Evening star., 1928-04-08
The Story of Civilization

too much of his genius to the lesser
figures of the picture. For DAYS and
weeks and months he sat looking al
the great wall, painting nothing. star
ing, striving, while fools thought he
/ was idlins. The impatient abbot who
had engaged the artist for the work
complained to the Duke of Leonardo'S
'lasineSs." The duke explained that
men Of genius are sometimes produc-
ing most when they seem to be laborin9
the least" Leonardo revenged himSeli
by using the abbot, who watched him
too frequently. as an unconscious model
for Judas.
In 1900 the picture seemed finished
at last But 1t was in tnat very year
that the French besieged Milan: they
opened the dams to food the city; sew
eral inches of water covered the floor
of the church and spread their damp
ness through the great edifice The
paint began 10 peel from Leonardo'S
masterpiece Frengied. he ran about
seeking for men TO draw the water off
but the chaos Of war frustrated him.
MerejowSki has pictured him standing
in the nave looking on IN agony as the
greatest labor of his love was ruined; 1t
is this story that ArtzioaShev tells to
Justify his despair over history and his
Scorn Of man.
Ludovici having been expelled from
Milan by the French. Leonardo also
fied, and for years he wandered with
cut a patron. and sometimes without
food 1t was in this period that he
painted his Madonna OF the Rocks"
and his Madonna. Child and st, Anne.
For while he served as engineer and
architect In the camp Of Caesar Borgia.
He hated warfare and denounced 1t as
a brutal thing. that made man not king
of the animal world buG the worst of
Wild beasts: yet his scientific curiosity
and his passion for invention led him
on, and he tried to look upon his
country'S persistent wars with the aloot-
ness of Goethe at Valmy, In 1902 we
find him working for the Signory at
Florence on a great picture, THE Bat
tie of Anghiari" MiChelangelo mean
while was painting a similar picture in
the same palace. Leonardo tried TO be
friends with the younger man and went
out of his way TO compliment him, but
when Angelo heard that Da Vinci rated
painting above sculpture the hercules of
the brush burst out in anger and insult.
Young Raphael, appearing on the scene.
made things worse by saying that Mi
chelangelo was not worthy 10 tie the
laces Of Leonardo's shoes When the
two pictures were finished Florence
came almost in body to study them
and pronounced them the supreme
achievements in the painting of the
came; soldiers and rufians sacked the
palace and the pictures were de-
stroyed.
1t was in Florence. in 1902, that
Leonardo painted the most famcs's por-
trait in the world Mona tMadonna)
Lisa was the wife of Francesca del
Gloconda She had married him
against her viii, but was piously rec
onci.ed and faithful; and when she
came TO sit for her portrait she was
always attended by a nun. To over
come her sadness, Leonardo invited
musicians 10 play for her while she
posed. However the smile for which
he sought came not for them. but for
him and his whimsical tales. He con-
stTucted tor her amusement a foun-
tain whose streams of water fell upon
glass spheres and set them revolving
with music sweet and low: he planted
the flowers that she loved best around
the fountain. and placed beside her a
basket OF crumbs. rom WElcn Sae c0u-a
feed the doves that fiocked about her
feet And so for four years he painted:
and perhaps as the picture grew his love
for the woman grew with it. Begin
ming to paint her face. he ended by
painting her soul; and III one portrait
he seemed to catch the subtlety and
mystery and wistful patience of al
wcmankind And perhaps he added 10
it a tender establishment all his own.
for ii was not only Lisa's smile. but
Leonardo's, Who knows how much
Of the woman and the mother is in
the heart Of every creative genius?
Some say that Lisa returned Leo
nardo's love. and. frightened lest she
should fall into sin with him, fed to
a distant city She never sat for him
again Leonardo wandered sadly over
Italy, painted other delicate MASTER
pieces ike the st Jolln.' and found
himself at last IN Rome. forgotten by
the world in the new popularity ol
Angelo and Raphael He worked too
slowly for the patrons Of that hurried
age. and he remained poor while his
younger rivals achieved great wealth.
He had tried 20 live like the lilies Of
the field, taking no thought what he
should eat or wear. and now he was
SC penniless that even the pupils who