Sublime

I think of Leo as a vast chunk of blotting paper, and nothing escapes imprinting itself on his quick eye, awesome intellect, and generous heart.

He is insatiable. Over and over again, year after year, Leonardo lists things he must do and learn. Some involve the type of close observation most of us rarely pause to do.

For the rest of Leonardo’s life, Francesco Melzi would be by his side. He worked as Leonardo’s personal assistant and scribe, drafted his letters, kept his papers, and preserved them after his death. He wrote in a graceful italic, and his notations are to be found throughout Leonardo’s notebooks. He also was Leonardo’s art student. Though never a m