Leonardo da Vinci returned to his native Florence from Milan. Florence was still reeling from the period under Savonarola, who seized power in 1494 by leading a religious rebellion against the Medici family. He then burned books and works of art in the “Bonfire of the Vanities” in 1497, but the following year public opinion turned against him, and he was hanged and burned in the square. When Leonardo entered the city, Florence had once again become a republic celebrating the arts, but the city’s soul was shaken and no longer what it had been before. Leonardo made Florence his base from 1500 to 1506, the most productive period of his life, where he made fundamental contributions to paintings such as the “Mona Lisa” (“La Gioconda”), “Saint Anne, the Virgin and Child with a Lamb,” and “Leda and the Swan.” Leonardo was approaching 50, dressing and behaving like a dandy: in his notes, like a good notary’s son, he meticulously recorded his wardrobe: it included long dresses in pink, purple, and violet, with matching caps. Dressing was eccentric even in Florence at the time, and Leonardo played with it, expressing his free spirit. During this period, Leonardo also received a commission from Isabella d’Este, Duchess of Ferrara, which, however, due to various ups and downs over the years, he never agreed to carry out, beyond a preparatory sketch (now preserved in the Louvre) made in 1500.
