Viva Leonardo, 500 years of Renaissance(s) in the Centre-Val de Loire

All along the year of 2019, the Centre-Val de Loire Region plans on showcasing 500 cultural events to pay homage to the themes and figures of the Renaissance. This cultural cradle highlighting art of living and gastronomy will be celebrating the painter, sculptor, engineer, mathematician, anatomist, geologist who spent his last days at the Clos Lucé, in Amboise, facing King François 1er, in tears.

500 years of Renaissance in the Centre-Val de Loire

It's between the walls of a building in pink bricks and freestones, redesigned several times, since the Middle-Ages, that Leonardo da Vinci lived. This genius visionary, who came from Tuscany, the master, to whom the world owes a Mona Lisa preserved at the Louvre museum, settled here to draw futuristic machines such as the helicopter, the automobile, the sumbarine or the assault tank.

If the stones of the Château de Clos Lucé could speak, they would recall the creations of an outstanding visionary. © DR

Reconstituted and enriched with copies of his canvases, the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci is part of the visit. © DR

The life and work of Leonardo da Vinci

Here, the ensemble of sketches found in his "Codex" and the models exposed express his intense desire to finally pierce the mechanics of life. During your visit, pay attention! The soul and spirit that inspired this organizer of royal festivities, complex scenographies, ceremonial decors, living paintings, automats as well as sound and light special effects, can still be perceived.

It's in this bed that one of the leading artists of all times died. © DR

In the park, take a stroll with a paddle boat while observing translucid canvases hanging from trees. © DR