Judas's Twin

Among all the artists in the world, Leonardo da Vinci's life was far from tragic, but it had not been entirely satisfactory either. In his later years, he left his homeland for France and served François I, who had long admired him. In the end, he died in a foreign land.

François I was regarded as an enlightened monarch, a passionate man, and a patron of the arts. He was one of the most famous and beloved kings in French history.

Not every French king in the Middle Ages was as unreasonable as a handsome man. Those with lofty ambitions often hoped to win the favor of those in power, but very few managed it. There were simply too many people surrounding a "king"—men, women, and those neither male nor female. Even Napoleon Panama had once been sidelined.

In the end, if these people could not be put to good use, they would leave for foreign lands and serve other countries' kings. Napoleon had wanted to serve the Sultan of Turkey, but if someone as talented as Napoleon served another country, Europe would be swept by Allah's sword once again.

They would not let people fly away, yet they were unwilling to give talent the treatment it deserved. They drove people to their deaths.

After artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Van Gogh died, speculators would drive the prices of their works to astronomical heights. Titian was recognized during his lifetime, and his posthumous fame was not as resounding as Leonardo da Vinci's, but he truly was a philosopher. He studied Plato, unlike Leonardo the engineer.

The Salvator Mundi painted by Leonardo da Vinci, which François Pinault had been determined to acquire, was bought by another buyer for four hundred million dollars. The buyer had purchased it by phone, so