Leonardo da Vinci: Friends and Acquaintances Quiz

Answer: Michelangelo

The fact that Leonardo and Michelangelo were NOT friends must be emphasized here. Michelangelo was twenty-three years younger than Leonardo, and it was said by Vasari, their biographer, that "they had had intense dislike for one another". He did not say why.

When asked to serve on the committee in Florence regarding where "David" should placed, Leonardo did it without comment. He did write later in his "Comparison of the Arts", "I do not find any difference between painting and sculpture except this: the sculptor pursues his work with greater physical effort, and the painter pursues his with greater mental effort".... Leonardo goes on to explain that while the sculptor is covered in dust and lived in dirty lodgings, the painter is well dressed and his home is clean.

Answer: Machiavelli

Leonardo met Machiavelli while in Urbino serving as a military engineer. While Machiavelli could be judged by history as being, well, "Machiavellian", it must be noted that he did not make the politics in Italy what they were. He simply wrote about them and gave his opinion on what could be done in order to achieve unity and maintain it.

It is believed that Machiavelli used his influence on the government of Florence to gain a commission for Leonardo which was called the "Battle of Anghiari". The plan was to decorate the walls of the council chamber with scenes from the city's military history; Michelangelo and Leonardo were both chosen to paint them.

It is said that another young artist, Raphael, visited the chambers to view the progress.

Answer: Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, summoned Leonardo as military engineer during his conquest of Romagna, and presented him with a carte blanche letter. All subordinates in conquered areas were to give Leonardo all the information he requested regarding fortifications and follow his instructions. Leonardo's first job was to design a sewer system to drain the marshes for the city of Piombino.

He also traveled with Cesare and drew maps for his use. In Urbino Cesare, Leonardo, and Machiavelli were together.

They spent the summer and fall of 1502 on campaigns, with Cesare and Leonardo working, and Machiavelli making keen observations for his upcoming book, "The Prince". Apparently he believed that Cesare might be the person who could achieve the unification of Italy.

Answer: Ludovico Maria Sforza

The Medici sent Leonardo to Milan as an ambassador in 1482, bearing a peace offering for Ludovico Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Leonardo left Florence disillusioned and offended, and wrote a rather long letter of introduction to the Duke, in which he offered his services as a military engineer.

He worked in Milan for the next seventeen years, painting a portrait of Sforza's mistress, organizing his wedding pageant, and working on "The Horse", which was to be a giant bronze casting in honor of Ludovico's father.

Although the project gained recognition and notoriety for Leonardo, Ludovico had to sell the bronze he had been collecting to cast the horse. The full-sized clay model, said to be impressive on its own, was eventually used as target practice by French troops and fell apart. Leonardo also received a commission to decorate the Sforza family tomb with a mural known today as "The Last Supper".

Answer: Verrocchio

Leonardo was apprenticed to Verrocchio, one of the best known Italian artists of his day, when he was approximately fourteen years old. In Verrocchio's workshop Leonardo was able to learn a variety of crafts, including painting, goldsmithing, sculpting, and pageantry. Leonardo never mentioned Verrocchio in any of his notes.

However, his association with his teacher continued after Leonardo was admitted to the guild of St. Luke. There is a legend that young Leonardo was called upon to paint one of the small angels in Verrocchio's "Baptism of Christ". Verrocchio, after seeing his angel in comparison to Leonardo's, didn't paint again.

Answer: Lisa Gherardini

In order to discuss this person in Leonardo's life, all of the modern theories about who "Mona Lisa" was have to be put aside, and what has been generally believed for centuries must be heard. Lisa Gherardini's husband, Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo, commissioned Leonardo to paint her portrait.

She was his third wife, and quite a bit younger than he. It is unknown why Leonardo accepted the commission. However, it is known that he had to stop work on it to work on the "Battle of Anghiari". Scholars feel that for some reason Leonardo did not immediately complete the portrait, but carried it with him wherever he went, perhaps working on it as late as 1516. Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo's biographer is believed to have named the portrait in 1550 when he wrote, "Leonardo undertook to paint, for Francesco del Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife".

Answer: Francesco Melzi

Count Francesco Melzi, the son of an aristocrat, is believed by many historians to have been Leonardo's favorite pupil. He joined Leonardo's household in 1506, traveled to France with him, and was with him at the time of his death. Some artistic works that were originally attributed to Leonardo are today thought to have been painted by Melzi. Melzi inherited all of the manuscripts that Leonardo had written during his lifetime and administered Leonardo's estate, notifying his brothers of Leonardo's death.

He eventually returned to Italy and married; his heirs later sold the notebooks.

Answer: Francis I

Late in 1515 or early 1516 Leonardo received a commission from the King of France, Francis I, and agreed to go to France. The commission was a mechanical lion that could walk and open its mouth to show a bouquet of lilies. Near the king's palace, Château d'Amboise, Leonardo was set up in a residence of his own and was given a pension. For the last three years of Leonardo's life, it is said that the king enjoyed his company, frequently visiting him.

While it is believed that Leonardo didn't paint while he was in France, except for touching up some of the pictures that were brought there with him, he did keep busy planning canals for the Loire River and drawing plans for a castle town project for the king. Legend says that Leonardo died in the arms of Francis I; the truth of the matter is that the king was away from his estate and near Paris on the day Leonardo died.

Answer: Isabella d'Este

Isabella d'Este, the sister-in-law of the Duke of Milan, met Leonardo after he left Milan to return to Florence. One of his stops on the way was Mantua; given the fact that Isabella was more than pushy about having her portrait painted by Leonardo, one has to wonder if Leonardo regretted that stop.

It is believed that in return for her insistence, Leonardo made an sketch of the woman, which was totally accurate - that is to say that she appears to be dull and homely with a flabby chin. Yikes! As much as she wanted a permanent color portrait, there is no record that she ever received one.

Her patronage of the arts and position as a leader of fashion in Mantua led to her being called "The First Lady of the World" by her contemporaries.

Answer: Luca Paciola

Luca Paciola, sometimes called the "Father of Accounting and Bookkeeping", met Leonardo while he was teaching mathematics in Milan. Leonardo illustrated his book, "On Divine Proportion", with many geometric figures that were mainly polyhedrons. When the Duke of Milan fell out of power in 1499, Luca and Leonardo left the city together and returned to Florence.

It appears they parted company sometime in 1506.