{"id":786,"date":"2025-08-10T02:23:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T18:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gagner-des-cadeaux.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/07\/the-da-vinci-road-a-tour-through-the-life-of-leonardo\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T09:56:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T01:56:01","slug":"the-da-vinci-road-a-tour-through-the-life-of-leonardo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gagner-des-cadeaux.org\/?p=786","title":{"rendered":"The da Vinci road: a tour through the life of Leonardo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Few geniuses have left as powerful an imprint on art, science and popular culture as Leonardo da Vinci (1452\u20131519). Paintings like the Mona Lisa<\/em> and The Last Supper<\/em> remain mysterious and compelling, spawning endless reproductions and parodies. The Renaissance Man\u2019s staggering body of scientific work is still studied, with many of his theories only proven in modern times.<\/p>\n

The 500th anniversary of Leonardo\u2019s death has inspired dozens of exhibitions across Europe. Whether or not you plan a trip for an anniversary event, Leonardo\u2019s native Italy has numerous attractions dedicated to his life and work \u2013 as does France, where he spent several productive years.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s how to travel through the polymath\u2019s life, from his undistinguished beginnings in the village of Vinci to the stately French palaces of his final years.<\/p>\n

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Leonardo’s notebooks teem with ideas far ahead of their time, giving a glimpse into the mind of a genius \u00a9 JanakaMarahageDharmasena \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rome: da Vinci’s marvellous machines<\/h3>\n

Begin in the \u2018Eternal City\u2019, where Leonardo designed prototype helicopters, diving suits, armoured tanks, even a robotic knight, hundreds of years before technology made it possible to build them. At Rome\u2019s Leonardo Da Vinci Museo you can see 50 ahead-of-their-time contraptions crank into life.<\/p>\n

Two floors are filled with marvellous machines built according to Leonardo\u2019s original designs: a multi-directional machine gun, trench digger, hang-glider and webbed gloves (a precursor to modern flippers). Finish with a primer on Leonardo\u2019s paintings; a gallery room houses reproductions of Leonardo\u2019s major works.<\/p>\n

For the real deal, one of Leonardo\u2019s most treasured paintings hangs within the storied halls of the Vatican Museums (1km west). The unfinished oil painting San Gerolamo<\/em> (St Jerome), thought to date to 1482, shows the agonised saint paying penance in the desert. The walnut-wood canvas was sliced into pieces \u2013 as if St Jerome hadn\u2019t suffered enough \u2013 and used as a tabletop before being rescued, restored and hung alongside the work of other genre-defining artists of the Renaissance.<\/p>\n

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The Vatican\u2019s Cortile del Belvedere (Belvedere Courtyard), where Leonardo once lived \u00a9 Mgallar \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just south of the museums is the Vatican\u2019s Cortile del Belvedere (Belvedere Courtyard). At the behest of Pope Leo X, Leonardo was installed in an apartment here from 1513 to 1516. Centuries of change have reshaped the Vatican (and split the courtyard in two) but it\u2019s irresistible to glance up at the windows and imagine the great genius, brow furrowed, staring out for inspiration.<\/p>\n

Florence: the making of a master<\/h3>\n

Three and a half hours north of Rome by road, Florence is where Leonardo perfected his craft under the tutelage of Andrea del Verrocchio. Most significantly for admirers of his art, this is also where he began to work on the iconic La Gioconda <\/em>(c 1503), better known as the Mona Lisa (though today the lady with the enigmatic smile hangs on a wall in Paris\u2019 Louvre).<\/p>\n

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Florence’s world-class Uffizi Gallery, which contains two of the master’s works \u00a9 Glowimages \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the north bank of the Arno River, the Uffizi Gallery has one of Italy\u2019s finest collections of Renaissance art, including Leonardo\u2019s Annunciation <\/em>(c 1472) and Adoration of the Magi<\/em>, (c 1482). Both are part of Leonardo\u2019s prolific artistic output as a young man in Florence (and both are in room 35). A few steps north of the Uffizi are more elusive treasures. Guarded by the 94m Torre d’Arnolfo, the Palazzo Vecchio is believed to hold a fresco by Leonardo, concealed behind another artist\u2019s work in the Salone dei Cinquecento.<\/p>\n

Vinci: an artist\u2019s humble beginnings<\/h3>\n

Some 45km west of Florence is Vinci, where Leonardo was born. Most of the details of Leonardo\u2019s early life have been lost in time… not that this has deterred local restaurants and guesthouses from naming themselves after the great artist.<\/p>\n

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The humble town of Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo, lies to the west of Florence \u00a9 Zummolo \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A couple of noteworthy monuments warrant a visit. The Museo Leonardiano showcases Leonardo\u2019s technical drawings and recreations of his inventions. Across two adjacent buildings, the museum attempts to join the dots between Leonardo\u2019s ideas and their modern-day equivalents, such as his designs for textile manufacturing machinery (now considered precursors to factory-made clothing), mechanical clocks, weapons of war (including a squat prototype tank) and flying machines.<\/p>\n

Two kilometres north, just outside town, is Leonardo\u2019s Casa Natale (Birth House), a blushing sandstone building in the Tuscan hills. Inside, recreations of his work (and a Leonardo hologram) invite visitors inside the artist\u2019s mind. But it\u2019s the bucolic setting that fires the imagination. Some of the town\u2019s gnarled olive trees are centuries old; it\u2019s possible that Leonardo himself would recognise the view.<\/p>\n

