Cedar Crest College Alumnae Association – 2018 Cedar Crest College Alumnae Association Auction
Auction Ends: Mar 23, 2018 09:00 PM EDT

Books

Leonardo's Horse

Item Number
282
Estimated Value
22 USD
Sold
15 USD to Glushbaugh
Number of Bids
6  -  Bid History

Item Description

Leonardo's Horse by Jean Fritz

 

"A scintillating sliver of history. . . . An inventive introduction to the Renaissance and one of its masters." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"An unusual and surprisingly touching story . . . . An offbeat and intriguing read." (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review)

"At times sad, silly, and telling, this is a wholly entertaining book." (School Library Journal, starred review)

 

 

Item Special Note

Fritz (And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?) again calls upon her informal yet informative style to spotlight a scintillating sliver of history, recounted in two related tales.

Her narrative opens as the ultimate Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, earns a commission from the duke of Milan to create a sculpture to honor the duke's father—a bronze horse three times larger than life. Though this creative genius spent years on the project, he died without realizing his dream and, writes Fritz, "It was said that even on his deathbed, Leonardo wept for his horse." The author then fast-forwards to 1977: an American named Charles Dent vows to create the sculpture and make it a gift from the American people to the residents of Italy. How his goal was accomplished (alas, posthumously) makes for an intriguing tale that Fritz deftly relays. Talbott's (Forging Freedom) diverse multimedia artwork includes reproductions of da Vinci's notebooks, panoramas revealing the Renaissance in lavish detail and majestic renderings of the final equine sculpture. Talbott makes creative use of the book's format—a rectangle topped by a semi-circle: the rounded space by turns becomes a window through which da Vinci views a cloud shaped like a flying horse; the domed building that was Dent's studio and gallery; and a globe depicting the route the bronze horse travels on its way from the U.S. to Italy. An inventive introduction to the Renaissance and one of its masters.

Ages 5-up.

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