“ ‘Your fresco can’t remain in this wretched refectory!’ Everyone was amused.
“Later, when I painted his portrait, he was affable. I painted him in profile, a good study, in good light. He insisted on having a book on his lap. Ovid. I remember he said:
“ ‘In Amboise, I have a collection of fine books...Ovids.’
“He was willing to pay any price for my Madonna of the Yarn Winder. So, he paid...and carried it off to Paris.”
Stroking his beard, da Vinci watched rain streak his windows. Lifting one arm, he said: “No more today, Francesco, no more talk.”
Cloux
April 10, 1519
“Come, let’s get on with it...I have something to say:
“My deluge drawings express weight, gravity, power, fury, terror. The overturned, whirling chunks of masonry, the enormous waves, defy. This is the end of man. I believe such a cataclysm is going to overcome the earth.