Taupō author Donovan Bixley (right) signing a copy of his latest book A Portrait of Leonardo for Tracey Liddington (left) at the book launch at the Taupō Library. Photo / Rachel Canning
Taupō author Donovan Bixley (right) signing a copy of his latest book A Portrait of Leonardo for Tracey Liddington (left) at the book launch at the Taupō Library. Photo / Rachel Canning
A Taupō author has breathed life into 500-year-old historical figure Leonardo da Vinci.
The remarkable new literary picture book A Portrait of Leonardo by Donovan Bixley portrays the achievements of the Renaissance painter, sculptor, engineer, architect, and scientist in 130 pages of original illustrations and easy-to-read text.
"The reality of the Renaissance artist is a far cry from the popular image. Leonardo was not a lone wolf in his workshop but the chief executive officer and artistic director of a major creative studio," Donovan says.
Writing a book about da Vinci is a lifelong dream of Donovan's, sparked by a gift from his father who attended an exhibition in San Francisco after two of da Vinci's lost notebooks were discovered in 1965.
Upon return to Taupō, Paul Bixley presented then 13-year-old Donovan with two books from the exhibition.
"I was blown away by Leonardo then and I remain blown away," Donovan told a 100-strong crowd at the Taupō Library for last week's launch of A Portrait of Leonardo.
The more Donovan read, the more he became convinced the image used to portray the physical resemblance of da Vinci inaccurately pigeonholed him as a "renaissance Gandalf", an unkempt figure with a long flowing beard.
Donovan Bixley with Leonardo da Vinci's self-portrait in his unfinished masterpiece 'The Adoration of the Magi', at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Photo / Jo Bixley
"That was at the end of his life when he re-invented himself as a Greek philosopher when he was restoring ancient sculptures found on the construction site of St Peter's Basilica."
One of da Vinci's sayings was that appearance revealed the inner man, and he began moulding himself as a great philosopher in both mind and image.
"In reality, Leonardo da Vinci was the coolest, sexiest guy in Italy."
Donovan says Leonardo da Vinci was like a cross between singer-songwriter David Bowie, comedian Billy Connolly, fashion designer Alexander McQueen, Weta Workshop creative director Sir Richard Taylor, mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton, and jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli.
A staggering list of achievements are attributable to da Vinci. He painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, invented the modern-day parachute, conceived fantastical flying machines, made the first detailed studies of the human anatomy, drew maps and made breakthrough discoveries in geology.
The question Donovan really wanted to answer was "Who was he before he was the Mona Lisa guy?"
Leonardo da Vinci's first surviving drawing is a landscape looking down from his birth house over the town of Vinci and the Arno valley. Image / Donovan Bixley
The Mallinson Rendel Laureate Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation allowed Donovan and his wife Jo to travel to Italy and visit Vinci, the artist's hometown, and see where he lived in Milan and Florence.
"I was looking for a sense of who he was and the world he lived in."
Da Vinci lived at the height of the Renaissance artists, funded by the powerful Medici family, and it was fascinating to learn he rubbed shoulders with other famous figures Botticelli, Raphael and Michelangelo.
Jealousy over Michelangelo's success in 1504 with his sculpture David led to da Vinci using his position on the town council to cover up its nakedness with a gold leaf.
"Michelangelo is 23 years younger than Leonardo and a total jerk who gets into arguments with Raphael and Leonardo," Donovan says.
Some fun facts about da Vinci found in A Portrait of Leonardo: He made himself sunglasses and wore them with panache, he invented the equivalent of today's flick lighter but it was used at the time by gun makers during the Italian Wars 1494 to 1559.
The book has been a labour of love for Donovan, who first had the idea at the beginning of his career, but was too daunted by the task of tackling his greatest hero, instead of focusing on his critically acclaimed biographies of Mozart and Shakespeare as a warm-up.
"It's quite incredible, after all those years to finally have that vision come to fruition with all three books complete."
Donovan believes what makes da Vinci ceaselessly fascinating is that he is the quintessential example of an obscure nobody who made it big. He wasn't rich, or privileged, or sent off for special education. He was a bastard child from an insignificant village, yet he rose to become one of the greatest thinkers of all time. His story gives inspiration and hope to all the creative dreamers out there, no matter where they're from or who they are.
Leonardo da Vinci, the great painter, initially gained more renown as a raconteur, singer and musician. Image / Donovan Bixley
"I really hope that my book presents to the world a vision of the Leonardo I've come to know through my years of research: the curious child, the arrogant teenage upstart, the fantastical daydreamer, a hilarious sharp-witted entertainer, a procrastinating painter, and a bloody–minded scientist who was defiant of authority and the status quo. He was a colourful character with a fiercely independent personality and one of the greatest gay icons who ever lived."
