Leonardo’s Dragon sees award-winning author and illustrator Donovan Bixley once again immerse himself in the world of Leonardo da Vinci.
Caterina is a serving girl at the Belvedere palace in Rome during a visit by Leonardo da Vinci, where rumours abound about Leonardo’s dragon. The palace is visited by exotic travellers, and Caterina collects dragon stories from the farthest flung regions of the earth. But will she find out the truth about Leonardo’s monster?
“The inspiration came while I was researching my illustrated biography A Portrait of Leonardo,” says Bixley. “I’d devoted years to exploring the life and times of Leonardo da Vinci, as well as following his footsteps through Italy, and when it was all done I longed to be immersed in Leonardo’s world once more.”
The famous myths and legends surrounding dragons have always left Bixley a little flat, with the fantastical beasts often appearing as bit parts in their own stories.
“In some fairy tales the dragon exists purely to be slain for the glorification of some prince or king. These traditional legends can be heavy on moralising and royal myth-making whilst light on details that would please a modern audience. In ancient times professional storytellers would have embellished these tales in their own way for each new audience, and that is what I have done too, with the aim of bringing the dragons themselves into the spotlight.”
In ‘The Shoemaker and the Dragon’, Bixley reimagines the famous myth of Krakow’s Wawel dragon and the young cobbler who saves the city from the fearsome beast. This first story sets up the well–worn trope of the terrifying dragon, but paves the way for a series of increasingly sympathetic portrayals, as our protagonist Caterina discovers.
The second tale draws on Māori mythology. Whilst many taniwha were terrifying creatures, others were guardians who guided and protected travellers across waterways.
“In my story, Caterina dreams herself to be one of these fabulous guardian spirits, leading a group of Pacifica voyagers through a storm on their migration to Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The third dragon myth reaches Caterina from the Far East, and tells of a homebound samurai who stumbles upon a sleeping dragon. The unfortunate soldier must complete a perilous task for the beast if he wishes to see his family again. The dragon’s reward is a delightfully unexpected treasure.
The fourth story is a reimagining of Kenneth Grahame’s The Reluctant Dragon.
“From the first time I encountered this story I’ve loved the humour of Saint George and the dragon as coconspirators in an elaborate con. I’ve put this tale into the mouth of Leonardo da Vinci himself. With his sharp wit and rebellious nature I felt that this version of Saint George and the Dragon was exactly the type of tale that Leonardo would have loved to tell in his role as a court storyteller.”
The book ends with the mystery surrounding Leonardo’s pet dragon. Leonardo’s early biographer, Giorgio Vasari, tells us that, while living at the Villa Belvedere in Rome, Leonardo amused himself by creating a pet dragon. As Caterina discovers, it was actually a large lizard that Leonardo gave fake wings and horns, which he brought out to terrify the Papal clergy.
The book has taken Bixley back to where his passion began. “As a young boy I was obsessed with drawing dragons and their real-world counterparts, dinosaurs. At the age of seven, my mother introduced me to Tolkien’s magical Middle Earth. Tolkien’s dragons, monsters, and the Nazgûl’s awesome fell beasts ignited my imagination and probably helped set me on my future career path as a picture book creator.”
Donovan Bixley ONZM is one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed picture–book creators, with over 130 books published in 31 countries. His numerous accolades include the Russell
Clark Illustration Award, the Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Laureate Award, and his books have twice been selected for the International Youth Library’s White Raven Award.
Donovan’s work is nothing if not varied, spanning high–brow to low– brow and every brow in between, from his sublime illustrated biography Much Ado About Shakespeare, to the
mythical world of Māui, and the ridiculous hi–jinks of feline aviators in his Flying Furballs chapter–book series.
In 2021 Donovan was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to children’s literature. He lives in Taupō, New Zealand.
