Leonardo and the Looming Litigation: The Life and Travels of da Vinci, #6

By Catherine McGrew Jaime

Troubles seem to be the new normal for a busy Leonardo. The Signoria in Florence have threatened to sue him to finish the Battle Painting he had started and walked away from. The friars in Milan are suing him to redo an altarpiece he had done for them almost two decades before. And his eleven half-siblings are suing him to keep him from inheriting their uncle's property. Meanwhile he has caused the injury of a trusted assistant who had test-flown his flying machine, and Giovanni Rustici, a good friend in Florence, needs his assistance with a major sculpture commission he has won. Can Leonardo keep himself out of jail long enough to satisfy the various litigants, assist Rustici, and still help the young Raphael who has come to Florence to learn from him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Catherine Jaime
• Release date: Jul 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386752790

Catherine McGrew Jaime

Catherine has a passion for writing, traveling, and history that spans decades. One topic she goes back to again and again is Leonardo da Vinci. After teaching her first classes about this incredible Renaissance man, she wrote her first non-fiction book about him, Da Vinci: His Life and His Legacy. His Life and His Legacy joined countless other non-fiction books she had already written, including, but certainly not limited to, An American Looks at Wuerzburg, Sharing Shakespeare with Students, and Stars Over Central America (her journal of a trip from the Panama Canal Zone across Central America when she was nine-years-old). It would be many years later before she would try her hand at writing fiction, not surprisingly turning first to historical fiction. She started with one novel on her favorite topic, Leonardo the Florentine, showcasing some of his adventures as an apprentice and during his early years as an artist. That first novel is on its way to becoming the nine book series, The Life and Travels of Da Vinci. Catherine’s first published short stories included The Attack in Cappadocia, The Attack at Shkodra, and The Attack on Wuerzburg – all historical fiction, of course, and all available individually, or together in The Attack Trilogy. She recently published her first short story about Leonardo da Vinci, in the anthology, Touch the Sky, Stories Inspired by the Saturn V. (Yes, she did manage to find a way to connect Leonardo to the Saturn V.)

Book preview

Chapter One

FLORENCE - APRIL 1506

Leonardo walked into the spacious room without seeming to notice Salai and Tommaso talking quietly in the far corner. Absentmindedly he picked up a small notebook, flipping quickly through the pages. Without a word, he threw the notebook on a nearby table and stormed out of the room.

Salai and Tommaso heard the outside door slam, but for a long moment they remained in their places, speechless. In the years they had worked for Master Leonardo they had both seen him angry on a few occasions. But never like this. And certainly never for this long. It had already been more than a week since he had walked away from his battle painting in the City Hall. Machiavelli had stopped by almost every day in an attempt to converse with the master, but as of yet Leonardo had been unwilling to see or talk to anyone. Maybe Machiavelli’s last attempted visit had pushed Leonardo too far.

Tommaso turned anxiously to Salai. Did you see the notebook he threw down? Do you think there was something about it that angered him? Or was his outburst connected to the battle painting?

Salai shrugged. He walked slowly towards the table where Leonardo had thrown the sketchbook, retrieving it from among several other notebooks the master had recently been using. He showed the pages to Tommaso as he flipped through it quickly, afraid the master could return at any moment. I don’t see anything here that should make the master angry.

Me neither. Everything seems related to birds.

That’s odd. He usually deals with so many different things in each of his notebooks. I wonder why this one is different.

There’s no telling with the master. I have heard him talking about collecting all his notes about birds into one place to publish. But I didn’t realize he had started doing anything along those lines.

But none of that explains why he left so angrily. Do you think one of us should try to talk to him when he returns?

Not me. No way, Tommaso said, with fear practically dripping from his voice. You are welcome to try. But I am not going near the master until he calls for us. There is no telling what he might do when he’s in a mood like this.

Salai pondered their options before speaking again. We can’t continue trying to avoid him for much longer. There is only so much we can do without instructions.

Looking around the workshop, Tommaso almost smiled in spite of himself. Quietly, but with a little more confidence showing in his voice, he said, You have to admit this is the best this workshop has ever looked. We have swept the floors until they can hardly be swept any more. And we have organized everything in sight.

Salai had to nod. He and Tommaso had been trying to keep busy while the master worked through his anger. And they had put their extra time to good use. They had not only organized all of Leonardo’s art supplies in one section of the large studio, but they had also organized his science supplies in another. Even from where they were standing, Salai could see the nice neat piles of Leonardo’s notebooks across the room. They had grouped the notebooks by size, stacking the smallest ones nearest the doorway.

Tommaso motioned towards the piles. I don’t think I would possibly have guessed how many notebooks the master has filled over the years.

He often works on one for a while until it gets lost under his many other books and notebooks. So, these aren’t all full yet. But he’ll get to them at some point. Maybe even quicker now that we’ve organized them.

Tommaso allowed his gaze to move around the enormous space that was both their home and their master’s workspace. It has been so strange that we have been the only ones here for so many days. It feels empty.

Salai glanced around quickly. The books and notebooks in the corner seemed to fill that space completely. And everywhere else, even with their hours of work, there were stacks and stacks of materials. On one side, paint supplies and the makings of brushes were surrounded by sketch paper and panels of wood. And across the room, where they had so carefully tidied the master’s science equipment, there was still barely a space to walk.

There is nothing empty about this place. It is full of as many things as the master can possibly put into it. It is a wonder there is room for us or the other apprentices who are often here.

You know what I mean. Without the master working in here amongst all this, it’s just dead stuff. He’s the one that brings it to life. Now it feels, I don’t know, lonely, I guess.

Salai merely shrugged. We’ve been here without the master before. We came back to Florence when he went to Rome with Master Borgia. That hasn’t been so long ago. Surely you remember.

