Da Vinci's clay model of the Sforza monument horse was a feat of engineering, with two horse legs suspended and a total height of 24 feet. It remained standing in the Cortile Vecchio of the Castello at Milan until it was destroyed in 1499. It is believed that when the French army came across the statue they brutally destroyed it, using it as "target practice" (Grierson, 1959, p. 40). The French army's destruction was the ultimate factor in the incompletion of the monument. Since Da Vinci died in 1519, he never recreated the clay model and his horse was not attempted until centuries later with greater advancements in technology. Thus, his brilliance and Renaissance combination of art and engineering were not fully realized and appreciated until centuries later.