rved to us
in the "Lady with a Weasel," by Leonardo's pupil Boltraffio, which is
now in the Czartoryski Collection at Cracow.

IN THE EAST

The absence of any record of Leonardo in Milan, or elsewhere in Italy,
between 1483 and 1487 has led critics to the conclusion, based on
documentary evidence of a somewhat complicated nature, that he spent
those years in the service of the Sultan of Egypt, travelling in
Armenia and the East as his engineer.

BACK IN MILAN

In 1487 he was again resident in Milan as general artificer--using
that term in its widest sense--to Ludovico. Among his various
activities at this period must be mentioned the designs he made for
the cupola of the cathedral at Milan, and the scenery he constructed
for "Il Paradiso," which was written by Bernardo Bellincioni on the
occasion of the marriage of Gian Galeazzo with Isabella of Aragon.
About 1489-1490 he began his celebrated "Treatise on Painting" and
recommenced work on the colossal equestrian statue of Francesco
Sforza, which was doubtless the greatest of all his achievements as a
sculptor. It was, however, never cast in bronze, and was ruthlessly
destroyed by the French bowmen in April 1500, on their occupation of
Milan after the defeat of Ludovico at the battle of Novara. This is
all the more regrettable as no single authentic piece of sculpture
has come down to us from Leonardo's hand, and we can only judge of his
power in this direction from his drawings, and the enthusiastic
praise of his contemporaries.

[Illustration: PLATE V.--COPY OF THE LAST SUPPER

In the Diploma Gallery, Burlington House

This copy is usually ascribed to Marco d'Oggiono, but some critics
claim that it is by Gianpetrino. It is the same size as the original.]

THE VIRGIN OF THE ROCKS

The "Virgin of the Rocks" (Plate III.), now in the National Gallery,
corresponds exactly with a painting by Leonardo which was described by
Lomazzo about 1584 as being in the Chapel of the Conception in the
Church of St. Francesco at Milan. This picture, the only _oeuvre_
in this gallery with which Leonardo's name can be connected, was
brought to England in 1777 by Gavin Hamilton, and sold by him to the
Marquess of Lansdowne, who subsequently exchanged it for another
picture in the Collection of the Earl of Suffolk at Charlton Park,
Wiltshire, from whom it was eventually purchased by the National
Gallery for L9000. Signor Emilio Motta, some fifteen years ago,
une