Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo

Florence’s “most prominent men” (240) argue about the David statue. Some artists are appalled that Donatello’s statue may be moved, but others argue that it symbolizes Medici power and brings bad luck. Leonardo is invited to comment. Privately, the idea that Michelangelo should receive praise and adulation horrifies him. Publicly, he insists that he doesn’t care. However, he warns that the new pope may take offence since “a colossal nude male statue is controversial” (242). Michelangelo interrupts, announcing that he’s ready to finish his statue, but he doesn’t deny Leonardo’s accusation that the nude statue features an “uncircumcised penis and intricately carved pubic hair” (243). Michelangelo turns on Leonardo, claiming that he has exposed his soul for the world to see through his art, while Leonardo maintains a guarded emotional distance. The council votes in Michelangelo’s favor: Once finished, the statue will be installed in front of the Palazzo della Signoria. Feeling old, Leonardo leaves. He vents to Salaì that “someone ought to destroy that damned statue” (245). Leonardo hopes that by finishing his own works and perhaps showing that he can fly, he can prove that he’s better than Michelangelo.

Pope Julius exiles Cesare Borgia to Spain. Florence celebrates, though rumors spread that Piero de’ Medici’s younger brothers plan to invade the city. Michelangelo works tirelessly to polish the statue, leaving only a spot to assure viewers that “the statue did not drop to earth perfectly formed, but was brought to life out of a real piece of stone by the hand of a real human man” (246). His hands are brutalized, and his sight has worsened. When he studies his work, he’s pleased, but he worries about how such a large, heavy statue can be moved more than 2,000 paces to where it will be installed.

Leonardo studies the dam he’s constructing in the Arno. The dam, the fresco, and the portrait are progressing well. He realizes that Michelangelo’s younger brother, Buonarroto, works on the construction project. Buonarroto praises Leonardo’s “genius” and asks for help, as his brother can’t conceive of a way to move his gigantic statue. If the statue isn’t installed in time, Machiavelli insists that Michelangelo won’t be paid. Buonarroto asks Leonardo to use his genius to help Michelangelo, but Leonardo suggests that he’s too busy, unless Michelangelo comes to him in person to ask for advice. Desperate to finish his projects before Michelangelo can unveil his statue, he orders the foreman to hurry the project, ignoring a suggestion to add more stone for stability. He insists that his specifications “will hold.”

Michelangelo is horrified that his younger brother asked Leonardo for help. Though the statue could be irreparably damaged in transit, Michelangelo will “never ask for Leonardo’s help” (254). Instead, he and a team of workers loaded the David onto a transportation device. It will be moved the next day. Soderini warns that “pro-Medici rebels” (255) who have infiltrated the city may attack the statue, which they claim carries an anti-Medici message. Michelangelo insists that his statue is pro-Florence, regardless of the ruler. He promises Soderini to get his statue into place. After a sleepless night, Michelangelo checks his transportation device and prepares for the journey. He prays to God to protect his statue. Then, rain begins to fall. They must wait until it stops. Michelangelo is relieved that he has more time to ensure the statue’s safety.

After two days of constant rain, Leonardo thinks about his fresco. He worries that rain and dampness might cause his new fresco to rot, since The Last Supper is beginning to crumble. Leonardo meticulously plans his composition based on his violent memories of “the never-ending cycle of war” (259). Salaì bursts in to say that Leonardo’s levees have broken and his dam is ruined. Workers are dying, and Salaì worries that people will blame Leonardo for the “carnage.” Leonardo is less concerned, but when they visit the river, he finds the streets flooded because of his construction work. Dead bodies float past him. As a wave sweeps him away, he realizes that his designs “caused this devastation” (263).

In the Santa Croce Basilica, Michelangelo and his family learn that the levees have broken. Michelangelo worries about his brother and rushes to help. He spots Buonarroto, only to see his younger brother fall under the collapsing dam. Michelangelo dives into the water to save Buonarroto and drags him to the shore. When they’re ashore, however, he realizes that Buonarroto isn’t breathing. Weeping, Michelangelo cradles his brother “like the Virgin at the base of the cross” (267).

