Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile

Welcome to Litsy!

Litsy is a place to share and discover your favorite books with your favorite people.

Litsy is available on the web, for iOS and Android.

It’s fun.  It’s simple.  It’s all about the book. Sign up and get a little Litsy.

To respect member's privacy and keep things awesome, most of Litsy is hidden from Google. We let humans see and share pages, but not machines. Find out more.
This page is: Hidden

Trending Hashtags

See More
#BookSpinBingo
75 users recently
#bookspin
105 users recently
#roll100
31 users recently
#FeelinTheLove
17 users recently
#serieslove2025
25 users recently
#5joysfriday
40 users recently

Trending Books

See More
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
55 users recently
Onyx Storm
Onyx Storm
Rebecca Yarros
44 users recently
Lark Rise to Candleford - Trilogy
Lark Rise to Candleford - Trilogy: Lark Rise, Over to Candleford and Candleford Green
Flora Thompson
6 users recently
James
James: A Novel
Percival Everett
9 users recently
Fourth Wing
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros
12 users recently
About | Help / FAQs | Privacy | Terms | Press | Resources
Da Vinci's Ghost
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
11 posts | 2 read | 4 to read
In Da Vinci's Ghost, critically acclaimed historian Toby Lester tells the story of the worlds most iconic image, the Vitruvian Man, and sheds surprising new light on the artistry and scholarship of Leonardo da Vinci, one of historys most fascinating figures. Deftly weaving together art, architecture, history, theology, and much else, Da Vinci's Ghost is a first-rate intellectual enchantment.Charles Mann, author of 1493 Da Vinci didnt summon Vitruvian Man out of thin air. He was inspired by the idea originally formulated by the Roman architect Vitruvius, who suggested that the human body could be made to fit inside a circle, long associated with the divine, and a square, related to the earthly and secular. To place a man inside those shapes was to imply that the human body could indeed be a blueprint for the workings of the universe. Da Vinci elevated Vitruvius idea to exhilarating heights when he set out to do something unprecedented, if the human body truly reflected the cosmos, he reasoned, then studying its anatomy more thoroughly than had ever been attempted beforepeering deep into body and soulmight grant him an almost godlike perspective on the makeup of the world. Written with the same narrative flair and intellectual sweep as Lesters award-winning first book, the almost unbearably thrilling (Simon Winchester) Fourth Part of the World, and beautifully illustrated with Da Vinci's drawings, Da Vincis Ghost follows Da Vinci on his journey to understanding the secrets of the Vitruvian man. It captures a pivotal time in Western history when the Middle Ages were giving way to the Renaissance, when art, science, and philosophy were rapidly converging, and when it seemed possible that a single human being might embodyand even understandthe nature of the universe.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
wanderinglynn
wanderinglynn
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image
Panpan

Disappointing. I felt the main problem is that there wasn't enough material on Leonardo & his Vitruvian Man to justify an entire book. If Lester was a more engaging writer, then maybe the book would work better. But as written, the book lacked cohesion. I felt it was a confusing stream of disjointed parts with no coherent focus and too much conjecture and supposition.

This is my January #bookspin

tagged users iconTheAromaofBooks
TheAromaofBooks Oh bummer!! 2y
78 likes1 comment
blurb
wanderinglynn
wanderinglynn
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

When you get caught up in your book (tagged) and go 2 metro stops past the station you should‘ve gotten off at. 🤦🏼‍♀️😆😆😆 #adultingishard

AllDebooks Oh no, I always used to do that after a night shift!! 2y
Aimeesue I'm scrolling through, and I'm all "Who is on the DC metro???" Can't mistake those walls! ? 2y
SomedayAlmost Used to happen to me on the T. In Boston all the time 😆 2y
See All 14 Comments
wanderinglynn @AllDebooks after a night shift makes sense. I don‘t have that excuse 😆 2y
wanderinglynn @Aimeesue I moved back in August. The metro walls are unmistakable 😆 2y
wanderinglynn @SomedayAlmost glad I‘m not the only one! 🙌🏻 2y
CarolynM Easy to do😆 2y
azulaco I‘ve done this too! 2y
bnp Me too - I deliberately didn't read in the train coming back from the airport today because I was afraid this would happen. 2y
wanderinglynn @azulaco 🙌🏻 2y
wanderinglynn @bnp smart! 🙌🏻 2y
MemoirsForMe 😂😂😂 2y
sarahbellum I‘ve done that on Muni in San Francisco! 🤦🏻‍♀️ 2y
Branwen Bookworm problems! 😂📚💕 2y
102 likes14 comments
blurb
wanderinglynn
wanderinglynn
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

