“Only the Florentines and the Venetians could dress like popinjays without looking ridiculous. And although Leonardo [da Vinci] wrote somewhat contemptuously abut the absurd and wonderful fashions of his time, it is difficult to avoid the suspicion that on occasion he dressed up in all his finery, like any dandy. That he favored rose color, which was reserved for the nobility, suggests that he regarded himself as belonging to the nobility, by descent from his mother’s side.”

—Robert Payne, from Leonardo, 1978.