Fritjof Capra (12 page)

This astonishing letter, in which Leonardo refers to himself as an artist in only six out of thirty-four lines, shows how quickly he was able to assimilate the spirit of this northern city, presenting his many talents in the order in which he thought they would be most valued by Ludovico. The letter may sound boastful, but all of Leonardo’s offers were serious and well thought out. He had undoubtedly studied the work of the leading military engineers of his time, as he said in the letter; there are about twenty-five sheets of drawings of military machines, dating from his time in Florence, in the Codex Atlanticus; and there are over forty in a slightly later style.
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By juxtaposing this letter, item by item, with existing drawings, Leonardo scholar Kenneth Keele has demonstrated the validity of every claim Leonardo made.
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Indeed, in his later life, Leonardo was employed in all the capacities he laid out in the letter to
il Moro
.

He did not receive an immediate response to his letter from the court, let alone an offer of employment. So Leonardo turned once more to painting—the profession in which he was an accomplished and acknowledged master. He began a collaboration with the brothers Ambrogio and Evangelista Predis, the former a successful portrait painter and the latter a woodcarver.
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The Predis brothers were clearly the lesser artists, but they were well connected in Milan and gladly welcomed Leonardo to their
bottega
. Indeed, Ambrogio was soon able to negotiate a lucrative contract for the three of them.

In April 1483, the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception commissioned Leonardo and the Predis brothers to paint and decorate a large altarpiece in the church of San Francesco Grande with the central panel “to be painted in oil by Master Leonardo, the Florentine.” The contract specified not only the size and composition of the painting (the Virgin Mary flanked by two prophets, with God the Father appearing overhead, surrounded by angels), but also the traditional colors of gold, blue, and green, the angels’ golden halos, and so on.

Leonardo worked on the painting for about three years. The result was his second masterpiece, the
Virgin of the Rocks
, now in the Louvre (see Fig. 2-4 on Chapter 2). The finished work bore little resemblance to what the confraternity had ordered.
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In fact, the priors were so upset that they brought a lawsuit before the duke, which dragged on for over twenty years.
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Leonardo eventually painted a second version, which now hangs in the National Gallery in London. This could not have pleased the priors much better, as he made only minor changes in the painting’s composition.

Art historians believe that Leonardo may have let Ambrogio Predis paint large parts of the London version. This seems to be confirmed by recent analyses of the rocks and plants in the painting’s background. Scientists have noted that both the geological and botanical details in the London version are significantly inferior to those in the painting in the Louvre. It is highly unlikely that they were painted by Leonardo.
⁴⁸

The confraternity may have had good reasons to be dissatisfied with the
Virgin of the Rocks
, but in the
botteghe
and intellectual circles of Milan, Leonardo’s masterpiece caused a sensation. The artist’s low tones of olive green and gray were in stark contrast to the bright colors of the quattrocento, and the Milanese could not have failed to notice the subtle gradations of light and shade, nor the powerful effect of the surrounding grotto. As Kenneth Clark describes it, “Like deep notes in the accompaniment of a serious theme, the rocks in the background sustain the composition and give it the resonance of a cathedral.”
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SYSTEMATIC STUDIES

In 1484, while Leonardo was working on
Virgin of the Rocks
, Milan was hit by the plague. The epidemic raged on for a full two years and would kill close to one-third of the population. Leonardo, recognizing the critical role of poor sanitation in the spread of the disease, responded with a proposal for a new city design that was far ahead of its time, as I discussed earlier.
⁵⁰
But it was ignored by the Sforzas. This renewed failure to get the court’s attention with his ideas brought Leonardo face-to-face with the huge handicap of his upbringing: his lack of a formal education. He was attempting to be accepted as an intellectual in a culture that was in close contact with the leading universities, a culture dominated by the written word, in which Latin was used almost exclusively. Being an “unlettered man,” Leonardo was not only ignorant of Latin but, even in his native Tuscan, did not have the abstract vocabulary necessary for precise and elegant formulations of his theories.

Leonardo tackled this seemingly insurmountable problem in his methodical, sustained, and uncompromising way. “In his mid-thirties and practically without any knowledge of Latin,” writes historian of science Domenico Laurenza, “he embarks on an intense and in some ways obsessive program of self-education. The years between 1483 and 1489 are dedicated largely to this obstinate attempt of cultural emancipation.”
⁵¹

Leonardo began his extensive program of self-education with a systematic attempt to enlarge his vocabulary. This was the time when Italian as a literary language was just beginning to emerge from Florentine Tuscan. Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio had all written in Tuscan, but the orthography had not yet been codified; grammars and dictionaries had not been published. The new vernacular was beginning to replace Latin as a written language, especially in texts about art and technology, and in the process it became enriched by a vast assimilation of Latin words. Leonardo was familiar with compilations of these
vocaboli latini
(new Italian words derived from Latin), and he laboriously copied them into his Notebooks.
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In his earliest manuscript, the Codex Trivulzianus, page after page is filled with lists of such words. In fact, Leonardo referred to this Notebook as “my book of words.”
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As he turned to the written word, Leonardo also began to build up a personal library. In Florence he had read some literature and poetry, but had not studied scientific texts. He had acquired a rudimentary scientific education by studying the drawings of architects and engineers, and by having discussions with various experts in the
bottega
.
⁵⁴
When he left Florence, he made a list of the things he wanted to take with him to Milan.
⁵⁵
This list did not contain a single book.

