Image from page 213 of "Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science;" (1898)

Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science; Year: 1898. Authors: Müntz, Eugène, 1845-1902. Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519 ( ...internetarchivebookimages/tags/booksubjectLeonardo__da_Vinci__1452_1519 ) .Publisher: London : W. Heinemann ( ...internetarchivebookimages/tags/bookpublisherLondon___W__Heinemann ) New York, C. Scribner's sons ( ...internetarchivebookimages/tags/bookpublisher_New_York__C__Scribner_s_sons ) .Contributing Library: University of California Libraries ( ...internetarchivebookimages/tags/bookcontributorUniversity_of_California_Libraries ) .Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive ( ...internetarchivebookimages/tags/booksponsorInternet_Archive ) ...View Book Page: Book Viewer ( stream/leonardodavincia01munt/leonardodavincia01munt#page/n213/mode/1up ) .About This Book: Catalog Entry ( details/leonardodavincia01munt ) .View All Images: All Images From Book .Click here to view book online ( stream/leonardodavincia01munt/leonardodavincia01munt#page/n213/mode/1up ) to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book....Text Appearing Before Image:.of labour was notvery clearly defined inthe fifteenth century, andLeonardo was obligedto devote much timeand patience to e.xperi-mcnts in the foundersart. The constructionof the furnaces and themoulds, the compositionof the bronze, the manner of heating, the finishing of the cast, the polishing, the chasing—all this had to be carefully considered. The financial embarrassments of the court of Milan contributed quite as much as Leonardos procrastinating tendencies to the delay in the completion of the Cavallo. In a letter to Lodovico il Moro— 1 De Cardinalatii, i. p. 50.—Cf. Mùller-Walde, Jahrbuch der kg. Kuiistsaminlungen,1897, p. 105—107. ^ In his work De Divina Proportmie (dedicated to Lodovico il Moro, February 9,1498), Leonardos friend Pacioli, tells us that the colossus was to measure twelve braccie(about twenty-six feet in height), and to weigh, when cast in bronze, about 200,000 lbs.,while that designed by the brothers Mantegazza would not have weighed more than 6,000...Text Appearing After Image:.STUDIES OF HORSES. (Windsor Library.) STATUE OF FRANCESCO SFORZA 153 unfortunately without a date—the artist writes, I say nothing of thehorse (the equestrian statue) because I know the state of affairs^—(literally, the times : the difficulties of the present situation). Leonardo himself was the first to feel a doubt as to the completion ofthe monument. In a letter to the wardens of a church at Piacenza,who, it seems, had asked his advice as to the choice of a bronze founder,he declares that he alone would be competent to carry out the workthey propose, but thathe is overburdened withorders. The artistsw^ords are too character-istic not to be giventextually : Believe me,there is no man capableof it but Leonardo ofFlorence, who is engagedupon the bronze horseof the Duke Francesco ;and he is out of thequestion, for he hasenough work for all therest of his days, and Idoubt, seeing how greatthat work is, if he willever finish it.^ An anonymous bio-grapher confirms Vasaris statement th.