Clark, Leonardo da Vinci (London: Penguin, rev. ed. 1993);
Charles Gibbs-Smith and Gareth Rees, The Inventions of
Leonardo da Vinci (Oxford, U.K.: Phaidon, 1978); Martin
Kemp, Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvelous Works of Man and
Nature (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1981;
rev. ed. 1988); Pietro C. Marani, Leonardo da Vinci: The
Complete Paintings (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000);
Carlo Pedretti, Leonardo: A Study in Chronology and Style
(Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press and Lon-
don: Thames & Hudson, 1973; repr. 1982); Jean Paul
Richter, The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci, ed. Carlo
Pedretti (Oxford, U.K.: Phaidon, new ed. 1977); Jack
Wasserman, Leonardo da Vinci (New York and Leicester,
U.K.: Doubleday, 1981; concise ed. London: Thames &
Hudson, 1992).
Leone Ebreo (Judah Abarbanel) (c. 1465–c. 1530)
Portuguese Jewish philosopher and physician
The son of Isaac ABARBANEL, he was born in Lisbon and
lived in Toledo from 1483 until the expulsion of the Jews
from Spain in 1492. He then practiced as a physician in
several Italian towns and fell under the influence of PICO
DELLA MIRANDOLA. Around 1502 he wrote, probably in
Spanish or Hebrew, his Dialoghi di amore, first published
in an Italian translation in 1535. It was soon translated
into Latin and became a highly influential text for Christ-
ian Neoplatonists throughout Europe, with its doctrine
that “in God the lover, the beloved, and their love are all
one and the same,” and that love, identified with God, is
the principle underlying and animating the universe.
Leone Ebreo died in Naples.
Leoni, Leone (c. 1509–1590) Italian sculptor, engraver,
and goldsmith
Leoni was born at Arezzo and trained as a goldsmith, but
none of his work in that medium has survived. He is best
known for his bronze portraits and funerary monuments
and for his medals of patrons, rulers, and artists such as
Michelangelo. He is said to have rivaled Benvenuto
CELLINI, not only in his work but also in the notoriety of
his personal life. Leoni first worked in Venice and then in
Rome, where he was coin engraver at the papal mint
(1537–40). He held the same post at the mint in Milan
from 1542. As court sculptor and medalist to Emperor
CHARLES V(from 1546) Leoni traveled to Germany and
Brussels, besides attending the emperor on his visits to
Italy. Later he executed portraits of Philip II of Spain, Em-
press Isabella, and Maria of Portugal and collaborated
with his son Pompeo LEONIon statuary for the ESCORIAL.
His sculptural style was one of strong elegant naturalism.
He spent the last years of his life at his base in Milan,
where the tomb of Gian Giacomo de’ Medici in the cath-
edral (1560–62) is an example of his work. Partly as a
means of enhancing his social status, by presenting him-
self as not only a creator but also a connoisseur of works
of art, Leoni assembled a major collection of sculptures
and paintings by his contemporaries (among them
Leonardo da Vinci, Bernardino Luini, and Michelangelo),
which he displayed in a gallery in his house in Milan.Leoni, Pompeo (c. 1531–1608) Italian sculptor,
goldsmith, and medalist
Like his father, Leone LEONI, Pompeo is best known for
his funerary monuments and his expressive sculpture por-
traits. He spent much of his life in Spain finishing bronze
statues that had been cast and sent to him from Milan by
his father. He also produced his own work for Spanish
princes and cardinals and for his patron PHILIP II. The
church of the ESCORIALcontains his most famous sculp-
tures, the larger-than-life-size bronze statues flanking the
main altar. Following his father’s example, Pompeo col-
lected paintings by his contemporaries, including Correg-
gio, and displayed them in his grand house in Madrid.Lepanto, battle of (October 7, 1571) A naval battle
fought off Lepanto, in the Gulf of Corinth, in which the
forces of the HOLY LEAGUE, commanded by Don JOHN OF
AUSTRIA(half-brother of Philip II of Spain), defeated the
OTTOMAN TURKSunder Ali Pasha, governor of Alexandria.
The dominant naval power in the Mediterranean for 30
years, the Turks had invaded Cyprus, Venice’s wealthiest
colony, in 1570. Spain joined Venice and the pope in the
Holy League (1571), contributing respectively a half, a
third, and a sixth of the forces, and, fired by crusading zeal
against the infidel, the Christian fleet sought out the Turks
in their home waters. The fleets, at 300 ships apiece, were
roughly equal in strength; the Turks lost about 117, the
Christians between 15 and 20. Lepanto is particularly re-
membered as the last naval battle at which the motive
power was provided by oars pulled by galley slaves, and
many thousands of Christian galley slaves were liberated
in its aftermath. The victory was widely celebrated as
proof that the Turks were not invincible, but the practical
results were minimal: the Turks built another fleet and re-
tained control of Cyprus, which the Venetians formally
surrendered in 1573.Léry, Jean de (1534–1613) French Protestant pastor
Born in Lamargelle, Burgundy, Léry converted to Protes-
tantism and around 1552 moved to Geneva to study the-
ology. In 1556 he volunteered to go as pastor to the “Ile de
Coligny,” the short-lived French colony set up in 1555 as
a Protestant refuge off the Brazilian coast under Nicolas
Durand de Villegagnon (c. 1510–71) and named for its
sponsor Admiral COLIGNY. Religious disputes soon drove
Léry and some companions from the island, and they had
to wait on the adjacent mainland for a ship home. During
this period (March 1557–January 1558), they were in
daily contact with the indigenous Tupinamba, of whom
Léry wrote a lively, detailed, and mainly sympathetic ac-22776 6 LLeeoonnee EEbbrreeoo