The flood carries Leonardo to Piazza Santa Maria Novella, where Salaì finds him. Leonardo compares floods to war, a “jumble of death and pain and unnecessary chaos” (268). He shares a childhood memory that inspired him to think about diverting rivers. On the day he was first apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio, he jumped off the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Swimming in the Arno felt like flying, he explains to Salaì, and he imagined swimming all around the river, refusing to follow “the paths set by others” (269). Leonardo struggles to think about how to repair the diverted river and heads back toward the Arno. That night, he pulls many men and many dead bodies from the water. He sees Michelangelo desperately cradling his brother on the distant shore as Buonarroto spits out the river water and gasps for air. Eventually, the rain stops, and the river returns to its normal course. Leonardo reflects on the destruction that his “arrogant” plans caused to Florence.

The flood kills 80 Florentines. Most people lose someone close, and the grief and bereavement will take years to process. Michelangelo asks Buonarroto to tell him how the levees broke. Leonardo has been missing since the flood, so no one can ask him what went wrong. The thought of pressure building up until it reaches breaking point gives Michelangelo a moment of inspiration, so he runs to the cathedral where his statue is waiting to be moved. He believes that the best way to move the statue will be by trying to destabilize (rather than stabilize) the massive marble figure.

Leonardo has a familiar nightmare, in which he sees Michelangelo, the cathedral, and Mona Lisa again and again. He feels as though Mona Lisa is trying to tell him something, but the arrival of the flood always interrupts her. Machiavelli assured Leonardo that the flood was not his fault. Instead, he blames the terrible storm and the construction workers. Soderini attributes the flood to “God’s will,” while few members of the public blame him. In the weeks since the flood, Leonardo stopped caring about his appearance. He dedicates all his time to finishing the portrait of Mona Lisa, “the only thing that [gives] him comfort” (276). He’s making subtle changes to the portrait to reflect the subject’s unknowability and mystery. He wants to “capture her soul” (277) but wishes he knew her better. This continues until he receives a letter from the notary. Unwilling to read it, Leonardo instead writes a private letter to Madonna Lisa del Giocondo.

Michelangelo and a team of 40 men move the David statue through the streets by suspending it with ropes. By rocking it, they move it gradually on a series of rollers to the piazza where it will be placed. However, the crowd’s happiness is interrupted by a shout and shattering glass. Someone throws a bottle at the statue, proclaiming loyalty to Medici. Michelangelo challenges the bottle-thrower to come forward, but no one does. Granacci and Soderini suggest that they pause the work, leaving the statue on the cathedral grounds, and resume transporting it the next day. Michelangelo fears for his statue’s safety. He insists that they continue the journey until sunset. They leave the statue in the streets, and Michelangelo wants to stay the night beside it. Insisting that Michelangelo rest, Granacci promises to guard the statue “with [his] life” (283).

Mona Lisa responds to Leonardo’s letter, in which he asked to meet privately with her in the Florence baptistry. She asks to meet when her husband will be watching the David statue being moved through the streets. When they meet, she accepts partial blame for urging Leonardo to work on the defenses, which went so tragically wrong. Before she can leave, Leonardo speaks frankly about his relationship with his late mother. She often hid the truth from him and now, Leonardo asks Mona Lisa to tell him truthfully where he appears “utterly ridiculous to the outside world” (285). At first, she tells him, she felt as though he treated her like an ancient artefact. Later, he was different. She wishes to go, insisting that she’s a “wife and a mother” (286) who shouldn’t be seen alone with a man who isn’t her husband. She suggests that he maintain the “scientific objectivity” that he once told her was so important, even though he talked, flirted, and connected with her. She felt as though he were trying to tempt her into sin. He apologizes, telling her how he grew up both accepted and ostracized, because his father and others saw him as “half man, half bastard” (288). The eight-sided baptistry, he says, represents new beginnings, and he needs a new beginning. She similarly wants to start a new life but believes that it isn’t possible. Leonardo shows her pictures from his sketchbook. He passes by sketches of the many significant women (and men) in his life until he arrives at a picture of his mother, Caterina, who was sold to his father’s household as an enslaved person at age 14. Leonardo has no real family, he says, only his unfinished, abandoned paintings. Before Mona Lisa leaves, she agrees to meet him again.

