Leonardo da Vinci was an inventor, scientist or draughtsman. Cesare Borgia briefly employed him as military architect and engineer between 1502 and 1503. Cesare and Leonardo became intimate friends and Cesare provided Leonardo with an unlimited pass to inspect and direct all planned and undergoing construction in his domain. Before meeting Cesare, Leonardo had worked as a painter at the Milanese court of Duke Ludovico Sforza in the late 1480s and the 1490s, until Charles VIII of France drove the Sforza out of Italy. While in Milano Leonardo painted the masterpiece “Lady with an Ermine”, portraying the sitter of Ludovico…
