"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most of it fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works well, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is - doing the something else."
"There shall be wings! If the accomplishment be not for me, 'tis for some other."
"While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die."
"Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."
"Marriage is like putting your hand into a bag of snakes in the hope of pulling out an eel."
"Who sows virtue reaps honor."
I was born in 1452 in Vinci, the illegitemate son of Ser Piero, a public notary, and his companion Caterina. At age 17, I was apprenticed to Verrocchio, where my brilliance soon eclipsed that of my old master.
In 1472 I became a member of the painter's guild of Florence. In 1476 I was denounced anonymously by the Night Watch, and stood trial in Florence, but was acquited of the charge of immoral conduct. Talent can make you some unpleasant enemies!
One of my most popular early works, "The Adoration of the Magi," was painted in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto as an altar piece. I never finished it... What can I say? - it still looks pretty good! I then left for Milano, where I offered my services to Duke Ludovico il Moro. There I worked on the Duomo in Milan and the Duomo and Castle in Pavia; I painted the Madonna of the Rocks and the Last Supper at this time. I also set up festivals for the Duke and offered my expertize in military engineering and arms.
In 1499 Ludovico il Moro fled Milan ahead of invading French troops. The Gascon bowmen of Louis XII used my model for the equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza for target practice. Per Bacco! Barbaric invaders always feel the need to destroy higher forms of culture. So the horse was destroyed - one of the great artistic tragedies of my life. Still, someone kindly built my horse for me in the last century - and I like it very much.
Soon afterwards, I left Milan inspite of the evident good-will of the French authorities.
During the next few years, I wandered from Mantua, in the court of Isabella d'Este; Venice, where I was consultant for architectural matters from 1495 to 1499; back to Florence; and then I became military engineer for Cesare Borgia between 1502 and 1503. Rather a grim character if you ask me.
The death of Pope Alexander VI changed the fortunes of Duke Valentino, and I returned to Florence in 1503, remaining there until 1506. The Florentine Republic commissioned me to execute a large fresco of the battle of Anghiari for one of the walls of the Sala del Gran Consiglio in the Palazzo della Signioria facing a fresco by Michelangelo, not an easy man to get on with. I experimented with a new technique of fresco, which deteriorated quickly and eventually all was lost. Bit of a fiasco, one could say.
It was in Florence that I had my greatest following, and it was during my years there that I painted such classics as La Gioconda.
In 1506 I obtained temporary leave from the Florentine Republic in order to return to Milan, where I was to finish certain projects which I had left incomplete due to my earlier hasty departure. In Milan I once again came into contact with the French, who repeatedly asked the Florentine Republic to extend Leonardo's leave.
Between 1507 and 1508 I visited Florence to settle my father's estate - a big family mess. I then spent many years in Milan with the title of "peintre et ingenieur ordinarie". I devoted much of my time to scientific studies and to the engineering projects such as the channeling of the course of the Adda river.
The return of the Sforza family in 1512 forced me to leave Milan once again. From 1513 to 1516 I was in Rome at the Palazzo Belvedere under the protection of Giuliano dei Medici, the brother of Pope Leo X. Here I came into contact with Michelangelo and Raphael; the former rather dificult, the latter very charming.
After the death of Giuliano dei Medici, I accepted an invitation from my French friends and moved to the castle of Cloux near Amboise, where I stayed with my faithful pupil Melzi.
Leonardo died on May 2, 1519, and was buried in the cloister of San Fiorentino in Amboise.
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