But Michelangelo persevered. His early sculptures caught the attention of Florence’s great ruler, Lorenzo de’ Medici, who invited the boy to be educated with his own sons. Soon after, Michelangelo was astonishing people with the lifelike creations he wrested from marble–from the heartbreaking Pieta he sculpted when he was only twenty-five to the majestic David that brought him acclaim as the greatest sculptor in Italy.
Michelangelo had a turbulent, quarrelsome life. He was obsessed with perfection and felt that everyone–from family members to his demanding patrons–took advantage and let him down. His long and difficult association with Pope Julius II yielded his greatest masterpiece, the radiant paintings in the Sistine Chapel, and his most disastrous undertaking, the monumental tomb that caused the artist frustration and heartache for forty years.
With her thoroughly researched, lively narrative and superbly detailed illustrations, Diane Stanley has captured the life of an artist who towered above the late Renaissance–and whose brilliance in architecture, painting, and sculpture amazes and moves us to this day.
Children’s Books 2000-NY Public Lib., Books for Youth Editor’s Choice 2000 (Booklist), Lasting Connections 2000 (Book Links), Best Books 2000 (School Library Journal), Top 10 Youth Art Books 2000 (Booklist), and Notable Children’s Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2001, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council
Leonardo da Vinci, inventor extraordinarie and artist, is illustrated beautifully in this historical biography by Emily Hahn.
When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #38: Monday with a Mad Genius, they had lots of questions. Why was Leonardo da Vinci interested in flight? What are some of his most famous painting? Did he really keep noteboooks just like Jack? What do scientists today think of his ideas? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts. Filled with up-to-date information, photos, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to find out more about the topics they discovered in their favorite Magic Tree House adventures.
In 1872, French painter Edgar Degas is disillusioned by a lackluster career and haunted by the Prussian siege of Paris and the bloodbath of the Commune. Seeking personal and professional rebirth, he journeys to New Orleans, birthplace of his Creole mother. He is horrified to learn he has exchanged one city in crisis for another—post-Civil War New Orleans is a corrupt town occupied by hostile Union troops, and suffering under the heavy hand of Reconstruction. He is further shocked to find his family deeply involved in the violent struggle to reclaim political power at all costs.
Third in the intriguing Leonardo da Vinci mystery series known for “capturing the essence of 15th-century Milan”. 
Travel to the Milan of 1483 with this intriguing new series, starring the legendary Renaissance man himself-Leonardo da Vinci. 
The legendary Renaissance man and amateur sleuth is back in this exciting follow-up to The Queen’s Gambit. As court engineer to the Duke of Milan, Leonardo da Vinci turns his superior mind to a variety of pursuits-from painting to solving the occasional murder. After the deaths of two female servants, Leonardo asks his apprentice, Dino, to go undercover disguised as a woman in the service of the Duke’s ward, Contessa Caterina. This should be easy enough, given that “Dino” is in reality Delfina, a young woman masquerading as a boy to serve as Leonardo’s apprentice. Delfina is soon torn between her loyalty to Leonardo and her growing feelings for Gregorio, the handsome captain of the Duke’s guard. But if what the Contessa’s tarot cards foretold is correct, Delfina might be destined to lose her heart…and perhaps her life.
A gripping novel set in Belle Époque Paris and inspired by the real-life model for Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen and a notorious criminal trial of the era.
It’s 1559. A young woman painter is given the honor of traveling to Michelangelo’s Roman workshop to learn from the Maestro himself. Only men are allowed to draw the naked figure, so she can merely observe from afar the lush works of art that Michelangelo sculpts and paints from life. Sheltered and yet gifted with extraordinary talent, she yearns to capture all that life and beauty in her own art. But after a scandal involving one of Michelangelo’s students, she flees Rome and fears she has doomed herself and her family. 
Young widow Simonetta tries to rebuild her family in 16th century Saronno, Lombardy. In pursuit of a means to keep her estate together, she stumbles upon a new drink made by infusing almonds into alcohol. At the same time, she encounters the talented Bernardino, the protege of Leonardo da Vinci.”
