[Illustration]
"Leonardo," wrote an English critic as far back as 1721, "was a Man
so happy in his genius, so consummate in his Profession, so
accomplished in the Arts, so knowing in the Sciences, and withal, so
much esteemed by the Age wherein he lived, his Works so highly
applauded by the Ages which have succeeded, and his Name and Memory
still preserved with so much Veneration by the present Age--that, if
anything could equal the Merit of the Man, it must be the Success he
met with. Moreover, 'tis not in Painting alone, but in Philosophy,
too, that Leonardo surpassed all his Brethren of the 'Pencil.'"
This admirable summary of the great Florentine painter's life's work
still holds good to-day.