Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo

While Leonardo is sketching the San Lorenzo Cathedral, Salaì brings a message, fixed with the papal army’s seal. Rather than arresting Leonardo for attacking the soldiers, Cesare Borgia wishes to hire him as a military engineer. Salaì worries about betraying Florence to work for Borgia, but Leonardo thinks about the “wonderful opportunity.” Leonardo meets with Machiavelli, Florence’s youngest diplomat, to present a counteroffer that Florence hire Leonardo as a military engineer. Machiavelli inspects Borgia’s letter and agrees to arrange a meeting with the city council regarding the offer. Together, Machiavelli and Leonardo prepare a presentation for the council. During the presentation, however, Machiavelli seems to have a greater understanding of recent events than Leonardo. Ignoring this setback, Leonardo explains the weakness of Florence’s defense in “stark detail.” He describes his plans to improve the defenses with his many inventions, including flying machines, and asks for unlimited funds as a negotiation tactic.

The council, however, seems more interested in paying Borgia to bring about peace. Machiavelli surprises Leonardo by agreeing that “protection money is our best answer” (152). They agree to pay Borgia 30,000 florins every year, rejecting Leonardo’s plans. Leonardo realizes that Machiavelli manipulated him “to further his own agenda” (153). Leonardo leaves, criticizing Machiavelli as a liar and a hypocrite. Leonardo begins to feel as though all of Florence hates him, except the woman named Lisa. When he returns home, he finds the notary at his door with bad news: The friars are cancelling his contract due to the lack of progress. Inside his apartment, Leonardo finds a letter from Lisa’s husband, offering to hire him to paint a portrait of Lisa, whose full name is Madonna Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo. Instead, Leonardo accepts Borgia’s offer to become his military engineer.

Michelangelo is shocked when Granacci tells him that Borgia hired Leonardo. Michelangelo is still reeling from being thrown out of his family home and still waiting for his marble to speak to him. He’s too much of a patriot to understand how Leonardo could betray his hometown. He swears to create so magnificent a statue that “the whole world will forget the traitorous name of Leonardo da Vinci” (159). As he watches the traditional Easter firework display, Michelangelo is struck by inspiration. He runs to his cathedral and locks himself inside. Finally, the marble speaks to him, and he knows exactly what to carve. Whereas other artists depicted David in the moments after his victory over Goliath, Michelangelo will show David in the time before his fight, standing alone, facing forward with his sling and stone. In addition, the statue will be nude as a tribute to God’s “most perfect creation” (161). Michelangelo begins to carve.

Leonardo has worked for Borgia for nine months, but his latest invention, an armored vehicle, struggles to work on the battlefield. Leonardo finds himself alone amid the violence, privately thankful that his machine failed rather than killed dozens of people. Borgia’s army is slaughtering the city of Cesena, and Leonardo tries to find a safe place amid the chaos, praying to his “angel,” Lisa, to save him. Fearing that he’ll die, Leonardo flees the battle and returns to the camp. When he wakes up, the battle is over. He finds Machiavelli cooking a meal beside him. The young diplomat, however, seems thin and pale. War has chastened him; he failed to convince Borgia to sign a peace deal with Florence despite the vast sums the Florentines paid Borgia’s army. Leonardo doesn’t trust Machiavelli, even though the diplomat assures Leonardo that he wishes to help a fellow Florentine. The Florentine council rebuked Machiavelli, he reveals. Leonardo worries that Florence talks only of his betrayal, but Machiavelli reveals that everyone in the city is instead obsessed with Michelangelo’s statue. They discuss Borgia: Leonardo deplores Borgia’s violence, but Machiavelli is more pragmatic, admiring the tyrannical use of violence to instill fear in people. Machiavelli doesn’t care about the moral complications of this and considers Borgia a “genius” (170). After the conversation, Leonardo worries that he has allowed Michelangelo, his rival as the era’s foremost artist, to defeat him. Machiavelli reminds Leonardo that “a true master uses his enemy’s strengths against him” (171).

An anonymous letter summons Michelangelo to the top of the bell tower in the Palazzo della Signoria, the civic center of Florence. Michelangelo climbs the tower, feeling good about the meeting. He’s pleased that the people of Florence have warmed to him as he carves David, though his family still refuses to speak to him. He learns from Buonarroto that Giovansimone, at a game of cards, lost the 400 florins Michelangelo gave the family. Michelangelo won’t be allowed back home, Lodovico declares, until he renounces his art. At the top of the tower, Michelangelo finds Piero Soderini, now elected as lifetime leader of the city’s government. Soderini talks about Florence’s history; Michelangelo wasn’t in the city for many of these historical moments. Soderini wants to inspire the people of Florence to fight for the city. The conversation, which Soderini asks that he keep private, confuses Michelangelo. Soderini leaves, and Michelangelo, though confused, suspects that the pressure to finish his statue has “intensified.”