Still today, Leonardo's relations with his contemporaries are unclear and subject to varying hypotheses. Along with the cultural influence of the artists and thinkers of his own day, that of his predecessors was also decisive. These relations, at times complex and not always well documented, are however very useful for understanding Leonardo's personality and the various stages of his development. It is interesting, although frequently difficult, to sketch an itinerary that links the Florentine personages and places known to the genius from Vinci.
Like other Renaissance artists, Leonardo studied works of classical art. Very probably, the sarcophagus carved with the Fall of Phaeton now in the Uffizi and the bronze horse's head that once belonged to Lorenzo the Magnificent and is now displayed in the Florence Archaeological Museum exerted their fascination over the young artist. An echo of this initiation into the classical world is found in a drawing of mythological subject, the Neptune in the Windsor Royal Library, in which the ancient subject is ably reinterpreted in the light of the artist's manifold creative urges. This preparatory study recalls the drawing of the same subject, now lost, donated by Leonardo to his friend Antonio Segni when the latter moved to Rome to direct the papal Mint in 1505.
Leonardo's declared admiration for Giotto and Masaccio is as significant as his implicit esteem of Brunelleschi.
Although Verrocchio is known as his master, he was undoubtedly influenced also by the Pollaiolo and by the works of Flemish artists, either painted in Florence or brought from Flanders (Jan van Eyck, Roger van der Weyden, now in the Uffizi).
In his manuscripts, scattered among notes on daily life, bibliographical research and annotations of artistic and technological nature, appear numerous mentions of friends, companions and acquaintances. Among them were Francesco Sirigatti, astronomer and inventor, whom he mentions in the Codex Arundel («Show Serigatto the book and have him give you instructions for making the clock»), and Fioravanti di Domenico («in Florence companions, greatly beloved» on a folio dating from 1478 in the Uffizi's Cabinet of Drawings and Prints).
A rich interwoven pattern of coincidences and mutual exchange emerges, casting light on the complexity of Leonardo's life and work in his personal relationships and cultural preferences: from the miniators Vante and Gherardo to the goldsmith Niccolò di Forzore Spinelli (who gave him information on hydrology in Flanders), from Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli («Pagolo the physician») to Bendetto Dei (for the «voyage to the Orient»), from the Sienese Biringuiccio to members of Amerigo Vespucci's family, one of whom wrote his letters. Still today, the identify of this person is debated; was it Bartolomeo, mathematician and cosmographer, nephew of Amerigo Vespucci, or Agostino, assistant to Machiavelli? Most probably it was instead Giorgio Antonio Vespucci (1453-1512), Amerigo's uncle, a friend of Ficino, follower of Savonarola and Dominican monk in San Marco starting in 1499, who left his books to the monastery's library.
On January 25, 1504 Leonardo was one of those consulted to decide where to place Michelangelo's David. The list of artists in this group is a summary of the relationships existing in the Florence of the times. Among the friends of Leonardo, most of them also mentioned in his manuscripts, we find: Andrea della Robbia, Benedetto Buglioni, Botticelli, Cosimo Rosselli, Francesco Granacci, Giovanni Piffero, Giuliano and Antonio da Sangallo, Lorenzo della Volpaia, Michelangelo the goldsmith, Perugino, Piero di Cosimo, Riccio the goldsmith, Simone del Pollaiolo, Vante the miniator.
In the past, the number and importance of the pupils in Leonardo's shop and the artists of his school have frequently been underestimated. Only recent studies have provided a more thorough knowledge of this subject. Among his pupils in Florence, the Anonymous Gaddiano mentions only five.
One of them, Atalante Migliorotti, is recalled for his musical talent: «[Leonardo] was eloquent in speaking and a gifted player of the lyre and he was the master of that Atalante Migliorotti [...]He was 30 years old when he was sent by the said Magnificent Lorenzo to the Duke of Milan accompanied by Atalante Migliorotti, to give him a lyre.»
As for the other four, many new elements have recently emerged. «Salai the Milanese» has been identified as Gian Giacomo Caprotti, known as Salai or Salaino (that is, "little devil"), who came from Oreno di Vimercate, in Lombardy. Salai accompanied Leonardo to Florence in 1500 and here, starting in 1504, he frequently acted as intermediary between the master and his clients. He also accompanied Leonardo to Rome and Amboise, remaining with him until 1518, when he returned to Milan. Here he married and in 1524 died, killed by a shot from a musket. The belief that some of Leonardo's masterpieces had passed into his hands is presumably erroneous. His legacy, although rich in paintings and precious objects, probably did not include autograph paintings by his master, but only versions by artists of his school. It is possible instead that the panels sold by Salai to the King of France in 1518 were originals by Leonardo, although this still remains to be proven.One of them, Atalante Migliorotti, is recalled for his musical talent: «[Leonardo] was eloquent in speaking and a gifted player of the lyre and he was the master of that Atalante Migliorotti [...]He was 30 years old when he was sent by the said Magnificent Lorenzo to the Duke of Milan accompanied by Atalante Migliorotti, to give him a lyre.»
Zoroastro da Peretola, made famous by the legend of a disastrous attempt to fly with a machine designed by Leonardo from Monte Ceceri at Fiesole, has been identified as Tommaso Masini, the illegitimate son of Bernardo Rucellai. In 1493 he collaborated with Leonardo in Milan, while in 1504 he worked alongside his master on the Battle of Anghiari. Later he moved to Rome with Giovanni Rucellai, castellan of Sant’Angelo, and stayed with Miguel da Sylva, Cardinal and Ambassador of Portugal under Leo X and Clement VII.One of them, Atalante Migliorotti, is recalled for his musical talent: «[Leonardo] was eloquent in speaking and a gifted player of the lyre and he was the master of that Atalante Migliorotti [...]He was 30 years old when he was sent by the said Magnificent Lorenzo to the Duke of Milan accompanied by Atalante Migliorotti, to give him a lyre.»
«Il Riccio fiorentino» lived in Florence in the «Porta alla Croce» zone; various hypotheses have been advanced as to his activity.One of them, Atalante Migliorotti, is recalled for his musical talent: «[Leonardo] was eloquent in speaking and a gifted player of the lyre and he was the master of that Atalante Migliorotti [...]He was 30 years old when he was sent by the said Magnificent Lorenzo to the Duke of Milan accompanied by Atalante Migliorotti, to give him a lyre.»
Ferrando Spagnuolo is one of the two painters who introduced into Spain Leonardo's style, in which echoes of Filippino Lippi and Raphael were intermingled. These painters were Fernando Llanos and Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina, who collaborated in creating the retablo in the Cathedral of Valencia. Among the two, Fernando Spagnuolo, recalled in Leonardo's manuscripts, is in all probability Fernando Llanos, who worked with Leonardo, regularly recompensed, on the Battle of Anghiari. Many Leonardesque works were painted by him even after having returned to Spain.One of them, Atalante Migliorotti, is recalled for his musical talent: «[Leonardo] was eloquent in speaking and a gifted player of the lyre and he was the master of that Atalante Migliorotti [...]He was 30 years old when he was sent by the said Magnificent Lorenzo to the Duke of Milan accompanied by Atalante Migliorotti, to give him a lyre.»
Leonardo's influence is particularly evident in the works of the Florentine shops active in the last decades of the 15th century. His heritage fell to the Mannerists in the first decades of the 16th century and, thanks to the activity of numerous Leonardesque artists working all over Tuscany, was widely diffused beyond the boundaries of Florence.
Texts by Alessandro Vezzosi, in collaboration with Agnese Sabato / English translation by Catherine Frost