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Head to the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie to see one of Leonardo’s landmark works \u2013 The Last Supper \u00a9 Mark Edward Harris \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Milan: the pinnacle of genius<\/h3>\n

Another three or four hours north by road, Milan is where Leonardo created some of his most celebrated works. Begin in the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie, a showy Gothic-meets-Renaissance church capped with a tiered dome. Where the church building meets the refectory is The Last Supper, capturing the moment of drama when Jesus is said to have foretold his imminent betrayal (book ahead for a viewing time). Even after centuries of neglect and destruction, the artwork holds power: the vivid emotions on each face, the play of light behind them, and unearthly blues that hint at the heavenly kingdom to come.<\/p>\n

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Five minutes\u2019 walk south, in a 16th-century monastery, is Italy\u2019s largest science museum, the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia. The 10,000-item collection is alive with inventions that whirr, rattle and huff steam, including more than 130 models of Leonardo\u2019s inventions (like bat-wing-shaped flying machines, cannons and propeller-powered boats). Ideal for inquiring young minds is the Laboratorio, a hands-on exhibition designed to get kids using the same problem-solving strategies as Leonardo \u2013 brace yourself for a eureka moment in the car later on.<\/p>\n

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The marble statue of Leonardo in Milan’s Piazza della Scala \u00a9 K_samurkas \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finish the day east in picturesque Piazza della Scala, where stands a Carrara marble Monument to Leonardo, dating to the 19th century. Nearby streets are lined with restaurants; after a day spent immersed in Leonardo\u2019s brilliance, you might feel inspired to sketch a flying machine or dabble in anatomical drawing while you wait for the dessert menu.<\/p>\n

Amboise: journey\u2019s end for the Renaissance Man<\/h3>\n

Much of Leonardo\u2019s artistic work is displayed in Paris, but it\u2019s France\u2019s Loire Valley that lays bare the last years of his life. Leonardo arrived at Le Clos Luc\u00e9 in Amboise in 1516, on the invitation of the French king. Fran\u00e7ois I offered him the title \u2018Premier Painter, Engineer and Architect of the King\u2019, along with several hundred gold crowns per year. To embrace the opportunity (and its astonishing salary), Leonardo undertook a difficult Alpine crossing aboard a mule. For present-day travellers, it\u2019s much more comfortable: an overnight train (or budget flight) to Paris, followed by a scenic onward connection to Amboise.<\/p>\n

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Ch\u00e2teau Royal d\u2019Amboise – Leonardo’s final resting place \u00a9 alxpin \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now in his 60s, comfortably ensconced in this elegant ch\u00e2teau<\/em>, Leonardo spent his final years feverishly finessing scientific theories. Peep inside Leonardo\u2019s old bedroom, complete with richly carved four-poster bed and a huge fireplace, and imagine him at work in his old study.<\/p>\n

Close by is the Ch\u00e2teau Royal d\u2019Amboise, formerly a pleasure palace for French royals. In a solitary chamber within this marvel of Flamboyant Gothic architecture, an ageing Leonardo wrote a will to bestow land and vineyards upon his brothers and a cherished pupil. His final resting place is the castle\u2019s Chapel of Saint-Hubert, where he was reinterred after an archaeological dig in 1863 unearthed his bones. Debates still rage over whether these are truly the master\u2019s remains \u2013 yet another of Leonardo\u2019s many mysteries.<\/p>\n

Honouring Leonardo: special events in 2019<\/h4>\n

Museums and galleries across Europe are marking the polymath\u2019s 500th anniversary with special exhibitions:<\/p>\n

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    Florence, Italy.<\/strong> Events at the Museo Galileo include a spotlight on Leonardo\u2019s library (June to late September 2019) and the quest for perpetual motion (mid-October 2019 to mid-January 2020). The Palazzo Vecchio explores Leonardo\u2019s relationship with Florence (late March to late June 2019) and probes the mystery of his lost painting The Battle of Anghiari<\/em> (late February 2019 to mid-January 2020). The Palazzo Strozzi offers a retrospective on artist Andrea del Verrocchio, under whom Leonardo was a pupil, and displays the only known sculpture by Leonardo (mid-March to mid-July 2019).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    Paris, France. <\/strong>The Louvre\u2019s exhibition promises the grandest showing of Leonardo\u2019s art, including The Virgin of the Rocks<\/em>, La Belle Ferronni\u00e8re<\/em> and the Mona Lisa<\/em> (late October 2019 to late February 2020).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    Milan, Italy.<\/strong> The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana\u2019s series of exhibitions shines a light on Leonardo\u2019s engineering acumen (mid-March to mid-June 2019), his years in France (mid-June to mid-September 2019) and his legacy (late September 2019 to mid-January 2020).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    London, UK.<\/strong> The British Library\u2019s Mind in Motion exhibition will display three of Leonardo\u2019s most important notebooks together, allowing visitors to see his scientific insights in his own handwriting (early June to early September 2019).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    Vinci, Italy.<\/strong> In the town of Leonardo\u2019s birth, the Museo Leonardiano will host an exhibition of Leonardo\u2019s early drawings (mid-April to mid-October 2019).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    Rome, Italy.<\/strong> The Science Before Science exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale examines Leonardo\u2019s technological and scientific achievements (mid-March to June 2019).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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