Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/184

* VINCI. 144 VINCI. vented by Leonardo himself, who thus sang his way into the Duke's favor. Among the artist's papers is the brief of a curious letter which he wrote to the Duke after his return to Florence, announcing the manner in which he could be of service to him. Nine of the ten divisions of the letter are devoted to his abilities as a military .and naval engineer; in the last he states his 'prowess in architecture and in sculpture: "In ' painting, also, I can do what may be done, as well as any other, be he who he may." As the earliest documentary evidences of Leonardo's I presence in Milan dates from 14S7, it has been supposed, from certain parts of his writings, that he passed at least part of the time in the mountains of Armenia and elsewhere in the ser- vice of the Sultan of Cairo. But in the fantastic letters in question, taken in part frcmi accounts of travelers, Leonardo seems merely to have indulged in rhetorical exercises. He probably re- moved to Milan about 1483 and remained there until his patron was driven from the city by the Prench in 1499. This was the most fruitful period of Leonardo's activity. His work at Milan was important and varied. As a sort of general factotum for the ruler, he was principal engineer in his numerous military enterprises, constructed the Martesana Canal, and directed great festivities, as when Lodovico married his niece to the Emperor Maximilian. He was also active as an architect, being one of those employed upon the Cathedral of Milan, and he probably designed other public buildings. He found time to prosecute his studies in anatomy, especially of animals, with Marco della Torre, and to assist Luca Pacioli in one of his mathe- matical works. At the same time he was at the head of a large and important band of pupils, . whether or not they then constituted the sup- posed Milanese Academy: for them he probably wrote his Treatise on Painting ; and it is certain he designed paintings which they carried out. The artistic task in which Leonardo took chief in- terest, and indeed the dearest plan of his life, was a colossal bronze monument to Francesco Sforza, the father of Lodovico. On it he worked constantly till his departure from Milan in 1499, without having brouglit it to completion. His interest is attested by the numerous studies of horses, in all manner of positions ( Ambrosiana, Milan, and Windsor), in sketches for the monu- ment and reliefs in wax and clay. The horse, 26% feet high, was complete when the French occupied Milan in 1500, and formed a mark for the Gascon archers. Had Leonardo been permitted to cast it, this monument woild probably have been the greatest equestrian statue of the Renaissance, surpassing 'errocc1iio's Collconc as far as the lat- ter did Donatello's Gattemelata. During the last years of the fifteenth century Leonardo execited for the Duke liis master- piece of ))ainting, the ''Last Rupjier," a wall decoration in the ref<'ctorv in the Monastei-y of Santa Maria delle (irazie, Milan. Owing chiefly to his use of oil colors directly upon the wall, to neglect, and to the vandalism of monks and soldiers, only a ruin of the grand original re- mains. But while for purposes of study it is neces.sary to refer to the many copies by Leo- nardo's pupils, the best of which arc those by Marco d'Oggiono in Saint Peter.sburg and in the Royal Academy, London (see illustration). and to Raffacllo Morghen's excellent print, the original alone gives the true, though faint, idea of the wonderful lighting and melting color. The painting was in every respect epoch-making, no less in pictorial qualities than in the remarkable composition. Unlike all previous representations, the Apostles are represented upon one side of a table, their faces to the spectator. They are divided into four groups of three, each complete in itself, but subordinated to the principal action emanat- ing from the central figure of Christ. He is just pronouncing the words, "One of you shall l)etray me," and the painting represents the psychologi- cal effect of this announcement upon the Apostles. This effect is shown not only in the face, the in- effable sadness of Christ, the wratli of Peter, the villainy of Judas, but also in the hands, which are treated with a subtle mastery of pantomime, never before attempted or since equaled. Were the heads gone, the hands alone might tell the story. The figures are twice life size and every- thing is subordinated to architectural elTect and sculpturesque composition — the effect of perspec- tive being gained by open windows with Lombard scenery in the distance. Most of the other pictures painted by Leonardo during this period have been lost. His portraits of the Duke, his wife and two cfiildren on the wall opposite the "Last Supper," have disappeared. The supposed portraits of the Duke and his wife in the Ambrosiana (Milan) are now attributed to pupils, the latter to Ambrogio de Predis. Of the portraits of Lodovieo's two mistresses by Leo- nardo, Lucrezia Crivelli perhaps survives in the so-called "Belle F^ronnifere" in the Louvre, which, judging from its plastic character, and the absence of sfumato and of the hands, belongs to the early Milanese period. The small "Holy Family" in Saint Petersburg and the large "Resurrection" in the Berlin Museum are the work of pupils. In December, 1499, consequent to the troubles following the expulsion of Duke Lodovico. Leo- nardo left Milan for Venice. To a brief sojourn at Mantua we owe two beautiful drawings of Isabella d'Este ( Louvre and Uffizi ), though he never painted for her the desired portrait. He remained at Venice till the end of 1500, and in 1501 we find him again in Florence, assiduously devoted to the study of mathematics. Having re- ceived a commission for an altar-piece from the Servite monks, he designed a cartoon which set all Florence into commotion. Not only was it frequently copied, but motives and entire figures were adopted by other artists, as by Raphael in his "Madonna with the Land)" (M.idrid). Leo- nardo did not himself carry out the oil painting, now in the Louvre, of which it was the model, until a later perio<l. In this the Madonna, seated in the lap of Saint Catluirine. is represenfed in the act of lifting up fhe Christ cliilil, who plays with a lamb. Conteni])orarics were particularly impressed liy the ])ositl(in of Ihe Clirist child, the beautiful studies for whidi survive in the .cad- eniy of Venice and at Windsor. The cartoon of the same sul)ject, in possession of the Royal Acad- emy, though undouiitedly by Leonardo, is not, as is connnonly supposed, the original, but a variation of the same theme. In 1502 Leonardo entered the service of Ccsare Morgia as a military engineer, rendering impor- tant services in different parts of Central Italy.