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| Statue of Leonardo da Vinci in MIlan |
My favourite story about Leonardo da Vinci’s extraordinary life is his last great journey from Rome across the Alps to France. Travelling by mule, at the age of 64, he wanted to take the Mona Lisa with him, so he packed it away in a saddle bag. He was travelling at the behest of the great Renaissance king, Francis I of France, who tempted him to his court with promise of a huge pension and his own chateau in the Loire.
It wasn’t unusual for Leonardo to secure employment in this way. For much of his life, he had enjoyed the patronage of the rich and powerful – from the Medici in Florence, to the Duke of Milan and the Pope in Rome. But Francis I was to be his last. Leonardo died on May 2 1519 – 500 years ago today. Supposedly he breathed his last in the arms of the king, but this is probably an apocryphal story – Francis was most likely at least a day’s ride away at the time. Despite such myths, we know a good deal about his life, his work and his relationship with his patrons. However, after so many years, it can be hard to find much evidence on the ground. Much of his extraordinary inventiveness and his many scientific and artistic insights are enshrined in his notebooks – now dispersed around the world – and by far the most important collection of his paintings is in Paris, which he never visited.
I’ve always felt you can get closest to Leonardo in either Milan, where he worked for 17 years, or the Loire, where he died. This is a good year to plan a trip to either. To mark the 500th anniversary, both destinations have major exhibitions dedicated to his life.
Leonardo spent the most productive years of his life in Milan, arriving at the age of 30, in 1482 and staying until the French invaded the city in 1499. He was first recruited by Ludovico, the despotic Regent, later Duke, of Milan after he made an extraordinary plea for work in a letter that still survives. Apparently tailored to the Duke’s militaristic interest, he wrote: “I can construct bridges… a kind of cannon… with which to hurl small stones like hail… I can noiselessly construct to any prescribed point, subterranean passages… I can make armoured wagons… I can give you as complete satisfaction as anyone else in the construction of buildings, both public and private.” At the end, almost as an afterthought, he adds: “I can execute sculpture in bronze, marble or clay. Also, in painting, I can do as much as anyone, whoever he may be.”
It is those skills that have left their most enduring mark on Milan. The city’s museums have some of the greatest examples of his work – including The Last Supper, his second most famous painting, and the mulberry trees, his least known, but perhaps his most fascinating. It’s a mural depicting a forest of mulberry trees – the fresco covers the whole room (the Sala delle Asse) and its ceiling in the Duke’s Sforza Castle, where Leonardo lived during some of his time in the city.
Much of the work has been covered up as part of a restoration programme that has been going on since 2013. But for the anniversary year, the process is being halted so that, from May 16, visitors will be able to see some of the details exposed by the cleaning process. Some of his drawings will also go on display in the Cappella Ducale (also in the Castle) from May 16-Aug 18.
Meanwhile, the restoration of The Last Supper, on the end wall of what was once a monks’ refectory in Santa Maria delle Grazie, was completed some years ago. It’s a shadow of the original. Leonardo painted directly on dry plaster rather than using traditional fresco techniques and the image began to deteriorate after only a decade or two. It has finally been stabilised, however, and the drama of the composition that groups them into threes leaving Christ isolated in the centre, combined with the subtlety of the perspective which so impressed contemporaries, is still clear. Advance bookings only – cenacolovinciano.vivaticket.it: entrance €12 (£10.40) (with booking fee) for a 15-minute visit.
Finally, the Ambrosiana Museum (leonardo-ambrosiana.it) which holds at least one painting by Leonardo (a second is disputed) and a huge collection of manuscripts – the Codex Atlanticus – is marking the anniversary of his death with a series of themed exhibitions drawing on these. Until June 16, the theme is designs and ideas for siege engines and other mechanical devices. Then it switches to Leonardo in France, with notes and drawings made during his time in the Loire (June 18-Sept 15, 2019), and the final exhibition is Artists and Techniques (Sept 17-Jan 12 2020) dedicated to the drawings made by Leonardo and the artists in his circle.
See our recommended hotels in Milan. Skyscanner.net has the best overview of flights.
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| Amboise medieval castle or chateau and bridge on Loire river. France, Europe. Unesco site. |
Francois I installed Leonardo in the Clos Lucé – a modest chateau, a short distance from his own royal residence at Amboise. By now, Leonardo was more interested in architectural and engineering projects. And party planning – the Loire chateaux were a hotbed of hedonism, and he designed at least four spectacular events and processions for Francois’ entertainment. He also attempted to drain the marshes of the Sologne. But more importantly, he was probably the mastermind behind the design of the Loire’s greatest chateau – at Chambord. The central staircase – a double-helix of intertwined steps which allows you to walk up one flight and come back down the other – seems to be a hallmark of his work.
This spring and summer will give the best-ever insight into Leonardo’s time in the Loire. The Clos Luce is holding an exhibition (June 1-Sept 2) based on a tapestry of The Last Supper in Milan, which was made for Francis I and is on loan from the Vatican Museums. After this, a new museum opens on the site, which is devoted to Leonardo’s painting and architecture (vinci-closluce.com).
Meanwhile, the Château de Chambord is presenting Utopia at Work – an exhibition which focuses on the architecture and direct involvement of Leonardo in the elaboration of the original plans. The exhibition will include loans of paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculptures, objets d’art from the Louvre, the British Museum, the Uffizi Gallery and others. Dates yet to be announced (chambord.org/en). At the Château d’Amboise – where he is buried in a chapel in the courtyard – will examine the circumstances surrounding the death of Leonardo (May 2-Sept 1).
