Quickly dispenses with the outlandish myths spread by The Da Vinci Code… history is in many ways more surprising than Dan Brown's popular fiction.

New York Post

[A] dramatic, vivid, and brainy mix of biography and art history.

Booklist (starred review)

An absorbing study of a disappearing masterpiece...King places the painting in its political, social and artistic context, describing both the meaning of da Vinci's work and the violent 15th-century Italian world that spawned it...King plumbs the painting's religious, secular, psychological and political meanings, registered in the facial expressions and hand positions, the significance of the food on the table and, most fascinatingly, the salt spilled by the betraying Judas...King's book is an impressive work of restoration--the author helps readers see this painting for the first time.

Kirkus (starred review)

A fascinating and in-depth story of one of the world's most famous works of art that will appeal to general readers as well as academics. Highly recommended.

Library Journal (starred review)

King provides a fascinating look at the artist's life, including his reputation among his patrons as unreliable, and his relationships with those he worked with and for-including a young boy named Giacomo, who 'held a great physical attraction for Leonardo.' However, King's speculations are never salacious; rather, they help place Leonardo's life into the context of Florence's history of sexual tolerance and subsequent religious crackdowns...the book proves most lively when tackling common misconceptions about the painting, with The Da Vinci Code coming in for special criticism.

Publishers Weekly