All this was morally very bad for a boy
so young. And then woe betide the poor little fellow if he whistled,
sneezed, or made any other noise! his nervous master would be out of
temper for a day afterwards. On wet days Piero was merrier, for he
would watch the drops splashing into the pools, and laugh as if they
were fairies. Sometimes he would take Andrea for a walk, and all at
once stop and gaze at a heap of rubbish, or mark of damp on a lichened
wall, picturing all kinds of monsters and weird scenes in its
discolourations.
No doubt he was literally carrying out Leonardo da Vinci's advice,
headed, in his treatise, "A new Art of Invention." "Look at some old
wall covered with dirt, or the odd appearance of some old streaked
stones; you may discover several things like landscapes, battles,
clouds, humorous faces, &c., to furnish the mind with new designs."
[Footnote: Leonardo da Vinci, _Treatise on Painting_.] Cosimo's
mind being fantastic, the pictures he saw were incomparably grotesque.
He delighted in drawing sea monsters, dragons, wonderful adventures,
and heathen scenes; in fact the boy could have learned neither
Christian art nor manners from him.
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