Before dawn, Granacci tells Michelangelo that the David statue was attacked. Vitelli chased the vandals away before they could inflict much damage, Granacci says, but they may return. Soderini blames Medici supporters and assures Michelangelo that he has the city’s full backing. Granacci blames himself for falling asleep when he should have stood guard. Michelangelo takes over the guard, but he too falls asleep, until another attack wakes him. He throws the rocks back at the attackers, unleashing “months and years and decades of frustration and anger” (293). Eventually, the streets turn silent, and Michelangelo returns to his guard.

Leonardo returns to an empty studio and works on the painting. Salaì appears in muddy shoes and reveals that he was one of the attackers who tried to destroy the David. Due to the Medici supporters earlier in the day, he says, no one will know that Salaì and his friends were responsible for the attack. The David statue, he says, is “surely dead,” just as Leonardo wanted. Leonardo is shocked that Salaì took his words of anger so literally. Leonardo blames Salaì for doing “such a terrible thing” (297), but Salaì claims that he did so for love.

The vandals don’t return, but Michelangelo won’t know the extent of the damage until the tarp placed over the David during transit is removed. Until then, he must focus on moving the statue. After five days, the statue arrives at the Piazza della Signoria. More than a week is needed to move it into place for a public unveiling. Before the unveiling, they remove the tarp and inspect the statue. Michelangelo announces that God protected the statue: It is undamaged. Other artists proclaim the statue’s beauty, but Soderini suggests that the nose may be too “thick.” Rather than getting angry, Michelangelo pretends to adjust it, using marble dust from his pocket to make his deception convincing. Soderini praises the change. He hands Michelangelo a large sack of money, enough to support all his family’s needs, as a reward “for a job well done” (302). More than the money, however, Michelangelo craves the approval of his fellow Florentines.

Leonardo and Mona Lisa stroll together. Soderini plans a grand unveiling of Michelangelo’s David, but Leonardo uses his influence to give Mona Lisa a preview as an excuse to spend time with her. His portrait of her is still unfinished because, he says, he still must “capture [her] soul” (304). Their walk is interrupted by the arrival of a young man, whom Leonardo recognizes as the notary’s son. He reveals that the notary is dead. Though Leonardo insists that he doesn’t care, Mona Lisa can see that he’s upset. He apologizes that he must send her home without an escort and then walks alone to the notary’s house, pondering the man’s death. He waits outside the house for hours until he sees a procession of mourners carrying the notary’s body. He feels no connection to the dead man or any need to attend the funeral. Instead, he bids farewell to his father, the notary.

After wandering back to his studio in a daze, Leonardo finds Mona Lisa waiting there for him with Salaì. Ignoring Salaì, Leonardo sits down to review his accounts. He turns to the unopened letter, which his father sent after the flood. The letter tells of his father’s sickness and monetary concerns, suggesting that Leonardo visit for dinner. Leonardo thinks about how he and his father can never make amends now. In a burst of energy, he grabs an unfinished set of artificial wings from his studio. Salaì tries to stop him, but he runs from his studio to the hill overlooking Florence to try his flying machine. Salaì and Mona Lisa chase him. Standing on the cliff edge, he recalls his father refusing to marry his mother because she was not “worthy of [his] station” (310). Seeing a bird, Leonardo jumps from the cliff and spreads his wings, gliding through the air. The wings break, and he crashes to the ground, feeling the shame of his “final failure” (312).

Salaì and Mona Lisa carry him back to his studio, and Salaì nurses him back to health. He has many injuries, but after some weeks, he’s well enough to work on Mona Lisa’s portrait. While he’s painting, she visits him. The painting is unfinished, but she’s content to wait until it’s ready before viewing it. She speaks to him about grief and dreams, and then she shares her fear that he was going to die. She can no longer visit him, she says, and he accepts this. Then, she kisses him. After an emotional moment, she pulls away and says goodbye. In the doorway, she flashes him a brief smile that hints at “their brief passion” (315). With the hint of a teasing smile still on her lips, she exits.

