I have walked among kings and scholars, warriors and poets. I have seen men forge empires upon the blade, and others shape eternity with ink and brush. Yet, I write to you now, not as a master of art, but as the artificer of war I once claimed to be.
To Lord Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, I once wrote a letter—not of portraits or celestial studies, but of destruction and conquest. In those days, Italy was not a nation but a tapestry of warring states, each vying for power through cunning and steel. I sought a patron, and so I spoke the language of my time: war.
I pledged to build war machines, siege engines, unassailable fortresses, and bridges that could be raised and burned at will. I detailed cannon that rained fire like a tempest, armored vehicles that would pierce through the heart of the enemy, and secret tunnels that would deliver victory unseen.
Yet, let me ask you, men of this age: What has changed?
Your cannons no longer hurl mere stones but fire and ruin upon entire cities. Your bridges are not made to fall at the hands of men but by the press of a button. Your machines do not march under the banners of dukes and kings but operate in shadows, faceless and unseen. In my time, war was waged by men who looked their enemy in the eye. Do you, now?
When I wrote to Ludovico Sforza, I did so not out of love for war but for survival. A man must serve before he may create. And so I built, I studied, I devised. Yet in the halls of Milan, my greatest works were not engines of destruction, but visions of eternity. For it was under Ludovico’s patronage that I painted The Last Supper, a study not of war but of the human soul, caught in the instant of betrayal and revelation. I dissected bodies, not to perfect the wound but to understand the miracle of life. I dreamed of flight, not to rain fire from the heavens but to touch them.
The war machines I promised, I never built. And perhaps, in this, you may find a lesson.
I ask you, masters of your own age: Do you build to destroy, or do you destroy to build? Does your genius serve war, or does it serve creation? The tools you wield now are greater than any I could have dreamed of. But what will you make with them?
If you must be warriors, be warriors of vision, of knowledge, of art. If you must conquer, let it be ignorance that falls beneath your feet. And if you must wage war, then let it be a war on that which would chain the human spirit.
For I have designed war machines. But I have also painted angels. Choose your legacy well.
—Leonardo da Vinci
Translation of Leonardo’s letter is as follows:
My Most Illustrious Lord,
Having now sufficiently seen and considered the achievements of all those who count themselves masters and artificers of instruments of war, and having noted that the invention and performance of the said instruments is in no way different from that in common usage, I shall endeavour, while intending no discredit to anyone else, to make myself understood to Your Excellency for the purpose of unfolding to you my secrets, and thereafter offering them at your complete disposal, and when the time is right bringing into effective operation all those things which are in part briefly listed below:
1. I have plans for very light, strong and easily portable bridges with which to pursue and, on some occasions, flee the enemy, and others, sturdy and indestructible either by fire or in battle, easy and convenient to lift and place in position. Also means of burning and destroying those of the enemy.
2. I know how, in the course of the siege of a terrain, to remove water from the moats and how to make an infinite number of bridges, mantlets and scaling ladders and other instruments necessary to such an enterprise.
3. Also, if one cannot, when besieging a terrain, proceed by bombardment either because of the height of the glacis or the strength of its situation and location, I have methods for destroying every fortress or other stranglehold unless it has been founded upon a rock or so forth.
4. I have also types of cannon, most convenient and easily portable, with which to hurl small stones almost like a hail-storm; and the smoke from the cannon will instil a great fear in the enemy on account of the grave damage and confusion.
5. Also, I have means of arriving at a designated spot through mines and secret winding passages constructed completely without noise, even if it should be necessary to pass underneath moats or any river.
6. Also, I will make covered vehicles, safe and unassailable, which will penetrate the enemy and their artillery, and there is no host of armed men so great that they would not break through it. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow, quite uninjured and unimpeded.
7. Also, should the need arise, I will make cannon, mortar and light ordnance of very beautiful and functional design that are quite out of the ordinary.
8. Where the use of cannon is impracticable, I will assemble catapults, mangonels, trebuckets and other instruments of wonderful efficiency not in general use. In short, as the variety of circumstances dictate, I will make an infinite number of items for attack and defence.
9. And should a sea battle be occasioned, I have examples of many instruments which are highly suitable either in attack or defence, and craft which will resist the fire of all the heaviest cannon and powder and smoke.
10. In time of peace I believe I can give as complete satisfaction as any other in the field of architecture, and the construction of both public and private buildings, and in conducting water from one place to another.
Also I can execute sculpture in marble, bronze and clay. Likewise in painting, I can do everything possible as well as any other, whosoever he may be.
Moreover, work could be undertaken on the bronze horse which will be to the immortal glory and eternal honour of the auspicious memory of His Lordship your father, and of the illustrious house of Sforza.
And if any of the above-mentioned things seem impossible or impracticable to anyone, I am most readily disposed to demonstrate them in your park or in whatsoever place shall please Your Excellency, to whom I commend myself with all possible humility.