“At times Leonardo was troubled by his lack of achievement. As a young man he appears to have developed a reputation for melancholia. “Leonardo,” wrote a friend, “why so troubled?” A sad refrain runs through his notebooks: “Tell me if… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“A stylus was a metal-tipped drawing instrument widely used by artists before the invention of the pencil (graphite was not discovered until in 1504,… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“Quite amazing how determined kings and emperors have been to destroy books. But civilization is built on such desecrations, is it not? Justinian the… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“In fact, the figure in The Last Supper is not a woman: only the most partisan reading can place Mary Magdalene in the scene.… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“…Because every ruler celebrated his conquests by setting torch to the nearest library. Did not Julius Caesar incinerate the scrolls in the great library… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“It’s amazing — and poignant — to think that Leonardo (da Vinci)did consider himself as something of a failure. He didn’t believe that he… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“And as I surveyed the clutter of his study I was pleased to see that he was a man after my own heart. All… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“That one of history’s greatest brains struggled with amo, amas, amat should be consolation to anyone who has ever tried to learn a second… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“Buttresses were one of the prime structural features of Gothic architecture: by accommodating the thrust of the vaults transferred to them from strategic points,… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as a book. Yes, a great library—a library as magnificent as this one—was… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“Yes, a great library — a library as magnificent as this one — was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“While running simple errands I often became hopelessly confused in the maze of crowded, filthy streets that began twenty paces beyond the north gate… — Ross King Copy Share Image
“The Black Death was a faithful visitor to Florence. It arrived, on average, once every ten years, always in the summer.” — Ross King Copy Share Image
