Draft Address to Ludovico, Duke of Bari
A trial salutation signed 'Leonardo da Vinci, the Florentine'
The sheet carries a few pale, widely spaced lines of a formal salutation drafted by Leonardo. It opens 'Most Illustrious and Most Excellent' and addresses 'my most illustrious Lord Ludovico, Duke of Bari,' signing off as 'Leonardo da Vinci, the Florentine.' The ink is much faded and the lines are laid out as if testing the wording and layout of a dedication.
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Draft of a formal address to Ludovico, Duke of Bari
Leonardo drafts the opening of a formal letter or dedication: 'Most Illustrious and Most Excellent... To my most illustrious Lord Ludovico, Duke of Bari.' He then signs himself 'Leonardo da Vinci, the Florentine, etc.,' and writes his first name once more below. The generously spaced lines read like a fair-copy trial of a salutation.