And all that he had and
knew he imparted, as rich natures always do, without the least reserve,
giving away his chief discoveries for nothing. But the deepest spring
of his nature has yet to be spoken of -- the sympathetic intensity with
which he entered into the whole life around him. At the sight of noble
trees and waving cornfields he shed tears; handsome and dignified old
men he honored as 'a delight of nature,' and could never look at them
enough. Perfectly formed animals won his goodwill as being specially
favored by nature; and more than once, when he was ill, the sight of a
beautiful landscape cured him. No wonder that those who saw him in this
close and mysterious communion with the world ascribed to him the gift
of prophecy. He was said to have foretold a bloody catastrophe in the
family of Este, the fate of Florence and that of the Popes many years
beforehand, and to be able to read in the countenances and the hearts
of men. It need not be added that an iron will pervaded and sustained
his whole personality; like all the great men of the Renaissance, he
said, 'Men can do all things if they will.'
And Leonardo da Vinci was to Alberti as the finisher to the beginner,
as the master to the _dilettante_. Would only that Vasari's work were
here supplemented by a description like that of Alberti! The colossal
outlines of Leonardo's nature can never be more than dimly and
distantly conceived.
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