To live and work in the vibrant, handsomely funded world of the Renaissance meant accepting its macabre realities and the ubiquity of bloodshed, crime, and war. So it was no coincidence that Leonardo positioned himself to Ludovico Sforza as a man who could do more than merely paint like an angel. He knew that to be truly great required a measure of pragmatism—being able to turn one’s ingenuity to all manner of ends, including, if necessary, diabolical ones.
