married four times, had eleven children by his third and fourth wives.
Is it unreasonable to suggest that Leonardo may have had these numbers
in mind in 1496-1498 when he was painting in his famous "Last Supper"
the figures of eleven Apostles and one outcast?

However, Ser Piero seems to have legitimised his "love child" who very
early showed promise of extraordinary talent and untiring energy.




HIS EARLY TRAINING

Practically nothing is known about Leonardo's boyhood, but Vasari
informs us that Ser Piero, impressed with the remarkable character of
his son's genius, took some of his drawings to Andrea del Verrocchio,
an intimate friend, and begged him earnestly to express an opinion on
them. Verrocchio was so astonished at the power they revealed that he
advised Ser Piero to send Leonardo to study under him. Leonardo thus
entered the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio about 1469-1470. In the
workshop of that great Florentine sculptor, goldsmith, and artist he
met other craftsmen, metal workers, and youthful painters, among whom
was Botticelli, at that moment of his development a jovial
_habitue_ of the Poetical Supper Club, who had not yet given any
premonitions of becoming the poet, mystic, and visionary of later
times. There also Leonardo came into contact with that unoriginal
painter Lorenzo di Credi, his junior by seven years. He also, no
doubt, met Perugino, whom Michelangelo called "that blockhead in art."
The genius and versatility of the Vincian painter was, however, in no
way dulled by intercourse with lesser artists than himself; on the