Leonardo and the Death Machine
Page 18
“I think you’ll find Lucrezia has added a purse of florins to your belongings,” said Leonardo, “as a token of her gratitude.”
Fresina turned to leave, then stopped short. “But where am I to go? I may be free but now I have no home.”
“Didn’t my mother tell you she would always have a place for you?” Leonardo reminded her.
Fresina nodded slowly.
“I’m sure you can stay with her as long as you like.”
“It is a good place,” said Fresina, “with brave people. But they are your family, not mine.”
“Go in my place then,” Leonardo encouraged her, “and live the life I might have had, if things had been different. I promise I’ll come and visit.”
For a moment silence hung between them. Then the girl threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. Leonardo could feel her heart beating excitedly against his chest and he felt a share of her joy ignite within him, like a flame being passed from one candle to another. When she pulled away there was a tear in her eye.
“Thank you, Leonardo,” she said, “for all that you have done.”
“I thought slaves didn’t feel gratitude,” said Leonardo.
“They don’t,” said Fresina with a broad smile. “But I am free now and I can feel anything I want.”
She made to leave, pausing for a moment in the doorway. “Don’t forget you promised to visit,” she said, wagging a finger at Leonardo. “You know what the Brawler will do to you if you break your word.”
Leonardo raised his hands in surrender. “I swear you will see me on the next feast day,” he said. “Tell my mother to set a place for me.”
Fresina gave a last grin then skipped away, closing the door behind her.
“She’s a remarkable girl,” Sandro said admiringly. “One day I really would like to use her as a model in one of my paintings.”
“A model for what?” Leonardo asked. “Not a saint, I hope!”
“No, nothing as tame as that,” Sandro laughed. “I shall paint her as a pagan goddess. Yes, that’s it – the goddess of springtime.”
“Fresina has her home now,” said Leonardo, “and it’s time I returned to mine.”
“What? Are you going back to Anchiano?” Sandro asked in surprise.
“No, I’ve been back to Anchiano and it was there I learned the truth,” said Leonardo.
Sandro made a puzzled noise.
“It was my father who said it,” Leonardo explained, “without even knowing how true his words were. He said I belonged with Andrea del Verrocchio. My father may have his plans for me, Caterina my mother may love me, and Piero de’ Medici may be grateful to me. But only Maestro Andrea expects me to understand everything I see, and in doing that to achieve greatness. That’s worth a few years of hard work.”
“Greatness, eh?” Sandro peered at him dubiously. “I’m trying to see it, but it must be hidden very deeply.”
Leonardo plucked up a cushion and took a swing with it. Sandro chuckled as he dodged the blow.
“All right, Sandro,” Leonardo laughed, “I’m sure you’re going to be a great man as well.”
“You know,” Sandro said, suddenly thoughtful, “at that party Lorenzo took me to at Alberti’s house, there was a lot of talk about what an age of wonders we live in. They were saying that art, science and literature have all been reborn, right here in Florence, that the world has seen nothing like it since before the fall of Rome.”
“Well, if this is an age of wonders,” said Leonardo, “then perhaps anything we can imagine is possible.” He turned to gaze out of the window at the clouds drifting across the sky. “Perhaps one day a man might even learn to fly.”
Afterword
More than 500 years ago Leonardo da Vinci drew up plans for aeroplanes, helicopters, parachutes, submarines and diving suits. He made a detailed study of human anatomy – especially the workings of the eye – and experimented with the properties of light. And he was responsible for some of the most famous works of art ever created, including the Mona Lisa.
We know the details of his birth and family background from official records of the time and we know the genius he became. But in all the hundreds of pages of his notebooks Leonardo tells us almost nothing about his early years. We know of his fascination with flight and the destructive power of water, of his youthful vanity and his love of animals. But what inspired him to become a legend is a question only our imaginations can answer.
We do know that Leonardo was an apprentice in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio for just over ten years and that he probably arrived there in 1466. In that same year there was a conspiracy to overthrow the Medici family, the rulers of Florence. It is against this background that I have imagined my tale of the young Leonardo.
The period of history we know as the Renaissance was marked by a rediscovery of the writings, science and philosophy of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Many brilliant people appeared at this time and it seemed to them that there was no limit to what human beings could accomplish. Nowhere was this more evident than in the city of Florence in northern Italy, which produced more than its fair share of remarkable individuals.
Fresina, Rodrigo and Silvestro are entirely my invention. All the other major characters in the story were real people. Lorenzo de’ Medici saved his father from Neroni’s ambush just as described here. Luca Pitti did base his palace on designs originally submitted to the Medici, and Lucrezia Donati really was regarded as the most beautiful woman in Florence.
Readers might be interested to know what happened to some of these people after the events of this book.
Marriage for the leading families of Florence was a matter of duty rather than romance. Lorenzo de’ Medici was married to Clarice Orsini, the daughter of a powerful Roman family, in order to strengthen the Medici business interests in that city. Lucrezia married a wealthy merchant named Pietro Ardinghelli.
Lorenzo succeeded his father as ruler of Florence in 1469. As he himself had predicted, his health suffered as a result of his responsibilities and he died at the age of forty-three. Under his rule, however, the city flourished as never before. He was the patron of Botticelli, Michelangelo and many other great artists and writers. He is remembered to this day as ‘Lorenzo the Magnificent’.
Sandro Botticelli became one of the outstanding artists of the Renaissance. Some of his most famous paintings, such as the Birth of Venus and Primavera, were inspired by ancient mythology. In later life his work became more serious and more spiritual.
Paolo Toscanelli continued to chart the earth and sky. In 1492 his maps helped to guide Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the New World.
Diotisalvi Neroni continued to plot unsuccessfully against the Medici and finally died in exile.
Luca Pitti remained in Florence, but was shunned by his fellow citizens for the rest of his life. When he died bankrupt, the Medici took possession of his magnificent palace. Today it is one of the world’s great museums of art.
For more background on Leonardo and the Death Machine visit the author’s website: www.harris-authors.com
Also by the Same Author
Titles by Jane Yolen and Robert J Harris
Jason and the Gorgon’s Blood Odysseus and the Serpent Maze
Copyright
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2005 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
2
Copyright © Robert J Harris 2005
Map illustration by Fiona Land
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval
system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © APRIL 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-37531-8
Robert J Harris asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.
Conditions of Sale
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Find out more about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com