Brief Description: 2-part book about Leonardo da Vinci’s unrealized giant horse sculpture, and American art enthusiast Charles Dent’s efforts to recreate it centuries later.
Geographical Setting: Allentown, Europe, Florence, Italy, Milan, North America, Pennsylvania, United States
Historical Era: 15th Century, 16th Century, 20th Century
Date Range: 1452-1519 (da Vinci's lifespan), 1977-1999
Keywords: Animals, Art and Artists, Charles Dent, Horses, Italian Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, Ludovico Sforza, Second Italian War 1491-1501
Original Publication: 2001
Suitable for Grades: 1-6th
Target Audience: Picture Book
Librarian's Review
This book is a good introduction to the young audience of the story of Leonardo da Vinci. We learn of Da Vinci’s eccentric youth, his education as an artist in Florence, and his curiosity and observational skills which led him to many scientific and engineering breakthroughs. Da Vinci’s life is a perfect exemplar of being in the right place at the right time, and Da Vinci has come to symbolize the best aspects of the Italian Renaissance. Hudson Talbott’s illustrations of Da Vinci’s activities in Florence and later Milan are absolutely gorgeous. The book’s unique shape feels as if we are observing scenes of daily life from a set of arched windows. Other two-page spreads are chock-full of details taken from Da Vinci’s own notebooks, with his backwards writing and scientific diagrams.
Upon learning that a rich duke wanted to craft a giant horse sculpture, a thirty-year-old Da Vinci moved to Milan, determined to win this commission. The book details the specific challenges for Da Vinci, including first studying the anatomy and motion of horses, collecting the necessary quantity of metals, and then working out the technical details of supporting the weight of the sculpture. The clay model of the giant horse was a sensation. Alas, when the French invaded Milan in 1499 the duke needed all of the metal set aside for the sculpture to make cannon balls and the invaders used the clay model for target practice. The sculpture was never completed.
Hundreds of years later, American art enthusiast Charles Dent became obsessed with realizing Da Vinci’s dream of casting the giant horse sculpture. The second part of this book details his efforts. You can learn more about Dent’s modern endeavor to complete the sculpture at the Da Vinci Science Center’s website, and from its YouTube video series: Leonardo’s Horse: The History and Leonardo’s Horse: The Sculpting Process.