101 Things You Didn't Know About Da Vinci by Shana Priwer Read Free Book Online Page A

bragging rights for having the most expensive sculpture or the most precious painting.
    In Renaissance Florence, the Medicis were the most important political family (see number 15). The richest family in Italy (and perhaps in Europe), they spent a great deal of money building churches, supporting art, giving to charity, and constructing family monuments to ensure their continued political and social control. They were like Renaissance Vanderbilts or Rockefellers. During Leonardo's time, Lorenzo de' Medici (also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent) ruled Florence. Thanks to Lorenzo's avid support of the arts, Florence rose to a central position in the Renaissance artistic world. As the cultural center of Europe, Florence also became the founding location of the new humanist movement. Florence was certainly the place to be!
    Under the Medici family, patronage grew to include more than just single works of art. The Medicis commissioned not only gardens, fountains, and public sculptures, but also residences, government centers, fortified compounds, artistic institutions, and even intricately staged public events. Was there anything they didn't commission? When you're the richest family in Europe, you get what you want.
    By 1480, Leonardo had established his own studio in Florence and became well known enough to acquire a patron. He became a member of the garden of San Marcos, which was under Lorenzo de' Medici's patronage. (Lorenzo was Michelangelo's patron as well.)
    During this time, Leonardo was commissioned to paint Adoration of the Magi for the monastery altar of San Donato Scopeto. The scene shows the Three Kings along with Mary and her infant son. Although Leonardo was given more than two years to work on this piece, even that wasn't enough time. He managed to finish enough of it to show that he was well on his way to breaking away from Verrocchio's influence. The style is different from his previous works, with a triangular grouping of people in the foreground and an elaborate background that combines natural and architectural elements. While many works of the day were composed linearly, a straight line was just too boring for Leonardo. Adoration has a balanced, symmetrical structure, again showcasing Leonardo's rapidly developing independence.
    While under Lorenzo de' Medici's patronage, Leonardo worked on other paintings such as San Gerolamo . Unfortunately, this patron-artist arrangement did not last for long. Leonardo was a strong-spirited artist with a reputation for not finishing everything he started, and Lorenzo the Magnificent expected his sponsored works to be completed. With a name like Magnificent, you expect things to be done your way! After a few years, it was time for Leonardo to move on.

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Playing up to the duke
    In 1482, Leonardo applied for patronage with the soon to be Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. Like the Medici family in Florence, the Sforzas controlled Milan at this time. However, unlike the banking Medicis, the Sforzas were warriors. Some members of the Sforza family were actually condottierei , mercenary soldiers who fought in wars for the highest bidder. The Sforzas rose through the military classes over time, eventually gaining control over Milan from about 1450 to 1535. Just imagine the young Leonardo trying to find his place working for them.
    Ludovico became duke in 1494. Although he initially aligned himself with the French King Charles, he later fought against France in an attempt to protect Milan. Duke Sforza was certainly quite a warrior, at one point making weapons from up to seventy tons of bronze that had previously been earmarked for one of Leonardo's sculptures (see number 29). Leonardo couldn't have been too pleased about that turn of events.
    Leonardo likely learned about military equipment and machinery during his tenure under the duke. He became Ludovico's court painter, a relationship that lasted until 1499. In that year, Sforza's land was invaded and he was forcibly driven out