Franscsco Sforza, military leader. Historical artwork of a rider on a rearing horse by the Italian artist, engineer and scientist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). This sketch is a study for the Sforza monument, depicting Francesco Sforza who was Duke of Milan from 1450-1466. Sforza was an expert tactician and field commander. He modernized the city of Milan, which became a centre of Renaissance learning and culture. At the time of its commission the Sforza monument was to be the world's largest statue. In 1473, da Vinci created a 7.2 metre high clay model of the monument, but this was destroyed before the bronze cast could be made.