Sublime

Philip Seymour Hoffman

In 1494 the troops of the French king Charles VIII swept through Italy, and the bronze intended for the horse was sent by Ludovico to his father-in-law Ercole d’Este in the town of Ferrara to make three small cannons. In a draft of a letter to Ludovico a few years later, Leonardo seemed dejected but resigned. “Of the horse I will say nothing,” he w

Larger forces intervened to rescue Leonardo from his employment concerns. In the summer of 1499, an invasion force sent by the new French king, Louis XII, was bearing down on Milan. Leonardo added up the money in his cash box, 1,280 lire, distributed some to Salai (20 lire) and others, and then proceeded to hide the rest in paper packets around his

Some writers like John Barth, Donald Barthelme, and William

The unfinished battle scenes turned out to be two of the most influential lost paintings in history, and they helped to shape the High Renaissance. “These battle cartoons of Leonardo and Michelangelo are the turning point of the Renaissance,” according to Kenneth Clark.34 They were kept on display in Florence until 1512, and young artists flocked t

Mark Fisher was possibly the last of a disappearing breed: the music critic as prophet.