A Treatise on Painting

Ser Pietro A title of respect for a notary, equivalent to "Master" or "Sir"; his mother is not known, which led some to judge that he was not born of a legitimate marriage. However, such a foundation has been criticized by others as unjust, and not a few have endeavored to defend him extensively with very strong arguments, making it appear that he was the son of the first of the three wives Ser Piero had. In the life of so great a man, however, this matters little or nothing, because since virtue is the true nobility of men, we can say that Leonardo, through his excellence in the arts, was of the most noble condition. He received from nature at his birth a most beautiful form of face and body, to which he added a robustness uncommon for his age; and he showed himself so charming in speech, and was endowed with such kindness, that he won the affection of whoever listened to him.

As he grew in age, it seemed right to Ser Piero to destine him for commerce original: "mercanzia", a profession then practiced universally in his homeland, and which was the easiest way to acquire comforts and wealth. To this effect, he sent him to an abacus school A school focusing on arithmetic and geometry for business, where he proved so excellent that in the few months he attended, he continually raised doubts to the master, and in such a way that he very often confounded him. And not only in this sort of study, but he would have also made rapid progress in letters and philosophy, if his changeable inclination had not disgusted him with many things, which for a taste of variety he then abandoned. Nonetheless, he became most skilled in music, and singing extemporaneously, he sweetly accompanied his voice with the viola, which he played to perfection. Although he afterwards attended to these disciplines with profit, drawn nonetheless by natural instinct and following his most fortunate genius, drawing original: "disegno" was what most