Thoughts on Art and Life

to ascertain if there were wonders within.

Intro-
duction

From his earliest years, the elements of greatness were present in Leonardo. However, his genius matured independently of outside influences. He took little notice of the major historical forces he encountered during his life. Following his promising childhood in the Tuscan hills, he spent his youth in Florence apprenticed to the master Verrocchio, Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435–1488) was a leading Florentine painter and sculptor whose workshop was a training ground for many Renaissance masters. alongside others whose names would later brighten the pages of Italian art history. During this time, he must have heard the fiery sermons of Savonarola, Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican friar known for his prophecies of civic glory and calls for Christian renewal; he famously led the "Bonfire of the Vanities." yet, unlike Botticelli, he remained indifferent to the preacher’s pleas. He likely encountered Lorenzo the Magnificent, Lorenzo de' Medici, the de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic and a famous patron of scholars and artists. but there were few opportunities within the Medici family's inner circle for the young painter, who first had to seek success elsewhere.

The splendor of Milan under Il Moro original: "Il Moro" (The Moor), the nickname of Ludovico Sforza due to his dark complexion.—then the most brilliant court in Europe—attracted him. He went there, proclaiming his abilities in a remarkable letter and boasting that he could accomplish much, though his primary desire was to create a great monument to the glory of the Sforza family. He spent many years at that court, occupied by his various ventures—painting, sculpture, engineering, and even organizing festivities—but his grandest project was destined for failure, caught up in the political downfall of Ludovico Sforza. Even to this disaster, he remained detached. "The Visconti The Visconti were the former ruling family of Milan, replaced by the Sforza. has been dragged to prison, his son is dead... the Duke has lost his state, his possessions, and his liberty, and has finished nothing he undertook," was his only comment on his patron’s end, written on the