El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-02-15


River Damages Walls.
From time to time the waters Of
the Arno river rose and soaked the
walls on which such a perfect surface
had been painted. Finally the horses
Of NapoleOn's cavalry were stabbed in
of the sanctuary they defiled. And
when wars had ceased and the map Of
Europe had been rearranged. the new
masters OF Lombardy paraded their
possession OF the majestic ruin by nall
ing the wretched emblazonry Of their
imperial house directly over the head
OF the Saviour. To this day, perhaps
OF necessity a species OF tinkering
under the plea OF. preservation is al
ways going on and every fresh visit
to ii shows fresh dilapidation." At
one time a door was cut through Il.
but that was later patched up and
painted over.
Let Us turn from the painting to
the painter. He was the embodiment
OF grace and accomplishment, with a
remarkable personal beauty. What
can we say Of man who was so ad-
mirabls a mathematician, mechanic.
engineer, chemist, author, architect,
musician, poet and sculptor. that
painting was regarded as one OF his
minor accomplishments Seldom, Il
ever, has the world beheld such a
com binatiOn OF gifts, embodied in so
handsome, dignified. and high bred
a man Among his many inventions
are the WheelbarrOW and the mitre
lamp It is believed that he had made
a practical design for the flying ma
chine ana he certainly foreshadoWed
many important discoveries. especial
" in geology. He was a wonderful
botanlst. From early childhood he
showed versatile talents.
Youth In Florence.
s. In ETnrprNa = :
an art apprentice 10 Andrea VerrOchio. F
The most famous work OF these days
is q shield made Of the trunk OF a
fig tree. This shield had been cut
by a peasant. and brought to the boys
father with the request that some
thing be painted on It Leonardo con- /
ceiVed the idea Of ornamenting II with
a Medusa head more frightful than
that on the traditional shield OF Per
seus. In order to carry out this
scheme, he collected the most awful 4
reptiles, bugs, serpents, bats. scOr-
piOns and hedge hogs and all the ami
mails the swamps could furnish him
These he combined in all their hid
eousuess into one horrible monster
He painted Il 50 wildly that his faith
er fled in terror when he saw il The
work was so extraordinary that his
father sold It to the duke Of Milan,
and gave TO the peasant instead a nice
During the first 80 years OF Leon
ardo's life, geometry, architecture, and
engineering occupied his mind more
than did sculpture, or painting. He
invented all kinds OF machines, from
eannons and compasses to tread mills
and camp stools But not finding
this likely TO bring much honor OF
profit TO him in Florence, he wrote an
amusing letter to the duke Of Milan
in which he enumerated all his &C z
complishments and recommended him Z
self TO this patron
Had Faith In self
He tells the duke OF the many de-
structive engines he can contrivs for .
attacking his enemies, and after de-
scribing these as the matters Of i'm
portance adds In time Of peace I
believe 7 can equal anyone in archi- +
lecture, in constructing buildings. and 4
in carrying water from one place 70 4
another. I can execute sculpture, /
whether In bronze. marble, or terra
Gotta: also in painting I can do as
much as another, be he who he may" .
II is needless 10 say he received his +
apo lntment- So accomplished and at 4
favorite at court He brought with .
him a novel silver flute which ne I
had invented, shaped like a horses .
head.
When Milan was captured he was
forced to go TO Florence where he was
unsuccessful because Of the reiguing
popularity OF Michael Angelo and {
Raphael When. therefore. he had the .
opportunity OF going to France with /
king Francis I he went He remained ]
at the French court to the end. He I
left very few examples Of his genius I
to the world, but his works must be /
judged by their quality rather than I
by quantity. He founded an academy 4
in Milan which developed into a uni Z
versal school known as the Milanese, I
or Lombard school Because Of his I
wonderful talents and originality he
has been termed "ths miracle Of that /
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