have to be avoided or passed; for the course and spaces of the
deserts and sandy pits of the bad roads and of the woods and forests; all
this done in any other way is badly understood, but by drawing and
sketching all is very clear and intelligible; all of these are great
things in warlike undertakings, and the drawings of the painter greatly
aid and assist the intentions and plans of the captain. What better thing
can any brave cavalier do than show before the eyes of the raw and
inexperienced soldiers the shape of the city that they have to attack
before they approach it, what river, what mountains and what towns have to
be passed on the morrow? And the Italians, at least, say that, if the
Emperor when he entered Provence had first ordered the course of the river
Rodano to be drawn, he would not have sustained such great losses, nor
retired his army in disorder, nor would he have been painted afterwards in
Rome as a crab, which crawls sideways, with the words borne by the columns
of Hercules, _Plus ultra_, for, wishing to go forward, he went back. And I
well believe that Alexander the Great in his great undertakings frequently
made use of the skill of Apelles, even if he himself did not know how to
draw. And in the works and commentaries, written by the monarch Julius
Caesar, we may see how much he availed himself of drawing, through some
capable man whom he had in his army. And I even think that the said Caesar
was extremely intelligent in painting, that the great Captain Pompey drew
very well and with style, he being vanquished by Caesar, as Caesar was a
better draughtsman. And I assert that a modern captain who commands a
great army and who is not capable and intelligent in painting and cannot
draw, cannot do any great feats or deeds of arms; and that he who
understands and esteems it will do deeds of renown which will be long
remembered, and will know his ways and how he stands, and how and where he
will break through, and how he will order his retreat, and he will know
how to make his victory appear much greater. For painting in war is not
only advantageous but very necessary. What country warmed by the sun is
more bellicose and better armed than our Italy, or where are there more
continuous wars and greater routs and sieges? and in what country warmed
by the sun is painting more esteemed and celebrated than in Italy?"

M. Angelo was already reposing when Joao Capata said:

"It indeed seems to me, Master Michael,