bernardo's Horse by Gene Fritz illustrated by Hudson Talbot question of the week how do artists Inspire future Generations genre a biography is a story of a person's life written by another person as you read notice all the major events in Leonardo da Vinci's life anyone who watched the young Leonardo wander the countryside around his home in Vinci might have guessed that he would be an artist he stopped to examine everything he looked at the landscape as if he were memorizing it so it was no surprise when his father took him as a young teenager to
Florence to study art people noticed that Leonardo was different he dressed differently while other young men wore long togas Leonardo worship people noticed that Leonardo was different he dressed differently while other young men wore long togas Leonardo wore short rose-colored velvet togas he wrote differently backwards from the right side of the paper to the left a person would have to use a mirror to read his writing and he wouldn't eat meat he liked animals too much to eat anything that had once been alive nor could he stand the sight of caged birds if he saw
a man selling Birds he would buy them all then he would open the cages and watch the birds fly away what a flurry they made how did they do it all his life Leonardo tried to discover their secret of flying so he could make a flying machine for himself for a man who liked to ask questions Leonardo da Vinci was born at the right time April 15 1452 everybody was asking questions then the age was called the Renaissance a time of rebirth when people who had forgotten how to be curious became curious again they were
exploring new countries discovering inventing looking at old things in new ways what was the point Leonardo asked in copying what had already been done he had to bring his own experience into whatever he painted you wouldn't catch him putting a halo around the head of a saint how could he he had never seen a Halo Leonardo da Vinci turned out to be a famous artist still he was not just an artist he could never be just one thing he was an engineer an architect a musician a philosopher an astronomer once he fashioned a special kind
of Flute made of silver in the shape of a horse's head the ruler of Florence Lorenzo de Medici asked him to deliver it as a gift to the Duke of Milan this was lucky for Leonardo he had heard that the Duke of Milan wanted to honor his father with a bronze horse in front of his Palace and Leonardo wanted to be the one to make it this would be his mark on History hundreds of years later people would point to the horse Leonardo made that they would say so he wrote to the Duke listing all
the things that he could do he could make cannons lightweight Bridges and covered chariots that couldn't be broken or harmed on and on he went but he saved the most important point for the last he could make a bronze horse in the end he didn't send the letter he simply left for Milan never mind that he was in the midst of painting a large religious picture in Florence let someone else finish it he had planned the picture and that was the important part Leonardo was 30 years old now handsome over the curly blonde hair that
Duke gave him the job of working on the horse but at the same time he was accepted expected to take a charge on entertainment another Palace he heard a beautiful singing voice he could play musical instruments he could juggle and ask riddles and he was also asked to Stage Ella Borat elaborate plays for special or orchestrations whenever whenever he had a chance he went back to the horse he visited the Stables studying how a horse was put together he needed to understand everything about his subject he measured and Drew pictures until he knew where all
the bones and muscles of a horse were but you couldn't show all the muscles on a statue he said or the horse would look like a bag of turnips you should show only those muscles the horse was using or getting ready to use he visited statues of horses many were shown in an amble left front leg moving at the same time as the left back leg this was not easy for a horse he had to be taught to do it Leonardo saw one horse however that he described as free left front leg and right back
leg moving together in a trot moreover both ears were pointed forward some horses pointed one ear back to hear the rider's orders Leonardo was ready to begin but the Duke wasn't quite ready he wanted a much bigger horse than the one he had originally planned one three times Larger than Life Could Leonardo manage anything that large the Duke wondered he wrote to Lorenzo asking him to recommend someone who could do the job Lorenzo replied Leonardo da Vinci was the only one on April 23 1490 Leonardo wrote in his notebook I resumed work on the horse
the hardest part would be the casting he collected 58 000 pounds of metal tin and copper which would be heated until it was fluid this would be turned into bronze and used to cast the horse but should he pour the bronze all at once no one had tried a single pouring of anything that large but Leonardo seemed to be in no hurry to start casting perhaps he wasn't sure how he'd do it besides he was planning a new project later in 1498 there were rumors that the French were preparing to invade Milan and the Duke
wanted to be ready and there was all the metal that Leonardo had collected just what the Duke needed so he sent it off to be made into Canon well this is war Leonardo reasoned what else could they do when the French came in 1499 Leonardo and the Duke fled but the horse couldn't leave there he was when the French arrived The Archers laughed never would they find as perfect a Target they said pulling back the strings on their bows they let their Arrows fly ping ping ping the horse sagged ping then it rained and the
horse became smaller and smaller at last it was nothing but a pile of mud stuck with arrows Leonardo went back to inventing and painting but he never forgot his horse he still wanted to invent a flying machine but he still couldn't do it his greatest disappointment however was his horse as Leonardo became older his hair turned white and grew down to his shoulders his beard reached his waist and he became depressed what had he achieved he asked himself he complained to his notebook tell me he asked if anything has been achieved by me tell me
tell me it was especially hard when his rival Michelangelo taunted him you Michelangelo said who made a model of a horse you could never cast in bronze and which you gave up to your shame in his notebook Leonardo mourned I have wasted my hours on May 2nd 1519 Leonardo da Vinci died it was said that even on his deathbed Leonardo wept for his horse in 1977 Charles Dent an American and a big fan of Leonardo saw a magazine article about him when he read that Leonardo died grieving for his horse Charles said let's give Leonardo
his horse but Charles Dent died before work was finished later a sculptor from New York City Nina akamu carried on with Charles's dream many people contributed money to help her finish finally on September 10 1999 in Milan Italy in front of huge crowds the horse was unveiled at last Leonardo's horse was home
