eat the latter supernaturally.
That mystery which lesser minds found in the occult, he saw in nature
all about him. He denied the existence of spirits, just as he urged
the foolishness of the will-o'-the-wisps of former ages,--alchemy and
the black art. In one sentence he destroyed the pretensions of
palmistry. "You will see," he wrote, "great armies slaughtered in an
hour's time, where in each individual the signs of the hands are
different."

His art took, thus, its guidance in realism, its purpose in
spirituality. The search for truth and the desire for beauty were the
twin ideals he strove to attain. The keenness of this pursuit saved
him from the blemish of egoism which aloofness from his surroundings
would otherwise have forced upon him. For his character presented the
anomaly, peculiar to the Renaissance, of a lofty idealism coupled in
action with {xxi} irresponsibility of duty. He stood on a higher
plane, his attitude toward life recognizing no claims on the part of
his fellowmen. In his desire to surpass himself, fostered by this
isolation of spirit and spurred on by the eager wish to attain
universal knowledge, he has been compared to Faust; but the likeness is
only half correct. He was not blind to the limitations which
encompassed him, his very genius making him realize their bounds. Of
the ancients he said that in attempting to define the nature of the
soul, they sought the impossible. He wrote elsewhere, "It is the
infinite alone that cannot be attained, for if it could it would become
finite."

In Leonardo's personality was reflected both the strength and weakness
of Renaissance Italy. So, to know him, it is necessary to understand
the Italy of that age. Its brilliancy, its universality, its desire
for beauty, are but one side of the medal. On its reverse, Italy
lacked the solid vigour of a national purpose. The discord of
political disunion, reacting on art, laid bare great weakness in the
want of any constructive direction, toward which the strength of the
Renaissance could aim. The energy was there, whether finding an outlet
in statecraft or in discovery, in art or in letters. But it laboured
for no common end; there was internal unity of force and method, but
external divergence of purpose. The tyranny of petty despots could
provide no adequate ideal toward {xxii} which to aim. No ruler, and no
city save Venice, could long symbolize the nation's patriotism.
Venetian painters alon