Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science; . pular with Irenchmenthan Italians, may very well have been the work of the notary,rather than of Leonardohimself. And further wemay ask whether thearrangements made toensure as much pompas possible in the funeralceremonies may not havebeen more a last flickerof worldly vanity thana sudden reawakeningof religious sentiment. The King, Vasarigoes on, who oftenwent to see him in themost friendly fashion,arrived at this moment ;Leonardo, out of respect,raised himself up in hisbed, explained the natureand changes of his illnessto him, and told
Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science; . pular with Irenchmenthan Italians, may very well have been the work of the notary,rather than of Leonardohimself. And further wemay ask whether thearrangements made toensure as much pompas possible in the funeralceremonies may not havebeen more a last flickerof worldly vanity thana sudden reawakeningof religious sentiment. The King, Vasarigoes on, who oftenwent to see him in themost friendly fashion,arrived at this moment ;Leonardo, out of respect,raised himself up in hisbed, explained the natureand changes of his illnessto him, and told him,further, how much hehad offended God andmen by not using histalent as he should have done (non avendo operate nell arte come si conveniva.)Just at this moment he was seized with a spasm, the forerunnerof death ; the King rose from his seat and took hold of hishead to help him, and prove his favour to him, so as to comforthim In his suffering; but this divine spirit, recognising that hecould never attain a greater honour, expired in the Kings arms,. f-, , -2^, / SUilOSEU EOUTKMT OK LEONARDO. (Windsor Library.) 222 LEONARDO DA ViNCI at the age of seventy-five (sixty-seven) years, on May 2, 1519- Modern critics agree in casting doubt on this anecdote, whichsheds even more honour on Francis I. than on Leonardo, andwhich has been the subject of endless pictures, besides those ofIngres, Jean Gigoux, and Robert Fleury.^ In the first place, it is objected, Melzi makes no reference to thecircumstance in his letter informing: Leonardos brothers of his mastersdeath ; in the second, Lomazzo asserts that it was Melzi whoannounced the death to Francis I,, a proof that the monarch wasnot present ; and further, the King was not at Amboise, but atS. Germain-en-Laye, as appears from a decree given in that placeMay I, 1519. This last fact is the most convincing to me. AiméChampollion, the Marquis de Laborde, and Arsène Houssaye main-tain, however, that the decree in question may very well
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