French soldiers now occupied Milan as conquerors and the people of the city were in a state of confusion. Those who could made their peace with the French; but others, who had been supporters of Ludovico, fled to avoid arrest. Leonardo, who would be suspect to the French, packed up his few possessions—although he did manage to retain his estate—and left, together with Pacioli and an apprentice, for Mantua. [Illustration: _Leonardo had to flee Milan._] 9 _Cesare Borgia_ Leonardo, Pacioli, and Salai, the apprentice, arrived in Mantua in February of the year 1500. They were given refuge in the castle of Isabella d’Este, who was the sister of Beatrice, and the wife of Francesco Gonzaga, governor of Mantua. Isabella was one of the eminent women of her time and attracted to her court the intellectual life of Italy. In Leonardo she recognized the man of genius; indeed, she treated him as an equal, putting her castle at his disposal. She persuaded him to paint her portrait and Leonardo commenced a preparatory drawing. In the evenings at the castle there were discussions and music and here Leonardo again met his pupil and companion on the trip from Florence so many years ago—Atalante Migliorotti who had left Milan in 1490 to assume the post of court musician to Isabella. Although Leonardo had found a haven of peace in the political storm that raged about the city state of Mantua, he and Pacioli took to the road again for reasons unknown. Isabella d’Este, who still wanted Leonardo at her court, sent many a letter and messenger in the following years to bring Leonardo back—first to finish the portrait and then, when that failed, to sell to her any picture that Leonardo wished to send. Strangely enough, however, Leonardo seems to have turned his back upon the one sympathetic person he had met in a world of indifference. The first, warm breezes of spring were blowing over the lagoons of Venice when Leonardo and Pacioli stepped ashore on the Piazzetta, or Little Square of San Marco. But the beauty of this jewel-like city rising from the sea was momentarily ignored by the two travelers for an angry, frightened crowd had gathered about the Doge’s palace on the Piazzetta. The people of Venice were fearful because their fleet had just suffered a crushing defeat by the Turks. This meant that their power at sea, once supreme, was now no more. Year by year, moreover, their possessions in the east had been slowly whittled away, and now the city itself was threatened by invasion. At this same time, the Venetian ambassador, Manenti, hoping to make peace with the Turks, had been rudely rejected by them. Panic soon swept the city and rumors of the bloodthirsty infidel passed from person to person like the rush of an ugly wind. Barricades were put up and windows were barred. In this charged atmosphere, Leonardo and Pacioli sought out their lodgings.