For several months, Leonardo works for Cesare Borgia as a military engineer. He visits fortresses and towns, studies rivers, roads and defences, and produces some of his most remarkable maps. The episode reminds us that the painter of Europe’s most famous face studies a face, a machine and a landscape with the same intensity.
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People in this chapter
Leonardo da Vinci
Painter, engineer and investigator of nature who worked in Florence, Milan, Rome and France. His service to the Sforza, Cesare Borgia, the Medici and Francis I connects his artistic work with the courts and political networks of his time.
English profile ↗Full profile and sources in Spanish ↗Sources and coverage
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Sources and methodology