But that time we knew it beforehand. And we knew he would only be in Rome visiting Master Bramante for a short time before he joined us again. This is different. We don’t know how long he will be like this.

"This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. It was just before your time. You’ve heard about when we were in Milan and the master was working for the Duke?

Yes?

His horse monument ended in a most horrific manner. The French soldiers destroyed it with their arrows.

But I thought the project was doomed because the Duke had taken back all the metal they had collected so he could make cannon balls?

The destruction of the full size clay model by the soldiers was what really hurt Leonardo. He shut himself up for a while then too. But he eventually snapped out of it.

Tommaso still felt doubtful, but he was glad Salai was so calm about it all. So, you don’t think we need to worry about him? Or us? Even after he just stormed out again.

He’ll be fine in his own good time. We’ve cleaned and organized. At some point maybe he’ll even appreciate that. Now we need to keep ourselves available. When he finally comes around he won’t want to go hunting for us. You will see. We’ll all be fine.

So, what do you think we should do now, Salai? I don’t think I can stand any more organizing and cleaning.

Let’s go look through the master’s book collection again. He has a few books we can actually understand!

Chapter Two

FLORENCE - APRIL 1506

Salai and Tommaso practically tripped over each other trying to get to Leonardo. He had walked into the workshop as though nothing had ever been wrong.

Do you need us to run any errands for you, Master? Salai blurted out before Tommaso could ask.

Or do you want us to set up some of your easels?

Leonardo shook his head. Not today, gentlemen. We are going to take a walk around our glorious city. We’ll take in the sights. I imagine you are both in desperate need of some fresh air. Tomorrow I plan to get back to work on some of my much-neglected experiments. But not today. Come. We will wander through the city.

Leonardo looked around the space briefly as they headed to the door. Both young men held their breath, wondering what the master would think of their work over the last ten days. At first, Leonardo said nothing. But when he noticed the carefully stacked piles of his notebooks, he smiled slightly.

I see you two have made good use of your time for a change. Let me take one of the smaller notebooks with us.

Salai tried to remember if they had returned the notebook the master had previously rejected to the top of the pile after his earlier angry departure. He hoped they had buried it somewhere in the midst of the stack, just in case there was something in that particular notebook that had angered their master.

Leonardo pulled the top notebook from the stack of his smallest ones, turned some pages to ensure there were enough blank ones to suit his needs, and then tucked the notebook between his belt and his tunic.

Come, you two. A good walk will do us all some good.

With that the three of them exited the workshop. Tommaso wondered whether they would encounter any of the City Fathers on their walk through the city, but he sensed the master wasn’t concerned.

Salai seemed anxious to make up for more than a week’s worth of absence from Leonardo and was quickly talking to him about everything imaginable. Except, Tommaso noticed, the battle painting itself. That was conspicuously absent from the long list of topics Salai was rambling on about.

As the threesome strode through the streets of Florence, Tommaso began to notice that people were looking their direction and whispering. Had the whole city been talking about the painting disaster while they were hiding in the workshop? He hated to think that, but he was beginning to get that sense.

Finally, Tommaso could stand it no more. He moved carefully behind Leonardo’s back until he was walking on the other side of Salai. Quietly, in an attempt to keep Leonardo from hearing him, he whispered, Do you notice people looking at us and whispering as we walk by? Do you think Leonardo’s disaster is the current talk of the town?

Salai looked around carefully as they continued their walk, and then shook his head. What I think is that you are imagining things, Tommaso. No one is paying us any more attention than they ever do. And as far as noticing us, well, we are walking with one of the greatest Florentine artists ever. Of course, people will take notice of us. It doesn’t mean a thing.

Are you sure?

I’m very sure. The only people who may be speaking ill of the master right now are the City Fathers, the detestable Signoria. We both know we haven’t passed any of them since leaving the workshop. It’s hard to miss their ermine-lined, crimson-colored coats. And they wear them even in this spring heat. I’m quite confident they are back at the City Hall with their fearless leader, Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini. He’s thinking up ways to torment yet another artist.

Tommaso started to relax and began looking at the people they passed with a little less suspicion. I suppose you could be right.

Of course, I’m right. Michelangelo walked out on the fresco he was painting on one side of the hall. So, I don’t think anyone can complain about Leonardo not finishing his mural on the other side.

Tommaso was going to object that Michelangelo had merely left his project unfinished, not as a damaged mess. But since neither Salai, or Master Leonardo for that matter, seemed concerned, maybe he should let it go too. After all, it wasn’t his own reputation that was at stake.

With that, Tommaso’s mood brightened and he proceeded along the streets of Florence with his two closest friends in the world, holding his head just a bit higher. Besides, if anyone was really talking badly about the Battle of Anghiari painting, they clearly had not seen it before the disaster. It had truly been a masterpiece.

Chapter Three

FLORENCE - APRIL 1506

Salai burst into the room, wondering what Tommaso could be up to. Then he saw him, standing in a corner studying some of the master’s sketches. Salai practically shouted at Tommaso. Have you heard the news?

Tommaso turned, looking at Salai in concern. What news? Good news? Bad news? You seem very agitated.

Bad news for us. Michelangelo has returned from Rome. Apparently, he felt mistreated by the Pope and ran away.

Tommaso looked at Salai in shock. Oh, no. The master will be impossible to work with now. He gets so angry when people talk to him about the young Michelangelo. Do you think he’ll stay long? Maybe he’ll come to his senses and go back to Rome quickly. Tommaso said the words but knew he didn’t really believe them.

I heard the news this morning when I was in the market shopping. I also heard Michelangelo was planning to get back to work on his battle fresco.

Tommaso cringed again. If