Ton Pascal spent four years researching Leonardo before he even wrote the first chapter. He had to read over six thousand pages of Leonardo’s works and writings by different writers but he couldn’t find one that gave the man, Leonardo, a realistic daily life.
The Leonardo in the books of the author's youth described a perfect child, having a perfect childhood, parents, and being the perfect scientist. What he found after his research is a complex man very different from that.
What he discovered was a Leonardo that lived in the utmost poverty and neglect until he was about six years old. Leonardo’s ultra rich, noble, birth father, Sir Piero refused to legitimate him. After six years of barely surviving, Leonardo’s poor and peasant mother, house maid Caterina, which had been seduced and impregnated by Sir Piero, dropped Leonardo at his doorstep and disappeared for good. The boy was bullied, humiliated and moved from place to place. He never had a place to call home. At the age of fifteen Leonardo’s birth father placed him at the atelier of the painter Andreas de Verrocchio to become an apprentice, and that was the last straw that broke Leonardo’s family ties.
What makes Leonardo the Last Years special is that it deals with a real and lively Leonardo and people in the 1400’s instead of the one-dimensional character portrayed in the academic books we have known until now.
The Book has been self-published via Amazon CreateSpace is available as Paperback on Amazon, B&N and all major Book Stores in the US – 364 pages – released in March 2012.
About the Book
November, 1516. Disgraced by the Vatican, Leonardo da Vinci is en route to France to assume his duty as the new court painter of the young King Francis I. Social prejudices and inequalities of the time revive Leonardo’s past.
At this time of upheaval and uncertainty, Leonardo must adapt, move on and survive the emotional landscape and the volatile court life of the 16th century France.
Leonardo and King Francis I become very close friends. To King Francis, Leonardo is the father figure he grew up without. To Leonardo, Francis is the son, and the friend he had always dreamed off. For the first time in his life Leonardo is actually happy. He gladly threw himself at all kinds of artistic creations, inventions and writing. But would he survive the turmoil of gossip and intrigues generated by one of his oldest companions?
.jpg "Leonardo The Last Years - Ton Pascal") |
| Click to Read an Excerpt |
In Leonardo’s contract he was listed as a ‘pupil-servant’ but Salai, a gambler and thief, is more than the thorn in a complex twenty-seven years relationship. The boy had been dropped at Leonardo’s door when he was ten years old, and grew up into astonishing good looks. Salai quickly became Leonardo’s favorite model and the envy of his friends. We see him as the St. John in “The Last Supper”, ‘Bacchus’, ‘St. John The Baptist’, and several other major paintings and sketches by Leonardo including the erotic ‘Angelo incarnato’. Before they left the Vatican, Salai was approached by one of Pope Leo X’s secret agent and accepted, for a good sum of money of course, to spy on Leonardo and King Francis I. The consequence of this action would have great international repercussions.
Also accompanying Leonardo is his assistant Francesco Melzi, a fine aristocrat. Melzi had spent the last ten years adoringly supporting Leonardo.
All of them, living together under the same roof, created a climate of animosity and suspicion. The difference of personalities and characters could not be more unlike. The fights were intense, and a daily occurrence, adding more fuel to gossips of Leonardo’s homosexuality, a crime that until them he denied. Melzi, with the help of Batista, Leonardo’s private servant, tried often to diffuse the house’s tension.
Salai’s treachery is exposed shortly after Leonardo’s second heart attack. He is devastated and in great pain. Leonardo had always refused to accept the fact that Salai had never changed. The man had remained the same street urchin and thief he took under his roof twenty-seven years ago. Would Leonardo finally throw out Salai, once and for all?
History has often portrayed Leonardo as a mystic, instead of the visionary genius and scientist he was. What we discover in this book is a gentle man with a brilliant mind tormented by the social prejudice and inequity of his time.
The sights, customs, and characters, come to life in Ton Pascal’s Leonardo The Last Years.
Reviews (Excerpts)
- “Ton Pascal is able to spin a fascinating plot because the climax of the story comes in the second last chapter, 16, 'The Betrayal.' Both Francis I and his arch-rival Charles V were crowned king as very young men. As Francis built his country into a major European power, Charles V became the most holy Catholic knight, using his wealth to contest successfully with Francis for title of the Holy Roman Emperor. The result was the chaos of the 16th century in Europe and the Italian wars that followed. But who was the spy in Leonardo’s household that leaked the secrets of Francis I to the Vatican and Charles V? Sorry I won’t tell, you’ll just have to buy the book. In Leonardo The Last Years Ton is able to spin a fascinating plot.
The historical documentation, which includes bios of the major and minor characters plus photos of their portraits, is accurate and informative. In fact, the book is so thorough that I am recommending our campus bookstore carry it as supplemental reading when I teach art history, Renaissance to Modern Art.” - Professor James LaMalfa, art department, University of Wisconsin, Marinette
- “[...] Ton Pascal's amazingly well documented and fascinating book on 'The last Years' of Leonardo in France offers another view of the Renaissance period which could be turned into a superb movie rich in Loire colors, intrigues, passions and emotions. But first of all, readers will enjoy tremendously Ton's description of Leonardo's famed achievements and untold personal life dreams, deceptions and reactions to his unlimited although unfulfilled love.” - Herve Suffet
- “Going beyond his legendary acclaim as an inventor and painter, "Leonardo the Last Years" portrays a life lead through the eyes of a story teller. Gripping with twists and turns that engage and enlighten - this is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about the Leonardo who dreamed and had relationships that are all set within the confines of the historical events of his age.” ― Dane Naida
About the Author
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| Author Ton Pascal |
Ton Pascal moved to Paris, France, in 1986 and for over eighteen years, while studding art and cultural history, he created fabulous, one of a king jewelry pieces for Givenchy, Philippe Venet, Christian Lacroix, Ungaro and many other great European designers.
Back in Toronto, Ton wrote and self-published his first book Dream Your Life Positively. He wrote this book as a guide to help himself get back into the meditation and visualization, which had helped him so much in the past. His personal growth articles have been published by several well known self-help sites and magazines, and have helped people all over the world.
He believes that the times we are facing in our world right now require a more spiritual approach to our everyday lives.
Ton Pascal loves history and is an avid reader so it is very natural that his latest book is a time leap into the 16th century Europe. In Leonardo The Last Years he recreates the three last years of Leonardo da Vinci’s life in France.
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Link to the Paperback Leonardo The Last Years at B&N
Link to the Paperback Leonardo The Last Years on Amazon with Excerpt
