for turning the course of the Arno, and in the
following year he lost his father. In 1505 he modelled the group which
we now see over the northern door of the San Giovanni, at Florence. In
1514 he was invited to Rome by Leo X., but more in his character of
philosopher, mechanic, and alchemist, than as a painter. Here Raphael
was at the height of his fame, and engaged in his greatest works, the
frescos of the Vatican. The younger artist was introduced to the
elder; and two pictures which Leonardo painted while at Rome--the
"Madonna of St. Onofrio," and the "Holy Family," painted for Filiberta
of Savoy, the pope's sister-in-law (which is now at St.
Petersburg)--show that even this veteran in art felt the irresistible
influence of the genius of his young rival. They are both
_Raffaelesque_ in the subject and treatment.

It appears that Leonardo was ill-satisfied with his sojourn at Rome.
He had long been accustomed to hold the first rank as an artist
wherever he resided; whereas at Rome he found himself only one among
many who, if they acknowledged his greatness, affected to consider his
day as past. He was conscious that many of the improvements in the
arts which were now brought into use, and which enabled the painters
of the day to produce such extraordinary effects, were invented or
introduced by himself. If he could no longer assert that measureless
superiority over all others which he had done in his younger days, it
was because he himself had opened to them new paths to excellence. The
arrival of his old competitor, Michael Angelo, and some slight on the
part of Leo X., who was annoyed by his speculative and dilatory habits
in executing the works intrusted to him, all added to his irritation
and disgust. He left Rome, and set out for Pavia, where the French
king, Francis I., then held his court. He was received by the young
monarch with every mark of respect, loaded with favors, and a pension
of 700 gold crowns settled on him for life. At the famous conference
between Francis I. and Leo X., at Bologna, Leonardo attended his new
patron, and was of essential service to him on that occasion. In the
following year, 1516, he returned with Francis I. to France, and was
attached to the French court as principal painter. It appears,
however, that during his residence in France he did not paint a single
picture. His health had begun to decline from the time he left Italy;
and feeling his end approach, he prepared himself fo