E.L. Konigsburg wondered why one of the greatest artists of all times would want to paint the portrait of the unglamorous, second wife of a merchant. Taking a few documents referring to one of Leonardo da Vinci's servants, called Salai, and a possible friendship with Beatrice, the wife of the Duke of Milan, Konigburg writes a fascinating story of friendship, the need for opposites to create great art, inner beauty and coming of age. I enjoyed her use of language: Salai uses slang, especially the word, "guy," when he speaks.
There are black-and-white reproductions of the paintings discussed in the book at the very end. ( )

Proof that the cosmic joker exists is that every now and then multiple works on the same subject are published at the same time. Mary Anning, Amelia Earhart both were subjects of a number of books all published within eighteen months of each other. And the dinosaur guy who I always want to call Price Waterhouse (Waterstone Hawkings?), but I know that's wrong.

Da Vinci is a popular enough topic that it's not unusual for fiction works to be published about him on a regular basis. It's just bizarre timing that I happen to pick up two books, one from the 70s and one from last year, both about the Master. The first, which I have finished, is the Second Mrs Gioconda by E.L. Konigsburg was originally published a scant few months after my birth which answered my quesiton of "why haven't I heard of/read this before?". The second, which I am still working on, is the Medici Seal by Theresa Breslin.

Both of these women are superlative authors and I very much enjoyed the somewhat tragic story by Konigsburg. The Medici Seal, I am looking forward to reading further, but time is growing short in the face of other projects. It's a hardcover, so I am loathe to schlep it on the airplane home. Perhaps this weekend.
Originally posted June 4, 2007

This is another fictional tale about the lives of historical people--in this case Leonardo da Vinci and his servant, Salai. Salai is only known through a few references in Leonardo's papers. The earlier ones refer to him as a thief and general scoundrel, the later ones have Leonardo giving him money and remembering him in his will. Ms. Konigsburg weaves a tale in an effort to connect the two faces of Salai and, more importantly, to try gain some insight on what the mind of one of the greatest geniuses of history was like. It's a nice book, but in the end I fell like rating it as waiting room material. I don't know if it's just because today's a rainy day and I'm feeling somber, or if maybe I've just been reading too much historical fiction.
--J. ( )

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