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different in its architecture and culture. Its Latin name, Mediolanum, was probably derived from its location in the middle of the Plain of Lombardy
(in medio plano).
It was definitely a northern city. Most of its palaces and churches were built in the Romanesque or Gothic style. Unlike Florence, Milan had no elegant town plan. The city’s medieval houses huddled together, creating a labyrinth of narrow, bustling streets.
    The duchy of Milan had been ruled by the Sforza family since 1450. Like the Medici, the Sforzas were cunning and ruthless, but their family tended to be full of warriors rather than bankers. Ludovico Sforza, only a few months older than Leonardo, was one of the wealthiest and most powerful Renaissance princes. 38 Nicknamed
il Moro
(“the Moor”) because of his dark hair and skin, he was also a subtle diplomat whose alliance with the king of France was a potent ingredient in the volatile mixture of Italian politics. With his wife, Beatrice d’Este, Ludovico held an elegant court and spent immense sums of money to further the arts and sciences.
    When Leonardo arrived in Milan, the city had no renowned painters or sculptors, although the Sforza court was filled with doctors, mathematicians, and engineers. Its culture was linked to that of the great universities of northern Italy, whose emphasis was on the study of the physical world rather than on moral philosophy, as had been the case in Florence. 39 While the Medici spent their time composing verses in Tuscan and Latin, 40 Ludovico organized scientific debates among learned professors. In this stimulating intellectual environment, Leonardo soon transcended his Florentine workshop culture and turned toward a more analytic and theoretical approach to the understanding of nature.
    Because he arrived at the Sforza court as a musician, he and Atalante (who was his student on the
lira
, according to the Anonimo Gaddiano) probably played frequently to entertain the court. But Leonardo had no intention of pursuing a musical career. Realizing that the power of the Sforzas came from their military might, and that Milan’s dominant position in trade required a well-functioning city infrastructure, he wrote a carefully composed letter to the Moor, in which he offered his services as a military and civil engineer, and also mentioned his skills as an architect, sculptor, and painter. Leonardo began his letter with a telling reference to his “secrets,” revealing a taste for secrecy that became a characteristic trait of his personality as he became older. 41 “Most illustrious Lord,” he wrote, “having now sufficiently seen and considered the works of all those who claim to be masters and artificers of instruments of war…I shall endeavor, without prejudice to anyone else, to reveal my secrets to your Excellency, and then offer to execute, at your pleasure and at the appropriate time, all the items briefly noted below.”
    He then proceeded to list under nine headings the different instruments of war he had designed and was prepared to build: “I have models for strong but very light bridges, extremely easy to carry…an endless variety of battering rams and scaling ladders…methods of destroying any citadel or fortress that is not built of rock…mortars that are very practical and easy to transport, with which I can fling showers of small stones, and their smoke will cause great terror to the enemy…secret winding underground passages, dug without noise…covered wagons, safe and unassailable, which will penetrate enemy ranks with their artillery…bombards, mortars, and light artillery of beautiful and practical forms…engines to hurl large rocks, fire-throwing catapults, and other unusual instruments of marvelous efficiency.”
    “In short,” he concluded his list, “whatever the situation, I can invent an infinite variety of machines for both attack and defense.” Then he added, almost as an afterthought, “In peacetime, I think I can give perfect