The midsummer of Italian art . t,— from thirty to forty-five. That histime there was not better expended was owinglargely to the character of the Duke. Ludovico wasmore amiable and indulgent than Julius IL, but notnearly so intelligent. He preferred his brothersglory to his own, but he knew not how to makegood use of the treasure which fortune had placedin his way. How did it happen that he permittedLeonardo to paint his Last Supper on the refectorywall of a monastery, when it might have hung oncanvas in his own dining-hall, and have remained ina well preserved condition till the present day ?
The midsummer of Italian art . t,— from thirty to forty-five. That histime there was not better expended was owinglargely to the character of the Duke. Ludovico wasmore amiable and indulgent than Julius IL, but notnearly so intelligent. He preferred his brothersglory to his own, but he knew not how to makegood use of the treasure which fortune had placedin his way. How did it happen that he permittedLeonardo to paint his Last Supper on the refectorywall of a monastery, when it might have hung oncanvas in his own dining-hall, and have remained ina well preserved condition till the present day ? Heappreciated Leonardos music, his poetry, and hisfine conversation. Leonardo was a rare ornamentat his court, a privileged guest, whom everybodyhonored and delighted in; but what he gained intemporary pleasure he lost in posthumous fame. If Michel Angelo was eighteen months at workon the heroic statue of Julius H., four years wouldnot be too much to allow Leonardo for the statueof Francesco Sforza. There can be Httle doubt. PORTRAIT OF LEONARDO DA VINCI (bv himself) Uffizzi Gallery, Florence Leonardo da Vinci. 41 that it was the finest equestrian statue, at least, ofmodern times. Francesco was a great soldier, whofought his way to a throne in an equally courageousand irresponsible manner. Next to Carmagnola hewas the greatest of the Italian condottieri, and amuch better subject for art than Coleoni, whom hedefeated and captured; but only to release him onthe following day, upon learning that his father-in-law, the Duke Visconti, was dead, and that thepopular party had seized the government. Thisgave Francesco a fair title to the dukedom, whichColeoni assisted him in reclaiming; and peace wasestablished between Venice and Lombardy. Theparallel between the relations of these two captainsand the artists who modelled their statues is sur-prising enough. When the French captured Milanin 1498 they made a target of the statue of Sforza:a piece of wanton vandalism unequalled since
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Keywords: ., bookauthorstearnsf, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1911
