"Leonardo da Vinci" with Ken Burns & Dave McMahon

In their first foray outside the context of American history and culture, Ken Burns (“The Brooklyn Bridge”, “The Civil War”, Jazz) and Dave McMahon (“The Central Park Five”, “Jackie Robinson”, “The War”) take on Leonardo da Vinci.  As they tell Mike, casting themselves deep into the past, Burns and McMahon explore the world that Leonardo found himself–first the Tuscan countryside, then Florence at the height of its commercial and cultural powers–and in an era that turned back both to the classic authors, as well as outward towards the natural world.  To adequately represent Leonardo’s art, as well as the “prophetic” sketches of his notebook, Burns and McMahon embraced new forms of showing and telling themselves.  The result is a documentary that may well make you see the world if not through Leonardo’s own eyes, then yet once again, anew.

“Leonardo da Vinci” will first air on PBS November 18 & 19.

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