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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What fraction of Florence's population was literate in 1472?

2. Leonardo's most serious longtime companion held the nickname of Salai, which held what meaning?

3. On what day of the week was Leonardo born?

4. What position was held by legitimate first-born sons in Leonardo's family, stretching back at least five generations?

5. What role did Leonardo inhabit upon his arrival to the court of Ludovico Sforza?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the books included in Leonardo's personal library inventory in 1492 represent the extreme diversity of his interests?

2. What major difference does the author depict when comparing and contrasting Leonardo's personality with Leon Battista Alberti's personality?

3. In what way did Leonardo's illegitimacy grant him certain freedoms?

4. What information was recently discovered in 2017 about Leonardo's birth mother?

5. What were the main techniques Leonardo adopted from his mentor, Andrea del Verrocchio, that would go on to be featured prominently in all of Leonardo's later works?

6. When Leonardo joined a competition of architects, what was the assigned task for the contest?

7. What were the underlying reasons for Leonardo's vegetarianism?

8. What are the reasons that Renaissance Italy has come to be known as "a golden age for bastards" (9)?

9. Discuss an example of Leonardo's use of analogies that led him to new scientific discoveries.

10. What was the reason that Leonardo's horse monument was never completed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the author's message regarding intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation within his biography of Leonardo da Vinci?

Essay Topic 2

How is the theme of obsession portrayed in Walter Isaacson's biography of Leonardo da Vinci? Examine the author's treatment of and messages regarding obsession throughout the book.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the significance of the coda that is placed by the author just after the body of the narrative ends. How do its themes connect to the overall themes within the biography?

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