“Leonardo, da Vinci: The Renaissance of the World“ by Marwan Kahil, with illustrations by Ariel Vittori, is a graphic novel about the famous artist.

This graphic novel attempts to tell the story of Leonardo over multiple different times in his life. The story is not chronological, which can be confusing to people who are not familiar with his story. There is a lot of political intrigue, some romantic elements and a lot of unfinished projects.

I liked the art well enough but if you’re looking to learn about Leonardo da Vinci, there are better sources out there that are not as confusing.

Engaging comics of the famous painter's life, and how he struggles as the bastard child but managed to shine brighter than his master. Really interesting to read, moreover on how he managed to conduct his life where the hierarchy made it hard.

Ever since we realized one of our children has dyslexia, I've come to appreciate graphic novels more.

For those who need visual cues while reading, this beautifully illustrated book honestly discusses and presents Da Vinci's live as an artist, inventor, thinker, and a gay man in a time when many were killed for opening entertaining such thoughts.

Presented chronologically, it's a great way to introduce a reader to one of the great minds of our history.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review.

This was a very riveting look at Leonardo Da Vinci's life. It was pleasant to see historically accurate drawings depicting people, places, and things of the times. I liked the story of Da Vinci's life, and I can see people who are especially interested in art history should really enjoy this book. The art work is awesomely beautiful. The facts of his life seem to be correct, and there is even a section to explain where the author got the information. Very informative.

A great graphic novel giving a greater insight into the live of Leonardo Da Vinci.
The art style was a little less detailed than I would have expected but it worked great nontheless. I also really liked the more detailed notes about his works. Wish it would have been a little longer though.

This was a very interesting look at Leonardo Da Vinci's life. It was nice to see historically accurate drawings to depict the people, places, and things of the times. I liked the story of Da Vinci's life, and I can see people who are especially interested in art history to really enjoy this telling. The art work is beautiful. The facts of his life seem correct, and there is even a section to explain where the author got the information.

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. To see the early days of this artist as a youth and find out even then how their unique art form began to develop. They had a tough childhood, but this didn’t stop them from following their dreams. As a young man, they faced persecution in a number of ways, but again they didn’t let this stop them from creating amazing pieces of art. As this graphic novel came to a close, we learn a bit about the legacy they left behind. If you are a fan of this artist then this is a graphic novel you will want to read.

I received an advanced copy of Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance of the World through Netgalley, so I could share my review with you!

Leonardo Da Vinci faced countless trials through his life as an artist, inventor, and a gay man. Pressures from the Church and his many peers often led to conflict in Da Vinci’s life. Political shifts forced constant adaptation in Da Vinci’s work, leading him in and out of favor with governmental powers. Only through his own innovation and excellence, Da Vinci came to be known as one of the great minds of history, in spite of the many factors trying to silence his voice.

You can get your copy of Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance of the World on August 18th from NBM Publishing!

Recently, I’ve been reading more graphic novel biographies, so I quite enjoyed learning more about the life of Leonardo Da Vinci! There were many references to his more famous work sprinkled throughout the story, hinting at his expansive legacy in the art world today. Marwan Kahil captured the essence of Da Vinci’s story in a relatively short book, which was very impressive! My favorite part of the book was easily Ariel Vittori’s illustrations, which brought life into this artist’s story.

My Recommendation-
If you enjoy learning about history, but wish it was in a more engaging format, you should definitely check out this book! This biography would be a good pick for anyone interested in learning more about the life and struggles of Da Vinci!

"Learning never exhausts the mind".

I really liked it.
Leonardo Da Vinci is one of my favourite artists, so I had to read this.
Overall, I highly enjoyed it. I think this is a good idea to call the attention of young readers and it seems, to me, as a good teaching tool as well.

I absolutely recommend it.

Pub Date: 18 Aug 2020

Thanks to Papercutz / NBM Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

A very interesting and entertaining comic about what the life of an incomparable genius could be like.

As a fan of Leonardo's work, I just had to read this and thank you for creating this comic. Lovely piece of art illustration with excellent content. Absolutely love it!

I wanted to love this graphic novel on the life of Da Vinci, I really did. Unfortunately, I couldn't even finish it. The artwork is fine, but the storytelling is too choppy. Da Vinci had a long and full life that this novel tries very hard to present in very few pages. Major events unfold over the course of only a page and jump to another time period and another calamity too quickly to absorb, while other themes of student jealousy seem repetitive.

The moment I saw this title I knew I had to read it! A Graphic Novel depicting the life of Leonardo da Vinci!? Such a brilliant idea. So I am sad to say that it simply didn't live up to what I had expected and imagined it to be.

The artwork, although not my favorite, is fine, and it feels fitting and appropriate. The tale is a fascinating one, to anybody who knows even the tiniest amount about da Vinci, but the language simply doesn't deliver. I like to READ my Graphic Novels, it's not just about the art, and a well written GN is a thing of wonder. This is not the GN it could have been.

Sadly I took the decision to DNF this one.

I had to say that I was enthralled with the title that I thought I really had to get it since it was about Leonardo Da Vinci but mostly becauses of the title: The Renaissance of the World. I would love to say that the art was very beautiful, it wasn't that perfect but I love it and thought it was pretty.

When it comes to the presentation of the story, the flow, it was inconsistent, kind of messy that I think there was pretty much a cut with every panel and just jumped to another part of the story.

