essay addresses the Vitruvian Man, possibly Leonardo’s most famous drawing, and the artist’s interest in proportions. Marani points out that unlike other thinkers, Leonardo was not searching for fixed rules of human proportions, but for general rules of measurement. The author makes several comparisons to Alberti’s Treatise on Sculpture, and he hypothesizes that Leonardo was working on his own treatise on this same subject. The next two essays deal with Leonardo’s designs for various equestrian monuments, none of which were ever completed. The first of these is an extensive profile of Leonardo’s work on a colossal sculpture for Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan. The article, written by Andrea Bernardoni, includes a discussion of the complex history of the work, a...