Florence the citizenswelcomed him with open arms because of the fame he acquiredwhile in Milan. The work he did there strongly influenced otherartists such as Sandro Botticelli and Piero di Cosimo. The work hewas to produce would influence other masters such asMichelangelo and Raphael. In 1502 Leonardo entered the serviceof Cesare Borgia, Duke of Romagna and son and Chief General ofPope Alexander VI. For this post he supervised work on thefortress of the papal territories in central Italy. In 1503 he was amember of a commission of artists to decide on the proper locationfor the David by Michelangelo. Towards the end of the yearLeonardo began to design a decoration for the Great Hall of thePalazzo Vecchio. Leonardo chose the Battle of Anghiari as thesubject of the mural, a victory for Florence in a war against Pisa.He made many drawings and sketches of a cavalry battle, withtense soldiers, leaping horses and clouds of dust. In painting TheBattle of Anghiari Leonardo again rejected fresco and tried anexperimental technique called encaustic. Once again the experiment was unsuccessful. Leonardowent on a trip and left the painting unfinished. When he returnedhe found that the paint had run and he never finished the painting.The paintings general appearance is known from Leonardo'ssketches and other artists' copies of it . During the period of timethat Leonardo spent painting the Palazzo Vecchio he also paintedseveral other works, including the most famous portrait ever, theMona Lisa. The Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, (after thepresumed name of the model's husband) became famous becauseof the unique expression on Lisa del Gioconda's face. She appearsto have just started to or finished smiling. This painting was one ofLeonardo's favorites and he carried it with him on all of hissubsequent travels. In 1506, Leonardo returned to Milan to finished up someof his projects that he had to abandon dur...
