By such deductive reasoning and the testing of the evidence before him against the common beliefs, Leonardo struggled to free the minds of men from medieval superstitions and beliefs. Indeed, these medieval superstitions existed everywhere. Astrologers, or men who told fortunes by the position of the stars at a given moment; and necromancers, those who by tricks of magic claimed to be able to talk to departed spirits—these men profited from the ignorant. The Church, with its preaching of devils and hells, provided the background against which these fakers flourished. Ludovico Sforza was himself a believer in such things. His own physician and astrologer was a man by the name of Ambrogio da Rosate, who had such influence over the court that he was given a post in the University of Pavia, and his fame was so great that he was called upon to predict the future of Pope Innocent VIII! Leonardo’s dislike of these men was intense. He scorned the supernatural and asked men to look about them at the real world and the real heavens. Observation and experiment—these were Leonardo’s key words. But he was a lonely figure in his thinking—like a man awake while the rest of the world slept. At last the full-size model of the Sforza monument was nearing completion. Ludovico had ordered it ready for exhibition in the courtyard of the castle for yet another marriage festival that was soon to take place. This time it was the marriage of his niece Bianca Maria to Maximilian I of Germany. Leonardo and his assistants were busy with the finishing touches on the monument, and with building a wagon on which to carry it from the studio to the courtyard. During these last months Leonardo had had to struggle with all kinds of heavy loads. Already he had improved on pulleys by inventing a new kind of tackle, and he also had utilized many kinds of levers. One of his simpler discoveries for raising heavy weights was a jack which, in appearance and principle, was the forerunner of our own automobile jack. In 1493 when the clay model of the Sforza monument was completed, it was put on the cart and wheeled to its place of exhibition where a curtain was thrown around it. Again Milan was the host to a gathering of noble courts, and this time Ludovico outdid himself in the display of luxury. Tapestries hung from the buildings and rich carpets were laid down the steps of the cathedral. Everything that Milan had to show was on exhibition—even a crocodile. But the most impressive sight of all was the unveiling of Leonardo’s colossal statue. It rose in majesty against the red walls of the castle. The name of Leonardo da Vinci was suddenly on everyone’s lips. As the word of his artistic achievement spread from city to city, messages of praise came pouring in. And, for a while the years of frustration and failure to gain recognition melted away. Leonardo at forty-one had at last achieved some success.