. Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science. STUDY FOR the ADORATION OF THE MAGI (The Louvre.) Shidy for the Saint Jeromer (WINDSOR ). Printed by Draeger, Pa SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE OF FLORENCE 8i dint of superhuman labour he contrived to conceal all traces ofpreparation ; by prodigies of genius he gave to the whole the appear-ance of a work created by a single effort, and produced as it wereby magic. To a nature so essentially aristocratic as that of Leonardo, thehorizon of Florence may well have seemed somewhat limited. Theartist was probably ill atease in a society whichwas r
. Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science. STUDY FOR the ADORATION OF THE MAGI (The Louvre.) Shidy for the Saint Jeromer (WINDSOR ). Printed by Draeger, Pa SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE OF FLORENCE 8i dint of superhuman labour he contrived to conceal all traces ofpreparation ; by prodigies of genius he gave to the whole the appear-ance of a work created by a single effort, and produced as it wereby magic. To a nature so essentially aristocratic as that of Leonardo, thehorizon of Florence may well have seemed somewhat limited. Theartist was probably ill atease in a society whichwas radically middle-class ;for popular prejudiceagainst the nobility, andall that recalled the by-gone tyranny, had lostnothing of its intensity ;the Medici of the fif-teenth century, Cosimo,Piero, and Lorenzo theMagnificent, had con-stantly to reckon withit, in spite of their om-nipotence. And, munifi-cent as these wealthybankers and merchantswere, they could not dis-pense honours, places, andtreasure like the sove-reign princes. In a com-munity in which an irritable spirit of equality still reigned, the artisthad perforce to live modestly and plainly.
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