Category: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN-13: 9781416905448
Edition: Reprint
Pub. Date: March 2008
Date Read: April 2008
Author Grey found inspiration in Leonardo’s Notebooks to tell the story of Giacomo, Leonardo’s servant, a young boy who Leonardo rescues from a mob chasing him in the streets of Milan. When Giacomo awakens from the fall he took while running, he doesn’t know anything about his life. All he knows now is that he’ll be servant to the master painter.
Eight years have passed and since that fateful day and Leonardo da Vinci has received the commission to paint The Last Supper. He’s already way behind the deadline and owes money to many of the merchants in Milan but he won’t be rushed. He is a temperamental genius.
Meanwhile Giacomo, now fifteen-years-old, has a lot of questions. He still doesn’t know anything about his parentage although he is pretty sure his master is hiding something from him. And, more than anything he wishes his master would take him as his apprentice instead of just his servant. It is Giacomo’s fervent wish to learn how to paint.
“Sometimes I draw far into the night, using the light of the moon through my small window, long after the candle has burned down to a warm pool of wax. If the Master is away, I draw in the kitchen or the front room or the garden… And soon – but not yet, I am not good enough yet, not by half – I will show the Master what I am capable of."
The strength of this novel is Giacomo’s characterization. He can be impertinent at times but let no one besmirch his Master’s character or work for he will defend the great painter. And, just wait until you see how much influence Giacomo will have on the famous painting of The Last Supper.
Rich historical details abound and fascinating characters like Duke Ludovico Sforza, Leonardo’s maid, alchemists, and merchants fill the pages of this engaging read. Highly recommended.