impulse of the investigator.[1] It is known how frequently great artists found pleasure in giving vent to their phantasies in erotic and even grossly obscene representations; in contradistinction to this Leonardo left only some anatomical drawings of the woman's internal genitals, the position of the child in the womb, etc.
It is doubtful whether Leonardo ever embraced a woman in love, nor is it known that he ever entertained an intimate spiritual relation with a woman as in the case of Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna. While he still lived as an apprentice in the house of his master Verrocchio, he with other young men were accused of forbidden homosexual relations which ended in his acquittal. It seems that he came into this suspicion because he employed as a model a boy of evil repute.[2] When he was a master he surrounded himself with hand-
- ↑ His collected witticisms—belle facezie,—which are not translated, may be an exception. Cf. Herzfeld, Leonardo da Vinci, p. 151.
- ↑ According to Scognamiglio (l. c. p. 49) reference is made to this episode in an obscure and even variously interpreted passage of the Codex Atlanticus: “Quando io feci Domeneddio putto voi mi metteste in prigione, ora s'io lo fo grande, voi mi farete peggio.”
