Summary

In 1482, the year he turned thirty, Leonardo left Florence for Milan, seeking patronage from the duke and looking to reinvent himself as a military engineer rather than a painter. He would end up spending the next seventeen years there under the patronage of duke Ludovico Sforza. Milan had fewer master artists than Florence, and proximity to a university made it a city filled with scholars and intellectuals. Thus, Milan was an ideal place for Leonardo to expand his skills and interests while taking advantage of a less saturated artistic market. In his letter seeking patronage from the duke, Leonardo outlined his military and engineering innovations which he had been working on while living in Florence. Isaacson discusses some of these inventions, including a scythed chariot and a giant crossbow, while emphasizing Leonardo's "ability to let fantasy drive invention" (102). He also discusses Leonardo's architectural...