Michelangelo polishes the David statue. The grand unveiling is in a week, and he’s nervous, especially because his family hasn’t yet confirmed whether they’ll attend. Granacci brings Michelangelo news about Leonardo, who has revealed a new painting that is supposedly “a miracle to behold” (317). Michelangelo worries until he hears that the subject is “a housewife.” Michelangelo is confident that his moment of glory won’t be diminished by his old rival’s work.

In Santa Maria Novella, Leonardo watches the “stream of fashionable Florentines” (319) who come to see his painting. It will be displayed for only one day. He looks at every woman, hoping to see Mona Lisa. He invited her to the show, but she hasn’t yet visited. Her portrait mesmerizes the crowds, particularly due to the beguiling smile that she flashed to him and which he painted into his work. He’s pleased that everyone will focus on her, truly seeing her for the first time in her life. This is “his gift to her” (320). At the end of the night, Leonardo finally admits to Salaì that he doesn’t believe that she’ll attend.

Michelangelo and Granacci watch the guests leave Leonardo’s studio. They praise the painting. When Granacci falls asleep, Michelangelo enters the Santa Maria Novella church, the same church where he first studied art. He knows it well. Sneaking through the hallways, past the room where he presumes Leonardo is asleep, he approaches the portrait. He’s bemused to find “an average picture of an average woman painted from the waist up” (322). When he examines the portrait closely, however, he’s taken aback by how alive the subject seems. The fleeting, vivid nature of her expression seems “simultaneously full of hope and disappointment” (323). He worries that this small, remarkable painting will overshadow his giant statue. He runs from the studio and considers running from the city, terrified that he’ll “never beat the Master from Vinci” (324).

Leonardo gazes at his painting, thinking that this is “the last time he would lay eyes on Lisa” (325). Though he feels sad, he refuses to delay delivery of the painting, whereupon he’ll relinquish control of it. Per tradition, he must deliver it personally. He crosses the city, realizing that crowds are gathering for the unveiling of Michelangelo’s David. He knocks on Giocondo’s door, determined to accept that this must happen.

After fleeing Leonardo’s studio, Michelangelo spends a week in hiding. He can see the part of the city in the distance where his statue will be unveiled. He worries that he’ll fail to measure up to Florence’s “glorious history.” He remembers the historical artistic rivalries in the city, such as those between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti. The latter won the right to sculpt the baptistry’s famous doors, but decades later, Brunelleschi returned to Florence and won the commission to build the cathedral’s famous dome. Michelangelo thinks of himself as in a similar rivalry with Leonardo. He worries that his David won’t match up to Leonardo’s portrait. Granacci comes to find Michelangelo, knowing exactly where to find him. Granacci convinces him to attend the unveiling by explaining how the crowd will react when the sculptor lacks the bravery to appear alongside his work, particularly given the public’s concerns about Medici and the French armies. He convinces Michelangelo to go “for the people of Florence” (332).

Giocondo welcomes Leonardo into his house. The merchant is “dressed to entertain a king” (333), and he’s pleased that early reports of the painting were so complimentary. He leads Leonardo into his ugly office. Leonardo reluctantly hands over the portrait. The painting is strange, Giocondo says, but pleasant enough. He treats it roughly and quizzes Leonardo about the “little puzzles” that the artist supposedly hides in his paintings. Leonardo reflects on the profound secret he has hidden in his painting: “love.” Hearing the crowds outside, Giocondo insists that Leonardo accompany him to the unveiling of Michelangelo’s David. As they leave, Leonardo catches sight of Mona Lisa examining the portrait for the first time. He hopes that she’ll smile, but she doesn’t. He may have given her a night of admiration, he realizes, but now she’ll be “trapped in this room” (337). She declines to attend the unveiling, claiming she has a headache. Leonardo leaves, glancing back one last time to see the painting in its domestic setting. This is where Mona Lisa belongs, he decides, and she can’t come with him since it would be “impossible.”

