The biography is set in chronological order, giving overviews of key points in Leonardo's life, including his illegitimate birth, his apprenticeship to Andrea del Verrocchio, and later periods of his art and life.  The chronological approach also reads like a story; it flows and progresses in a meaningful way.  It is not overrun with details, however, it is effective, and this biography gives its reader a good feel for Leonardo's life and his broad scope of talent.  A reader can learn that Leonardo da Vinci was interested in painting, anatomy and sketching of the human body, inventing and engineering.  Stanley also gives the reader a glimpse into Leonardo's shortcomings.  For example, he struggled often with finishing projects and staying focused for the necessary duration of a project.  He left many works unfinished.

 

Each spread of the book has one page of text accompanied by a full color illustration done by Stanley.  Included on the pages of text are actual drawings of Leonardo, which give the reader an immediate and impressive look into Leonardo's range of talents.  One interesting detail of the biography is each page is outlined in an elegantly knotted border, attributed to the design of Leonardo himself. 

 

Leonardo da Vinci himself is somewhat of a mystery and many things cannot be known about him.  His notebooks, for example, were lost and most have not been found to this day.  Leonardo's body, too, was lost and his grave, while marked, probably does not contain his own remains.  These details are included in an interesting postcript by the author.  It also includes some details about several of the artist's most famous works.

 

One shortcoming of this biography is it does not give a list or indication of what works of Leonardo da Vinci can still be seen today.  Information such as this could help bring Leonardo da Vinci to the modern child's mind by showing them that the original Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre Museum today.