Booknotes 14-12-06

Edward O'Hare rounds up the week's book news.

Da Vinci Decoded Along with the rest of the Irish population, Book Notes cheered the recent news that a Leonardo da Vinci manuscript will go on display in Dublin's Chester Beatty Library next year. For those not familiar with it, the Chester Beatty houses the collection of the American mining magnate which was left to the Irish state more than 50 years ago. It includes an astonishingly diverse selection of fine books, drawings and rare artifacts from all ages and races. Together, these form an incredible celebration of the endless diversity of human culture. The Da Vinci manuscript that will go on display is a scientific work written in the Renaissance man's famous cryptic handwriting. It is the so-called Leicester Codex (an extract is pictured here) and was bought by its present owner Bill Gates from the Earl of Leicester for £20m in 2004. If you want to be prepared for your experience in 2007, Martin Kemp's revised edition of his definitive biography of Da Vinci, Leonardo: The Marvellous Works of Man and Nature, has been republished by the Oxford University Press. It is an exhaustive yet intimate portrait of the man who set out to understand everything. Rising Times Back in March there was much learned discussion surrounding the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising and its aftermath. While an assortment of academics argued about the Rising's legacy, journalists Shane Hegarty and Fintan O'Toole collaborated to produce a minor masterpiece. The Irish Times 90th-anniversary supplement was unanimously praised by historians and members of the public alike for its precise, even-handed assessment of its subject and striking visuals.So impressive was the supplement that it became the Rising's official souvenir. And there is good news for any short-sighted individual who regrets throwing away the supplement eight months ago. Gill and Macmillan have joined forces with the Irish Times and the Department of Education and Science to publish the supplement as a hardback book. Made up of diary extracts, eye-witness testimonies and period photographs, the expanded 216-page The Irish Times Book of the 1916 Rising is a fine record of this momentous week in our history. The Eye of the Beholder Booknotes' highlight of the autumn season has been Simon Schama's outstanding BBC series The Power of Art. Over eight weeks, the lives of Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso and Rothko have been the subject of brilliant documentaries. Schama said the intention of the series was to remind people that important works of art were not intended to become gallery exhibits, but to launch revolutions. He has rediscovered the messages contained in many iconic paintings and shown why the great artists directed both their fantastic talents and troubled imaginations into creating these works in the first place. As this tremendous series reaches its end, Book Notes can conclusively announce that the scandalously-talented Schama has reinvigorated the television essay for a whole new generation. By dispensing with technical terminology and replacing it with enthusiasm, awe and sardonic humour he has made each lecture pass like a dream. These qualities will make the book that he has written to accompany the series, Simon Schama's The Power of Art, a continually rewarding read.