Michelangelo sprints to the piazza for the unveiling, now desperate to see the reaction to the statue into which he poured so much of himself. He pushes through the “thick mob,” hearing the countdown to the unveiling. In the crowd, he recognizes Maria, the girl with whom Buonarroto is in love. With a high-pitched scream, she announces his presence, and the crowd parts. The statue is beneath a black curtain. From the platform, he sees his father among the crowd, alongside his entire family, including brothers he hasn’t seen in years. He hugs them. Giovansimone apologizes to him “for everything,” and Michelangelo forgives him. Calling for attention, Soderini urges Michelangelo to give a speech. Struggling for words, he visualizes himself as the biblical David. While David was armed with a pebble, Michelangelo is armed with his talent for carving marble. He pulls the rope, dropping the curtain and revealing the David statue. He invites the crowd to “behold, [his] pebble” (344).

Giocondo leads Leonardo through the house, praising Michelangelo’s work as that of a man who refused to listen when “everyone kept telling him it was impossible” (345). Leonardo halts and turns back to Giocondo’s house, approaching Mona Lisa. It seems as though he’ll take her into his arms, but he walks past her to the painting on the mantle. He takes the portrait, claiming that it’s “not finished,” so he must take it back. Giocondo protests, so Leonardo tries to repay him the money. Salaì has spent all their money, however, so Leonardo reluctantly offers his bejeweled bird ring as payment. Leonardo explains the ring’s provenance to Giocondo, who is happy to have it instead. Leonardo walks out with the picture. Mona Lisa flashes him a brief smile as Leonardo assures Giocondo that he’ll indeed finish the portrait, as he always finishes what he says he will.

The “immediate and enormous” (349) positive reaction to the David statue overwhelms Michelangelo. He understands all the different ways that people see themselves in the statue. Now, it belongs to them. He hands over his large fee to his father. When he searches for Soderini, he instead meets Felice della Rovere, “the rumored illegitimate daughter of the new pope, Julius II” (350). She claims that her father has seen Michelangelo’s Pieta and hints at future work that Michelangelo may receive from the pope. Michelangelo watches her being led away, thinking about how he has “won.” Everyone seems to be in the piazza; however, he notices a significant absence: Leonardo. He wishes Leonardo were in the square because Leonardo is “still, in his estimation, the greatest artist of all time” (351). He’s the only person whose favor Michelangelo still craves. His thoughts are interrupted by a clanging sound: Soderini is ringing the church bells in the name of Florence. Machiavelli tells Michelangelo that he was wrong and that Florence is “ready to defend herself after all” (352). Michelangelo takes this as a compliment. Granacci praises his friend.

As the bell tolls, Leonardo sits on the Ponte Vecchio bridge with his portrait beside him. He wants “to sit and think of nothing” (353) but is struck by a powerful urge to paint. A well-dressed man appears and, noticing the portrait, introduces himself as a fellow painter. He was passing Florence but heard that “the most miraculous piece of art ever created was unveiled here today” (354). Leonardo leads the man toward Michelangelo’s David, listening to him praise the works of the masters he has studied, including those of Leonardo.

When they arrive at the piazza, it’s empty. The statue dominates the square, and Leonardo examines it for the first time. He’s impressed by its tension and drama, as well as the craft. In the face, he’s sure he sees Michelangelo. He knows that Michelangelo has something that he may never develop: “how to give his whole mind, soul, and heart, without holding back” (356). Michelangelo’s skill makes Leonardo feel like an apprentice. His companion introduces himself as Raphael Sanzio. Leonardo declines to give his name but suggests that Raphael sketch the statue. As the artist flicks through his sketchbook, Leonardo is impressed and wonders whether “no-name youths in the street [are] starting to surpass him” (357). In the distance, Leonardo spots Michelangelo. Leonardo bows to him and then makes a show of sitting down to sketch the statue, as the only way to improve his skill is to “sketch the masters” (357).

Michelangelo’s David remained in the same place until it was moved inside in 1873 to protect it from the elements. In 1991, a man attacked it with a hammer and broke off a toe. Now, it’s considered “the world’s most famous sculpture” (358). Leonardo moved to France in 1516 and, a few years later, died in the arms of the French King. At the time of his death, the portrait of Mona Lisa was still in his possession, and he still claimed that it was unfinished. Eventually, the painting was displayed in the Louvre in Paris, where it is the most popular attraction.