A few months after his arrival in Milan, Leonardo listed five books in his possession; by 1490 he had added 35 new titles, and from then on the number of books in his library increased steadily, reaching 116 at its peak in 1505. In addition to the volumes he owned, Leonardo regularly borrowed books, so that his full personal library would have included about 200 books—a substantial library even for a Renaissance scholar.
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The subject matter of these books was diverse.
⁵⁷
Over half of them dealt with scientific and philosophical matters. They included books on mathematics, astronomy, anatomy and medicine, natural history, geography, and geology as well as architecture and military science. Another 30 or 40 were literary books. A dozen or so contained religious stories, which Leonardo would have consulted when he painted religious subjects.

These books provide ample evidence that Leonardo, during the last two decades of the fifteenth century, not only honed his language skills but was well versed in the major fields of knowledge of his time. As with everything he tackled, he would investigate several areas simultaneously while being involved in various artistic projects. He always looked for patterns that would interconnect observations from different disciplines; his mind seemed to work best when it was occupied with multiple projects.

The beginning of Leonardo’s systematic studies in 1484, not surprisingly, coincides with the first entries in his Notebooks. Once he embarked on his interdisciplinary program of research, he regularly recorded all new ideas and observations. Now in his mid-thirties, it was the time when he deepened his theoretical investigations beyond his needs as an artist and inventor. For example, when he studied the nature of light and shadow, he did so at first to develop his theory of painting. But eventually he went much farther. As Kenneth Clark observed,

He drew [a] long series of diagrams showing the effect of light falling on spheres and cylinders, crossing, reflecting, intersecting with endless variety…. The calculations are so complex and abstruse that we feel in them, almost for the first time, Leonardo’s tendency to pursue research for its own sake, rather than as an aid to his art.
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While he carried out his investigations of light falling on solid objects, Leonardo also became interested in the physiology of vision, and then went on to study the other senses. His earliest anatomical drawings, based on dissections dating from the late 1480s, are beautiful images of human skulls, all of which reveal the optic nerve and the path of vision.
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These are no longer drawings merely for the benefit of the painter; they are also, and perhaps more important, the first scientific diagrams of Leonardo’s anatomical research.

In his drawings of machines of that period, too, one can see a definite movement toward exploring deeper theoretical problems. (As Domenico Laurenza has pointed out, Leonardo seems to have revised his early technical drawings around 1490 by adding various theoretical comments.)
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What one sees in all these examples—from optics to anatomy and engineering—is the emergence of Leonardo the scientist.

GRADUAL ACCEPTANCE AT COURT

After the devastation of the plague, Milan’s citizens emerged with a new optimism and sense of excitement encouraged by the lavish spending of the aristocracy. In large parts of the city, houses were remodeled, new squares and avenues were built, and in 1487 a competition was held to design a
tiburio
(a central tower above the cross of the transepts) for the huge Gothic cathedral, which attracted architects from all over Italy. Caught up in the general enthusiasm, Leonardo became deeply interested in architecture during those years and participated in the competition for the
tiburio
, together with Donato Bramante, Francesco di Giorgio, and other renowned architects.

The project was quite difficult, since the high Gothic tower would have to be balanced on four slim pillars, and the existing parts of the cathedral already had structural problems. Leonardo examined all aspects of the cathedral and sketched a variety of solutions before settling on a design and producing a wooden model.
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When he submitted his design to the authorities, he sent along an introductory letter, which began with his comparison of the cathedral to a sick organism; himself, the architect, he compared to a skilled doctor.
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The judges of the competition deliberated for a long time before finally awarding the contract to two Lombard architects in 1490, with the instruction that they produce a model that would be a harmonious blend of the best parts of all the submitted designs. For Leonardo, this turned out to be a very felicitous outcome. It allowed him to discuss his ideas about the
tiburio
, as well as his views on architecture in general, with the other competitors, especially with Bramante and Francesco di Giorgio, the two most famous architects in the group. Both of them would eventually become close friends of Leonardo, would exchange many ideas with him, and would greatly further his career during those years when he began to develop his theories.

His friendship with Bramante, in particular, was very advantageous for Leonardo. Born near Urbino, Bramante had come to Milan a few years earlier and had already gained the respect of the Sforzas when they met. The two artists had much in common.
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Both were accomplished painters, were interested in mathematics and engineering, liked to improvise on the lute, and admired the famous architect and intellectual Alberti. Both also came from central Italy and were seeking to establish themselves in this northern city. Bramante, who later would design Saint Peter’s in Rome, was said to be completely free of professional jealousy and likely opened many doors at court for his new friend. Historians of art also believe that Leonardo, with his thorough grasp of the principles of architectural design, had a significant influence on Bramante’s work.
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In 1488, six years after he first arrived in Milan, Leonardo finally had his breakthrough at the Sforza court. In the wake of the reputation he had gained with the
Virgin of the Rocks
, and perhaps aided by a recommendation from Bramante, he was asked by Ludovico to paint a portrait of the Moor’s mistress, the young and lovely Cecilia Gallerani. Leonardo painted her holding an ermine, a symbol of purity and moderation which, because of its Greek name,
gale
, was also a veiled allusion to her name, Gallerani.
Lady with an Ermine
, as it is called today, was a highly original portrait in which Leonardo invented a new pose, with the model looking over her shoulder with an air of surprise and subdued delight, caused, perhaps, by the unexpected arrival of her lover.
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Her gesture is graceful and elegant, and is echoed in the animal’s twisting movement.

Ludovico was very pleased with the portrait. Soon after its completion, he asked Leonardo to create a “masque” for a magnificent gala,
la festa del paradiso
, in celebration of the wedding of the duke’s nephew, Gian Galeazzo, to Isabella of Aragon. At the same time, the Moor fulfilled one of Leonardo’s greatest dreams by awarding him the commission for
il cavallo
—the giant equestrian statue in honor of Ludovico’s father.
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