I am well-versed in art and pretty familiar with the works of the great Renaissance artists. Michelangelo and DaVinci were revolutionary leaders at a time of great art explosion in both composition and technique. While having a vague knowledge they were working at the same time, I was gobsmacked by the overlap. This book paired with the recent Ken Burns documentary on DaVinci makes for a great foundation of this artistic time of enlightenment.

Now that being said, while very informative and showing a good deal of we done story telling, the book is not particularly well written. At times she does an outstanding job of immersing you in Renaissance Florence. At others, you're left wondering why include this character or taking too long to get to the point.

This is worth the time for the education and historic context.