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Xtrlrl* tt-nrleucr- of that periorl---I t'.ar.e nearl.v as important a_rI-+,'r.rar,1o's Last Supper. prol'l,:tii at altolt the sarle time.\-,,'fHI\G slro\\'s Lretter- \ L"or,ar.rlo ,la Viuci', in-' ,tillrarable genius than his cle-'- l-:'1 superiority or.er all ther'.r'ilsts tirat we have been men--r,,riirig', e\:en over the rnost em--r,tnt auong them. One may-rrr-. i11Ll6'sd, that Leonardo ltasr,r,:n the most complete, if nottr,e highest e-rpression of the,-ilrtran mincl. At anf- rate, he-- tlrt, rrrost eornplcil erlrrossiorr,,i the Itenaissance. Painter,:'nllltor, musician, poet, archiler:t.skillful in all tlie exelcises,,t the LiodJ., he is also anratherriatician, an errgineer, :rrrrrtnralist without peer.J,eoriarc'lo hacl-both in ilreor'-:ticancl pr.actical sciencesurrrrvelous presentiments of',-arious modern discoveries, extraordinarr.flights of genius,nan.Y of which he did not cleignio publish and $rere for a iongtinre hidderr in lris manuseripts.He knew how to join the liveliestimagination to a strictcritical mind, the boldness ofrlream to the precision of science,the most marrrelous fanta,qvto pure reason. Still, inspite of his facility of conceptionand execution, he has prorlucedlittle because he was al-\r ay s pursuing perfection.This extraordinary man, $,ho,more than anybody else seemsto have penetrated, translatedwithout offort and even createdessentially complex soulslike l\{ona Lisa, recorrrmends tohis pupils to search interestingclispositions of line even in depictingclouds. His impeccableclesign, a powerful chiaroscurorvhich agrees with a perfectprecision of forms, the talentLEONARDO DA VINCI AND HiS CONTEN{PORARIES 59of :rbsorbing details in the general,nass without effacingthem, ari enveloping gracenhich belongs only- to him, assureto Leonardo an admirationn'hich can only increaserrith the passing of time.Born in the castle of \,rincinear Ir'lorence in 7452, Leonartlowas at early age placedas an al.iprentice in Verrocchio'sstudio. It is told that\''errocchio iracl char.gecl himwith painting the head on oneof the trvo angels in the Bap-'tisrn of Christ u.hich is now atthe Florence .Acaclem_v, and the.young man shorved such a superioritl.irr his work that \rerrocchiothen and there gave uppaintiug, in clespair.Callecl b-v the Duke LudovicoSforza, Leonarclo rvent to Milanin 1485. He seems to havemacle a veritable acaclemr.there of his studio, and h!r,vrote then for his pupils hiscelebrated 'lreatise of the Artof Painting, as l'ell as varioustreatises on the movementsand the proportions of thehuman bodl. Soon he wascomrnissionecl to paint for therefectory of Santa Mariaclelle Grazie that Last Suppelwhich marks the ultimate termof the evolution of which Giottohad gir.en the signal. Unfortunately,that famous lvork,painted on a wall in oil and notin fresco, is irremediabtv deteriorated.\[ /H nf tlre Frcrreh oceu-VY pie,l tlre duehv of trlilanand macle prisoner LudovicoSforza, rvho was Leonardotsprotector, the artist left Milanand traveled ali over Italy. He\,\ras commissioned b;. CesareBorgia to execute some engineeringwork ancl sojournedseveral times at Florence. fntlris eitv lre rrnclortool< il 1i00to paint the portrait of NlonaLis:l clel Giocondo. He workerlnearly four years at this por,trait of which \rasari said sixty\rears later that "its executionis such to make the most skilifulartists in the worid tremblcancl think of abandoning theirrvork, without speaking of ttratrnarr.elous smile rvhich makc':of that poltrait a I,vork morl.divine than hurnan. "In 1503 Leonarclo was commissionedto rlecorate one ofthe sides of the Hall of thcClouncil at the Palazzo dellztSignoli:r in n'lorence, IfichaelAngelo being the artist choserrf or the opposite rvall. Thcrpaintings were nel'er executecland tlie cartoons were lost, aloss rvhich cannot be toogrcatlS- deplored.In 1515 the I(ing of France,Francis the First, invited Leonardoto France, where rr'e beganb.v occupying himself rvithprojects of canalisation, as hchad done in lta\., but he rvasold and tired, and he died in1519, in a small castle at Amboise,which had been given tohim b"v the King of France.NTUMEROUS disciples arel\ eonnected with Leonardo'sschool, either as hispupils or as followers of histeachings, the most famous ofthem being Bernardino Luiniwho, more than anyone else, assimilatedthe manner and especiallvthe spirit of the master.But some of the artistswho can claim themselves ofLeonardo begin to show the influenceof Rapliael, while twoof them, Ferrari and Bazzi,profit by their sojourn in n'lorencewhere Michael Angelofouncled an imperishable tradition.