Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent,
sovereign of Florence; was distinguished as a patron of art, science, and
letters, and as occupant of the chair of St. Peter at the outbreak of the
Reformation, and as by his issue of indulgences for the replenishment of
his treasure provoking the movement and rousing the ire of Luther, which
set the rest of Europe on fire.

LEO XIII., 257th Pope of Rome, born at Carpineto; distinguished at
college in mathematics, physics, and philosophy; took holy orders in
1837, was nuncio to Belgium in 1843, became bishop of Perugia in 1846,
cardinal 1853, and Pope in 1878; holds to his rights as Pope both secular
and spiritual; believes in the Catholic Church as the only regenerator of
society, and hails every show of encroach it makes on the domain of
Protestantism as promise of its universal restoration; _b_. 1810.

LEON, an ancient kingdom in the NE. of Spain, united with Castile in
1230, with a capital of the same name 256 m. NW. of Madrid. Also the name
of a city in Nicaragua and another in Mexico.

LEONARDO DA VINCI, celebrated painter and sculptor of the Florentine
school, born at Vinci in the Val d'Arno; showed early a wonderful
aptitude for art; studied under Andrea del Verrocchio, but so surpassed
him in his work as to drive him to renounce the painter's art; his great
work, executed by him at Milan, was the famous picture of the "Last
Supper," which he painted in oil about 1497 on the wall of the refectory
of the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle Grazie; it perished from
the dampness of the wall almost as soon as it was finished, but happily
copies were taken of it before decay had ruined it; besides, Leonardo did
in 1503 at Florence the famous cartoon of the Battle of the Standard; he
was a man of imposing personal appearance, of very wide range of ability,
and distinguished himself in engineering as well as art; he wrote a
"Treatise on Painting," which has been widely translated (1452-1519).

LEONIDAS, king of Sparta from 491 to 480 B.C.; opposed Xerxes, the
Persian, who threatened Greece with a large army, and kept him at bay at
the Pass of Thermopylae with 300 Spartans and 5000 auxiliaries till he was
betrayed by EPHIALTES (q. v.), when he and his 300 threw
themselves valiantly on the large host, and perished fighting to the last
man.

LEONIDS, meteors which descend in showers during November in certain
years, their chief centre being the constellation Leo.