Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky (1866–1941)

Leonardo da Vinci lived from 1452 to 1519 during the height of the Italian Renaissance.
Merejkowski wrote a timeless classic, though a fictional account of Leonardo’s life. "The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci" not only tells Leonardo’s life story but shares many factual details about what was happening during that era in politics, within the Catholic church, and among the lives of the ruling class players of the time.

It may not be a well known fact that Leonardo Da Vinci was a brilliant man; above all- a scientist and engineer involved in physics, astronomy, chemistry and mechanics. Art was merely one of his many creative passions.

Leonardo was not interested in politics, never passed judgement on others discretions or the atrocities committed by those in power, though there certainly were many.

I just finished reading Irving Stone’s "The Agony and the Ecstasy"- the life story of Michelangelo -which also takes place during this era. In fact, Leonardo and Michelangelo were bitter rivals.

The most outstanding observation in comparing the two artists is that Michelangelo was a devout Catholic, a perfectionist, a passionate artist, humble, meek, and family oriented… though he lived a very lonely life, sacrificing everything for his profession. Leonardo, however, was quite the opposite. According to Merejkowski’s interpretation, Leonardo appeared to be dedicated to developing new concepts in science, spending a good part of his life trying to invent the airplane. And this was during a time when science was considered to be sacrilegious... witchcraft... superstition. Leonardo was not religious and may have been an atheist. His religious paintings were done more from the historical aspect than the religious perspective. But Leonardo too sacrificed everything for his profession and lived a very lonely life.

The fascinating thing about both books is the authentic cultural detail of life in Italy over 500 years ago… the struggle between the royal families and the power they had over the Catholic church. For instance, the Duke Cesare Borgia- a cruel, ruthless dictator who led the Papal armies to war against France- was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander IV. It was quite common for Priests to have affairs and illegitimate children. Blackmail was an everyday occurrence, and it was also common for Cardinals to murder the competition for a chance to become Pope. So have no fear… there is plenty of drama to enjoy in this book.

Both "The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci" and "The Agony and the Ecstasy" are rated 5 Stars, each offering a different view of the same era. Merejkowski’s writing is a bit dry at times but perhaps that is a result of translating the book from Russian to English.… (more)

Dmitry Merezhkovsky, born 1865 in St. Petersburg, co-founder of the Symbolist movement, was granted 1919 permission by Lunacharsky to leave Russia with his wife, the poetess and Symbolist co-founder Zinaida Gippius ; they went into exile, eventually living in Paris (M. had strong interest in French literature and had gained a PhD on Montaigne).

His biography of Napoleon seems to have been first published in 1928 (where?), the year of the first German edition. I did not find any information that this work has ever been translated into English (could this omission be because M. writes passionately about England’s arch-enemy?).
The first part deals with Napoleons life, which he compares to the movement of the sun from the rise in the morning, the midday zenith (1799-1807) to the evening twilight and finally night: his death on St. Helena.
In the second part he tries to give us a glimpse into Napoleon’s soul. An almost impossible undertaking, he says: the by then more than 40,000 books give infinite information about his wars, his politics, etc., but – quoting Stendhal – ‘the more we learn about him the less we know him’, so that the 40,000 books become 40,000 tombstones for the ‘unknown soldier’.

He writes: to penetrate another soul is impossible – we don’t even know our own – but one can at least approach its realm. But with Napoleon it seems to be impossible. M. quotes a politician who knew him well but did not count himself among his admirers: “I cannot compare the feeling I have in the presence of this colossal being with those in the presence of anybody else.” He seems to be among us as is Gulliver among the Lilliputians. Madame de Staël : “A being without equal, he was more and less than a human – he carried the stamp of an alien nature”. M. sets out to fathom this, his alien nature, in all its strange and often contradictory actions and features. M. references literature up to 1921, among it memoires by those who had met and known Napoleon; he quotes from them as well as from Napoleons own writings. His admiring as well as critical account makes absorbing reading.
Napoleon wished to unite Europe, to create an ‘association européenne’ with common European laws, common measures, common monetary system, a common home for all. It was not to be. The defeat of Napoleon left a plethora of national states soon to be at each other’s throats. How different would have been the 20th century and the world today! And the English still celebrate Trafalgar and Waterloo! (VII / VIII-15)… (more)

La foudre de Calvin frappa l'Église romaine et soudain de son sein se mit à couler la source d'une vie nouvelle, d'une nouvelle sainteté, écrit Dimitri Merejkovski dans ce livre dense qui embrasse la vie et l'œuvre de Calvin d'une étreinte si puissante et si moderne qu'on en sort le souffle court. Faisant fi des polémiques partisanes entre catholiques et protestants, il élève le propos, l'extrait de l'histoire pour le rendre plus intelligible à l'homme d'aujourd'hui. La vie de Jean Calvin s'écoule au fil des pages, romanesque, pleine de bruit et de fureur, de foi et de sang, de folie aussi. Le lointain XVe siècle a soudain des résonances familières. On est happé par l'action, sans jamais perdre de vue la croix de cet homme de Dieu qui agit aussi en politique et en législateur. C'est le temps des bûchers, Calvin y prend une large part. Travailleur acharné, il dirige, décide, écrit inlassablement. Son oeuvre théologique est immense. En romancier hors pair, en érudit, en croyant enfin, Dimitri Merejkovski brosse ici le portrait d'un être qui ne sait à quel point il imprime sa marque sur les siècles à venir. Lire ce texte à notre époque de renaissance du religieux, c'est plonger au cœur même de ce qui en fait l'essence : la passion de la vérité et la quête du salut, mais aussi la tentation de l'orgueil. Jamais sans doute évocation plus forte n'a été consacrée au grand homme que fut Jean Calvin.… (more)

Lorsque Dimitri Merejkovski se penche sur le personnage de Napoléon - qu'il suit de la naissance à la mort -, il voit un homme profondément humain face au vent de l'Histoire. Orgueilleux, insatisfait, fils et fossoyeur de la Révolution, Napoléon se bat au nom d'idéaux de liberté, met l'Europe à feu et à sang, élève la France malgré elle avant de la plonger dans la misère et l'anéantissement. Si Léonard incarne le génie dans Le roman de Léonard de Vinci, Napoléon est ici l'ambition humaine, vécue jusqu'à l'extrême. Dévoré par la démesure de son talent, il connaît in fine la rédemption salvatrice. La vie hors norme de l'Empereur est, pour le grand écrivain russe, une terre glaise dont on sculpte les titans. Ce n'est pas seulement la force, c'est aussi la fragilité de l'élu du destin qui frappe dans cet ouvrage. L'homme Napoléon devient alors l'Homme seul, seul face à Dieu, seul dans la déchirante nudité de sa grandeur. Et l'on sort de cette lecture ébloui par le talent d'un auteur capable de rendre émouvant, vivant, humain, un destin aussi statufié que celui de Napoléon.… (more)