In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci left his hometown of Florence for a new opportunity. He had managed to gain employment at the court of Milan, where Ludovico Sforza “Il Moro” reigned as the de facto duke. There, Leonardo painted one of his most remarkable portraits, a likeness of a teenaged girl named Cecilia Gallerani, who was Ludovico’s favorite mistress. 

Although Leonardo da Vinci seems to have intended to work as a military engineer in Milan, none of the many military contraptions that Leonardo da Vinci sketched for Ludovico Il Moro seems to have been realized.