of Florence devoted themselves to artificial research, and were governed by conventional formulæ ; dexterity took the place of conviction, and everything was reduced to calculation, or to merely technical skill; in short, no one could be simple or natural, and so eloquence, in the best sense, was a lost quality.

At Milan, on the other hand, imaginations were still fertile and fresh; if there was less science, there was more sincerity. What life and youth breathe from the sculptures of the Pavian Certosa, in itself a world! A superior genius was bound, not only to animate and fertilise such germs, but to refresh his own spirit, in this new and invigorating atmosphere. In fact, the unresting mental activity peculiar to the Florentine, his conscious and deliberate effort, generated naturally a race of draughtsmen, while the soft languor, the native grace, the exquisite suavity inherent in the Milanese, as inevitably created colourists. There is a moment in the lives of certain predestined spirits when expatriation becomes a necessity. Raphael, had he remained in Umbria, would never have been more than a greater Perugino; Michelangelo, too, obtained his supreme impetus from Rome. As to Leonardo, it was by the resources of a considerable state, the brilliant festivals, the intercourse with intellectual and distinguished men, and, above all, by an atmosphere less bourgeois and democratic than that of Florence, that the sudden and unprecedented evolution of his genius was brought about. At Florence he would have become the first of painters; at Milan, he became that and something more; a great poet and a great thinker. From this point of view we have every right to say that he owed much to his new country.

In the literary circle of Milan, admittedly mediocre as it was, a playful freedom obtained quite unknown among the Florentine purists. As a typical product of the prevailing spirit, we may take the tournament, or encounter of wits, that took place between Bellincioni, Maccagni of Turin, and Gasparo Visconti, on the one hand, and Bramante on the other. One of the epigrams aimed at the architectpoet compares him to Cerberus, because of his biting humour.

Quis canis? Erigones? Minime! Cerberus ille
Tenareus, famæ nominibusque inocens.

Elsewhere his opponents, in reality his closest friends, attack him for his immoderate love of pears, or for his avarice: " Bramante," writes Visconti, "you are a man devoid of courtesy, you never cease importuning me for a pair of shoes, and all the time you are laying up a hoard of money for yourself. It seems to you a slight thing to force me to keep you. Why do you not get the Court to pay for you? You have a salary of five ducats a month [from the Duke]." To which Bramante replies by a sonnet in which he piteously describes the dilapidations of his wardrobe. He begs Visconti to bestow a crown on him in charity, if he would not see him condemned to struggle naked with Boreas.

There was no pedantry, at any rate, in Lodovico's circle.

Though his

finances were often embarrassed, and his æsthetics selfish and subtle, he loved art, and placed the worship of the beautiful above all things.

Leonardo, as I shall presently show, did not disdain to take occasional part in the poetic jousts of this joyous company. The men of letters of Upper Italy soon adopted him as one of themselves; he was as proud of their glory as if he had been born in their midst. In his lifetime they vied with one another in lauding his masterpieces. After his death the historians, romance-writers and philosophers of his adopted country were his most ardent apologists. I may mention Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Como, Matteo Bandello, the author of the Novelle, and Lomazzo, the painter and writer, author of the Trattato della Pittura and of the Idea del Tempio della Pittura.

To sum up if, with the exception of Bramante, Milan possessed no artist capable of measuring himself with Leonardo, and, still less, any capable of influencing him, on the other hand, no surroundings could have been more propitious to his genius than those she offered. A splendour-loving and enlightened prince, an active, wealthy, and 1 Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1879, vol. ii. p. 514 et seq. Cf. Beltrami, Bramante poeta.

educated population, a phalanx of capable artists who asked for nothing better than to follow the lead of a master-mind from that Florence whence light has been shed for so long over Italy; finally, the vigorous and inspiring suggestions of a landscape at once exuberant and grandiose; can we imagine elements better fitted than these to stimulate the genius of Leonardo, and to kindle in his breast a love for the country he was now to make his own?

LEONARDO'S DÉBUT AT THE COURT OF MILAN HIS PROGRAMME-THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF FRANCESCO SFORZA-LEONARDO AS A SCULPTOR-HIS INFLUENCE ON THE SCULPTURE OF NORTHERN ITALY

W

WHEN Leonardo resolved to try

his fortunes at the court of the Sforzi, he was already

known there by the famous shield acquired by Duke Galeazzo Maria. + 1476).

We possess a remarkable document in the master's own hand which bears. upon his opening relations with the Milanese capital, namely, the letter in which he offers his services to Lodovico il Moro, at that time regent of the duchy for his nephew Gian Galeazzo. This epistle can hardly be called a monument of diffidence, as the reader will presently have an oppor

66

1 This manuscript, preserved in the Ambrosiana, is written trom left to right, and not, like the rest of Leonardo's manuscripts, from right to left. M. Charles Ravaisson-Mollien has pronounced against its authenticity (Les Ecrits de Léonard de Vinci, p. 34).Richter (The literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci, vol. ii. pp. 34, 395-398) and Uzielli (Ricerche, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 85-89), on the other hand, consider it to be a genuine production of Leonardo's. This is also my opinion.

tunity of judging; in it the painter, the sculptor, the architect, the military and hydraulic engineer, come forward and make their boast in turn.

"Having, most illustrious lord, seen and duly considered the experiments of all those who repute themselves masters in the art of inventing instruments of war, and having found that their instruments differ in no way from such as are in common use, I will endeavour, without wishing to injure any one else, to make known to your Excellency certain secrets of my own; as briefly enumerated here below:

"I. I have a way of constructing very light bridges, most easy to carry, by which the enemy may be pursued and put to flight. Others also of a stronger kind, that resist fire or assault, and are easy to place and remove. I know ways also for burning and destroying those of

the enemy.

"2. In case of investing a place I know how to remove the water from ditches and to make various scaling ladders and other such instruments.

"3. Item: If, on account of the height or strength of position, the place cannot be bombarded, I have a way for ruining every fortress which is not on stone foundations.

"4. I can also make a kind of cannon, easy and convenient to transport, that will discharge inflammable matters, causing great injury to the enemy and also great terror from the smoke.

"5. Item: By means of winding and narrow underground passages, made without noise, I can contrive a way for passing under ditches or any stream.

"9. (sic) And, if the fight should be at sea, I have numerous engines of the utmost activity both for attack and defence; vessels that will resist the heaviest fire-also powders or vapours.

"6. Item: I can construct covered carts, secure and indestructible, bearing artillery, which, entering among the enemy, will break the strongest body of men, and which the infantry can follow without impediment.

"7. I can construct cannon, mortars and fire-engines of beautiful and useful shape, and different from those in common use.