Overall, it was a quick read. Very Interesting, it's just that the graphic novel just keeps on jumping. I'd still recommend it to someone who wants to read about Leonardo,

The moment I saw a Leonardo Da Vinci graphic novel, I had to read it. He is a person who has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I've read many books on him and visited many museums. Obsessed is an understatement.

This graphic novel was okay, but not much more than okay, unfortunately. I wanted to really like it, because it's Da Vinci, but I just couldn't get into it.
Everything about it felt so rushed and sloppy. So many big events happen over a single page and are only brushed over.

Leonardo's release from prison and Simonette's death are also both explored through all of one page and neither are explained. The fact that both are shown on the same page makes the two events seem connected, which they aren't. And then Giuliano's assassination is completely brushed over. I know this is a story about Leo, but these were important Florentine events.

The dialogue isn't the clearest. I'd have to read some pieces several times and still found it unclear.

The art style was bizarre, to say the least. The characters would be talking, but the images shown would be random objects in the room, or random insects eating each other. Was this somehow to depict how observant Leo was? If so, I get what the artist was trying to achieve, but I don't think the outcome is effective.
The art also gave me big 90s children's' book vibes. As a 90s kid, it felt really reminiscent of the books I read as a kid. In other words, the art styles felt very dated. (If such a thing is possible, but this is the only way I can think to describe it.)

I'm left a little confused as to the purpose of this book. There wasn't enough information in enough detail to make it educational. More page time was given to trivial things like Salai's drinking and gambling then it was to, say, Leo's arrest, or his flying machine, or his work for the Borgias as a military engineer. It was just so rushed and lacked focus.
Leo Da Vinci was a genius with one of the most fascinating lives in history and that just isn't displayed to its fullest potential in this book. The possibilities are endless with Da Vinci, but this was so surface level.

I feel this book would have benefitted from focusing on a single period in Leo's life and exploring it in detail, instead of trying to rush through his entire life.

Digital copy provided by Netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is raw.
This is chaotic.
This is classic.

Trigger warnings for nudity, violence, strong language, homophobia

This graphic novel tries to summarise the life of Leonardo in a very accurate manner trying to showcase some important events that might have taken place making him the great artist as he was.

He was ridiculed.
He was attacked from time to time. He was even put in prison a few times. I didn't know that he grew up in a very resistant environment.
There were some supportive people who made him the person he was. But then, the ones who were against him were many starting from those working with him to the highest authorities of those times.

The ending was beautiful. It says a lot about the last few days about the life of this great personality.

Regarding the artwork of this graphic novel, I have mixed feelings about it.
At times it seems really classic. At times it just doesn't fit the description.

I feel like some parts have been skipped deliberately and the sequence jumped a few times missing the flow.


Nevertheless it's a great attempt.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of this graphic novel.

I’ve quickly discovered my favourite genre of graphic novels is Historical Non-Fiction. This form of literature is a useful and fun way to either reinforce what one may already know about a topic or to start learning about something completely new. I have read other books on da Vinci, so for me this is building on what I already know, it’s great revision.

Leonardo da Vinci by Ariel Vittori and Marwan Kahil is beautifully illustrated and depicts Leonardo’s interesting life in a very engaging fashion. I like the way the artist depicts some of his famous paintings (such as the Mona Lisa), they are done in a way that represent his work nicely – while not trying to exactly replicate it.

One example of how a book like this reinforces previous learning is, I completely forgot about his “Sforza Horse” in Milan, a bronze sculpture, created during his time living in that city – this little book reminded me what this piece was all about. I won’t forget it now.

His personal relationships and his interactions with other artists are described well. I particularly enjoyed the scenes between he and that other icon of the Renaissance, Michelangelo – antagonistic to say the least.

Da Vinci’s propensity to be easily distracted and not complete works comes through and his interest in ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING also shines. One can only imagine how brilliant he would be in today’s world where information is so easy to find. I reckon his impact would be even greater.

Some great quotes of his described in the book include:

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding"

"Learning never exhausts the mind"

"While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die"

Wow…..that last quote is one to think about!!

This book goes the extra mile in providing plenty of additional material at the end (and a good Preface) to describe in further detail the characters involved in the life of da Vinci, his most famous works and many other interesting pieces of information.

In February of this year I had the pleasure of standing in Front of Leonardo’s famous painting ‘The Annunciation’ at the Uffizi Gallery in beautiful Florence. It was an emotional experience just knowing I was so physically close to him, I couldn’t have been happier. Understanding the man before I went, made it even more emotional. The wonderful thing about researching before travelling.

Even though I am hardly an objective appraiser of any material related to this great man, I still must give this charming piece of work as many stars as possible.

5 Stars

An incredibly enchanting and well-composed book for children that had me hooked from the first page until the very last. Highly recommended.

The timeline was so rushed in this book and I couldn't get through it. I wasn't invested in the story because it skipped so many years at a time. The illustration style was interesting but so like Da Vinci's own style, but modernised, that it felt like it was trying too hard. I would have preferred a different illustration style so that there would be contrast with Da Vinci's style of painting. Not for me unfortunately.

An enjoyable read, though nothing outstanding.

The story was well illustrated, though the actual storyline was a bit confusing - lots of gaps in the actual narrative.

Not knowing the story of Leonardo Da Vinci the historical facts were more interesting than his actual painting, drawing, etc.