Amboise Wednesday 1

I did not know this previously, but Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years here in Amboise, at the invitation of the King, Francis 1, and died here, in the King’s arms, in the Manoir Clos de Luce – the petit chateau Francis provided for him to live in.  He brought with him his “disciples” (apprentices) and some of his paintings, and his drawings etc.  The King gave him a very generous ‘salary’ as well as the manoir, and asked in return only that Leonardo be available to converse with him sometimes. Francis was only about 25 at the time, but had already conquered part of northern Italy.  He apparently called on Leo almost every day, and the two became great friends.

So the afternoon after classes was spent at the Clos de Luce. There are lots of pics on the Picasa site – forty of the inventions Leo left  plans for have been built by IBM and are housed in the lower rooms of the Manoir.  There are videos showing how they were intended to work.  And then, out in the beautiful and extensive gardens, there are life-sized versions of some of them, including Leo’s “helicopter”.