two shirts, a pair of pants, and a jacket, and as I put the money away to pay for the things named he stole the money from my purse, and it was never possible to make him confess, although I was absolutely sure of it (marginal note: 4 Lira . . .).” So the report continues concerning the misdeeds of the little boy and concludes with the expense account: “In the first year, a cloak. Lira 2: 6 shirts, Lira 4: 3 jackets. Lira 6: 4 pair of socks. Lira 7, etc.”[1]
Leonardo's biographers, to whom nothing was further than to solve the riddle in the psychic life of their hero from these slight weaknesses and peculiarities, were wont to remark in connection with these peculiar accounts that they emphasized the kindness and consideration of the master for his pupils. They forget thereby that it is not Leonardo's behavior that needs an explanation, but the fact that he left us these testimonies of it. As it is impossible to ascribe to him the motive of smuggling into our hands proofs of his kindness, we must assume that another affective motive caused him to write this down. It is not easy to con-
- ↑ The full wording is found in M. Herzfeld, l. c. p. 45.
