A multistranded yarn skillfully laid out in broad, light brush strokes with some cogent themes mixed in.
The story of how the Mona Lisa was painted and, centuries later, how it was stolen, recovered, and in the process became the most famous portrait in the world.
Day tells his tale with considerable verve, delivering in alternating sections accounts of the life of Leonardo da Vinci (“an extraordinary, ingenious, wondrously weird man,” with “a mind on fire”) and of the 1911 theft of a then-respected but not particularly popular painting from the musty, dusty Louvre. He traces the way it mushroomed into a huge public sensation—complete with conspiracy theories, ineffectual police work, and suspects ranging from plutocrat J.P. Morgan to young artistic firebrand Pablo Picasso. Helquist’s art adds tongue-in-cheek notes with a bountiful array of scenes depicting expressive, lightly caricatured figures, from the thief (who turned out to be not a slick professional but, at least supposedly, an impulsive Italian patriot) to detectives, officials, and suspects, generally sporting early-20th-century dress and comically diverse mustaches. The painting was recovered in 1913, but the sensation over it has yet to die down, which the author pointedly explains as partly the influence of the press in whipping up controversy, partly the enduring power of conspiracy theories (“People will choose the better story every time”), and partly the painting’s own compellingly enigmatic features. Readers will love the brouhaha and will be tempted to take closer looks at the art too.
A multistranded yarn skillfully laid out in broad, light brush strokes with some cogent themes mixed in. (source list, endnotes) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780593643846
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Logically pointing out that the American cowboy archetype didn’t spring up from nowhere, Sandler, author of Cowboys (1994) and other volumes in the superficial, if luxuriously illustrated, “Library of Congress Book” series, looks back over 400 years of cattle tending in North America. His coverage ranges from the livestock carried on Columbus’s second voyage to today’s herding-by-helicopter operations. Here, too, the generous array of dramatic early prints, paintings, and photos are more likely to capture readers’ imaginations than the generality-ridden text. But among his vague comments about the characters, values, and culture passed by Mexican vaqueros to later arrivals from the Eastern US, Sadler intersperses nods to the gauchos, llaneros, and other South American “cowmen,” plus the paniolos of Hawaii, and the renowned African-American cowboys. He also decries the role film and popular literature have played in suppressing the vaqueros’ place in the history of the American West. He tackles an uncommon topic, and will broaden the historical perspective of many young cowboy fans, but his glance at modern vaqueros seems to stop at this country’s borders. Young readers will get a far more detailed, vivid picture of vaquero life and work from the cowboy classics in his annotated bibliography. (Notes, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6019-7
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
An introduction to ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings. The authors begin with how archaeologist Howard Carter found the tomb of King Tut, then move back 3,000 years to the time of Thutmosis I, who built the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Finally they describe the building of the tomb of a later Pharaoh, Ramses II. The backward-forward narration is not always easy to follow, and the authors attribute emotions to the Pharaohs without citation. For example, “Thutmosis III was furious [with Hatshepsut]. He was especially annoyed that she planned to be buried in KV 20, the tomb of her father.” Since both these people lived 3,500 years ago, speculation on who was furious or annoyed should be used with extreme caution. And the tangled intrigue of Egyptian royalty is not easily sorted out in so brief a work. Throughout, though, there are spectacular photographs of ancient Egyptian artifacts, monuments, tomb paintings, jewels, and death masks that will appeal to young viewers. The photographs of the exposed mummies of Ramses II, King Tut, and Seti I are compelling. More useful for the hauntingly beautiful photos than the text. (brief bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7223-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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