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While in Milan in 1507, Leonardo met a fourteen-year-old named Francesco Melzi (fig. 101). He was the son of a distinguished nobleman who was a captain in the Milanese militia and later a civil engineer who worked to reinforce the city’s fortifications, endeavors that fascinated Leonardo. The Melzis lived in the largest villa in the town of Vaprio,
... See moreWalter Isaacson • Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo’s most serious longtime companion, who joined Leonardo’s household in 1490, was angelic looking but devilish in personality, and thus acquired the nickname Salai, the Little Devil. Vasari described him as “a graceful and beautiful youth with fine curly hair in which Leonardo greatly delighted,” and he was the subject of many sexual
... See moreWalter Isaacson • Leonardo da Vinci