My January #bookspin (tagged) and #doublespin

Let the bookshelf clearing begin! 🎉

tagged users iconTheAromaofBooks
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
67 likes1 comment
review
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image
Pickpick

This is a great look at Vitruvian Man, and a wonderful look into the mind of Leonardo da Vinci. I‘m so glad I stumbled upon this book and read it. Its exactly what I was looking for to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Leo‘s death. This book is readable and approachable. It‘s a good length, just the right amount of detail. The included artwork is wonderful. A good glimpse into the world into which this drawing was conceived.

GingerAntics The whole thing feels like a journey deep into the world and philosophy of this famous drawing, but it comes full circle: the prologue and the final chapter bring Leo‘s journey full circle while the preface and epilogue being Lester‘s (and our own) journey full circle. It ended where it began (on all accounts) and when you get done you feel like you‘ve traveled many miles to arrive at the same place you left from in the best possible way. 6y
GingerAntics Highly recommend for all fans of Leonardo da Vinci. #DaVincisGhost #TobyLester #VitruvianMan #LeonardoDaVinci #Leo 6y
21 likes2 comments
blurb
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

Wonderful detail images taken by Toby Lester of the Vitruvian Man, showing just who hard Leo presses into this page. As Lester describes it, it‘s like Leo etched Vitruvian Man into the paper as opposed to drawing it on the paper.
#DaVincisGhost #TobyLester #VitruvianMan #LeonardoDaVinci #Leo

Graywacke That‘s pretty awesome...and beautiful 6y
GingerAntics @Graywacke I completely agree. 6y
18 likes2 comments
quote
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

This moment. This closing remark of Leo‘s journey before Lester‘s is nearly wrapped up in the epilogue. This was oddly thrilling and exhilarating.
#DaVincisGhost #TobyLester #VitruvianMan #LeonardoDaVinci #Leo

GingerAntics @julesG maybe you need a nerd thrill, like this one?! 6y
julesG Maybe. I'll stack it. Thanks. 6y
16 likes2 comments
quote
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

Officially the strangest Leo moment I have ever heard of. Poor frog.
#DaVincisGhost #TobyLester #VitruvianMan #LeonardoDaVinci #Leo

16 likes
quote
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

Leo‘s got jokes!!!
#DaVincisGhost #TobyLester #VitruvianMan #LeonardoDaVinci #Leo

BiblioLitten 😄 6y
20 likes1 comment
quote
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

Who knew?!
#DaVincisGhost #TobyLester #VitruvianMan #LeonardoDaVinci #Leo

18 likes
blurb
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

Since there are 5 more days before the 500th anniversary of Leo‘s death, and I will read almost anything to avoid Isaacson‘s napfest (never mind this sounds like a really awesome book!!!) I‘m taking this bad boy for a spin.
#LeonardoDaVinci #DaVincisGhost #TobyLester #VitruvianMan #Leo

GingerAntics 🤣😂🤣 Love that the D is sort of censoring the genitals of the Vitruvian Man. 🤣😂🤣 Sorry (but not), I‘m a nine year old trapped in an adult‘s body. 😏💙😏 6y
20 likes1 comment
blurb
GingerAntics
GingerAntics
Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image | Toby Lester
post image

AM I EVER!!! I am SO reading this book.

This is seriously the book I was expecting from all the rave reviews of Isaacson‘s book, but oh my god that thing is boring. Jesus Christ is that thing boring. Ugh. I‘ve read church documents from that period with more excitement and less drag. I didn‘t think anything this boring got published for general audiences. That is some painful, only-other-historians-will-ever-read-it kind of thing.

GingerAntics @wanderinglynn the preview alone has me giddy with excitement. Thank you SO much for the recommendation getting me to look at this book a bit harder. 💙💙💙 6y
wanderinglynn My pleasure! It‘s been on my TBR for a while, so thanks for reminding me that I too need to read it! ☺️👍🏻 6y
GingerAntics @wanderinglynn it seems like a much better book than Isaacson‘s. It is currently delivering on absolutely zero of its promises. That may be a DNF soon. 6y
21 likes3 comments