It is the year of 1476 and we find ourselves in the Repubblica Fiorentina, or "Firenze" as people will be calling it centruries later. The city is thriving under the vigilance of the great and powerful Medici bankers. The rich people bathe themselves in gold, whereas the poor have plenty of sources to steal from -although it's a high price to pay once you get caught. Only a select few would consider themselves unhappy in this colourful city, always vibrating loudly with its illustrious parties, overflowing market places, beautiful courtesans, busy art parlors, etc. Lurking in the shadows, however, there will always be persons whom seek to overthrow the system and seize power for their own selfish purposes. Of course, it was no different in la Repubblica Fiorentina. Especially in these times, politics are as fickle as the changing of the tides and every man is on his own at the end of the day. Notice how a say "man" and do no allow women to be concluded in this fact. The reason for this is because, after all, women both fair and foul can always find a man to lean upon -although not always free of charge. But no matter who seizes power over the city, or who gets overthrown, the subjects of Firenze will never lose sleep such these trivial issues and they will continue to thrive alongside its political havoc; one could say Firenze is a very ungrateful city. But no matter, because in the midst of this city so much alive, we will but follow a young man whose contribution to the whole world will make himself go down in history -for a whole variety of reasons. His name is Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo didn't care much for politics to be perfectly candid. What interested him were how things worked -what made a clock tick- and politics simply didn't provide much of a challenge for this young man to be even remotely interested in it. No, Leonardo wanted knowledge into the human body and invent technical mechanisms. In a way, you could say he wanted to take a glimpse at God's creation and become one himself. Not a God, of course, but a creator. He was a dreamer all right. It was because of this dream of his, that Leonardo had become an apprentice under a painter that went by the name of "Verrocchio". Today, however, he had finally been released into the vast wild of Firenze's artistic corner, situated in a quarter near the cathedral, to open his own workshop. It was not situated in the busy street that he had worked in previously, but he certainly welcomed the decrease in street chatter. The main problem Leonardo might encounter would be the lack of transmissions, for the competition was right at the beginning of the next street -which happened to be on a mainroad as well with herds of passers-by- and was occupied by Di Moriano Filipepi. Maybe you know him by the name of "Botticelli". He diverted all possible customers Leonardo could receive and gobbled them all up into his own crazily filled-to-the-brim-workshop. Assistants, apprentices and models were always running in and out of it, which made it hard not to attract an idling crowd, curious and hungry to catch a glimpse of the masterpieces to come. Leonardo didn't care much for the hullabaloo and liked his newly found peace and quiet. He started unloading his possessions and assigning each of them to a befitting place in the big, dusty and empty room. Before he knew it, it was sunset. He sat down on one of the cupboards, heaved a big sigh and looked around. What a mess. "And I'm probably not nearly halfway done," Leonardo said dejectedly "I might get an aid tomorrow after all. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't even be able to get any painting done." He let his body slide down the cupboard until his whole body was lying on the ground. The brown, stone tiles were cold to the touch and he swiftly turned his whole body belly-down, completely outstretched, absorbing as much refreshment as possible from the dirty tiles. It didn't take long or he had already fallen asleep.
KONCK KNOCK
Leonardo startled. He heaved himself up, dirtying his hands even more and looked out of the window. "What a cloudy day," Leonardo though as only a grey, misty haze was visible from the inside. Confused by the sudden change of weather, mid-summer, he leaned in and wiped one glass of the window with his shirt. The sun was shining high and bright in a soft blue sky.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Trying to loosen his stiff neck from his horrible sleeping position, he managed to crack some cervical vertebrae. Feeling the stiffness disappear slowly, as a warm sensation flowed through his neck, he shuffled towards the door.
"I have a letter for you from mi signora." As soon as the message had been delivered, the young boy thrusted a letter into Leonardo's hands and disappeared as quickly as the sun had risen that very morning. Slightly bewildered, Leonardo stared into the streets to see the workshops as busy as usual. The colourful fabrics of the passers-by shone brightly as they ruffled it in the blazing sun -merging together to look like the clearest sea imagineable that would grow the healthiest fish in all harmony. A truly astonishing sight to the yet sleepy eyes of Leonardo. A platter flew out of Verrocchio's workshop. At this sight, Leonardo shut the door firmly "Seems like the Medici have asked something impossible from their favourite artist once again." Leonardo chuckled, relieved he was no longer a part of that inferno. He rubbed his eyes for a while and looked down, remembering the letter and the message that had come along with it, so abruptly. Opening it, the letter had been written by hand in the most elegant handwriting Leonardo had ever had the pleasure to read.
Messere Da Vinci,
If you would have some time to spare tomorrow, I would like to place a few orders. Naturally, I will expect paintings of your best hand. We will discuss the details further when we meet.
Sinceramente,
Maria Auditore da Firenze.
Leonardo's first client -and so soon! Lost for words, he looked around his workshop. Still the same mess in which he had left it yesterday. Starting to panic, for he had recognised that infamous name, he tried cleaning up some of the mess. But alas, the clutter was already omnipresent in his workshop and didn't seem to become any better -maybe even worse. Soon Leonardo gave up and stammered out of his workshop in dire need of an assistant.