The book Leonardo’s Shadow was a fictional story written about a real historical figure, Leonardo Da Vinci, who was a very famous artist and inventor from Italy. It was recommended to me by a friend who had already read it. The main idea is to always be perseverant and determined in difficult situations. It takes place in Milan, Italy from 1495-1498.
In Leonardo’s Shadow, we follow the life of Giacomo, Leonardo Da Vinci’s servant. He was found falling from the top of the church Santa Maria Del Grazie when he was eight years old and lost his memory to the plague. Leonardo took him under his wing and made him his servant. Leonardo is struggling to finish a major painting called The Last Supper for the Duke of Milan. The Duke is Leonardo’s Messer, a wealthy benefactor who funds all of his projects. The Last Supper was meant to impress Pope Alexander who was to arrive on Easter. The Duke needed the Pope to help him fight against the upcoming French invasion. But it has been 2 years since Leonardo raised a paintbrush to the painting. The back wall in the church Santa Maria Del Grazie, where the painting was to be, is damp, thus would cause the painting to decay faster. He has also been keeping the construction of a flying machine secret from the Duke. The Duke is very unhappy with all of the delays, so he does not pay Leonardo Da Vinci the sum he promised for the finished painting. Now Leonardo is in debt to all of the merchants he goes to because he has no money to give them. Giacomo comes up with an ingenious solution, his master would paint the disciples with the faces of the merchants in return for canceling all the debts. The merchants were very happy. Leonardo agrees and the Last Supper is finished in time! The Pope comes and is very impressed with the painting, though he has yet to agree to become allies with Milan. The Duke found out about the flying machine just before the arrival of the Pope. He ordered Leonardo to finish it at his castle and, when it was finished, he wanted a demonstration. Three days after the Pope arrived, the demonstration took place at the Duke’s castle, and Giacomo was to fly the machine. It was working smoothly at first, but it suddenly crashed while Pope Alexander was watching! The Pope was furious, he viewed it as the devil’s invention. But he agreed to side with Milan against the French. In the end, Giacomo earns Leonardo’s trust and respect, which was what he wanted most of all from the beginning. Also Leonardo decided to make Giacomo his apprentice, he would teach him how to paint. Furthermore, all ends well for Leonardo Da Vinci and Giacomo, though they are wealthier, they have found something worth more than riches, friendship.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was an interesting read because though some of the characters and events were real, they were well interlaced with fictional adventures which made the book much more fun to read. My favorite part of Leonardo’s Shadow was the conclusion. I liked the fact that all ended well for Giacomo and his master, Leonardo decided to start teaching him how to paint, because earlier in the story he didn’t want to teach Giacomo. The flying machine is still on the ground and will not fly again, and Giacomo has earned his master’s respect. I would recommend this book to some of my friends who like historical fiction. Though I enjoyed reading this book, I don’t often read these kind of stories, and the style of writing was different and a little confusing to me, so I would not want to read other books by this author for the moment. From this book, I learned that artists in the late 1400s needed a Messer to fund their projects. I also learned that back then there was the Black Death, a deadly plague that infected and killed 2\3 of Europe’s population. Science in that era was considered sacrilege and was not embraced as much as now. Furthermore, Leonardo’s Shadow was a great story that deserves to be read.