LEONARDO AND MODERN SCIENCE 67 



around them a circle of men whose delight it was to discuss topics 

 of Greek, Latin, and vernacular literature, and to debate, often in 

 a very learned manner, the subject of Platonic philosophy. There 

 is no gainsaying that these Neoplatonists were a brilliant set of 

 men, but their interests were chiefly of the literary kind; they were 

 men of letters and loved beautiful discourse for its own sake. On 

 the contrary, young Leonardo, following an irresistible trend, was 

 carrying on scientific and technical investigations of every sort. 

 The engineer in him was slowly developing. Perhaps, he could 

 not help considering these amateur philosophers as idle talkers; 

 but it is just as likely that, being a motherless child, he was not 

 endowed with sufficient urbanity to fare comfortably in this 

 society of refined dilettanti. Nature more and more engrossed his 

 attention, and he was far more deeply concerned in solving its 

 innumerable problems than in trying to reconcile Platonism and 

 Christianity. Neither could his brother artists satisfy his intel- 

 lectual needs; they were talking shop and fretting all the time. A 

 few had shown some interest in scientific matters, but on the 

 whole their horizon was too narrow and their self-centeredness un- 

 bearable. Also, Florence was becoming a very old place, and an 

 overgrowth of traditions and conventions gradually crowded out 

 all initiative and real originality. So Leonardo left and went to 

 Milan, to the court of Ludovico Sforza, at that time one of the 

 most splendid courts of Europe. Milan would certainly offer more 

 opportunities to an enterprising and restless mind like his. The 

 very desire of outdoing Florence was a tremendous impulse for 

 Ludovico: he was anxious to make of his capital a new Athens, 

 and of the near-by university town of Pavia a great cultural center. 

 His happiest thought perhaps was to keep around him two men 

 who were among the greatest of their day — Bramante and 

 Leonardo. The liberal opportunities which were offered to these 

 two giants are the supreme glory of the Sforzas and of Milan. 



Leonardo was employed by the Duke as a civil and military 

 engineer, as a pageant master, as a sculptor, as a painter, as an 

 architect. How far he was understood by his patron it is difficult 



