Why Leonardo accepted Francis I's invitation in 1516
At 64, Leonardo was in disgrace. His patron Giuliano de' Medici had died. His right hand was paralyzed by a stroke. Francis I made an extraordinary offer: manor house at Clos Lucé, annual pension of 700 gold écus (€400,000 today), total freedom, title "first painter, engineer and architect of the King". No production obligation. Leonardo accepted. He would leave Italy never to return.
The journey from Rome to Amboise with the Mona Lisa
Autumn 1516, Leonardo set off on a mule. 1,300 km via the Mont-Cenis pass. Three paintings: Mona Lisa, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Anne. Twenty manuscripts. Journey took two months. Why bring the Mona Lisa? Unfulfilled commission from Francesco del Giocondo, eternal retouches, or attachment. That is how the world's most famous painting ended up in Amboise, where Francis I bought it after his death.
Daily life at Clos Lucé: inventions, parties, royal projects
Leonardo no longer painted. He turned to court festivities, urbanism and invention. He designed a mechanical lion that walked. He worked on a royal palace at Romorantin. He imagined a hydraulic system to drain the Sologne marshes. He drew double-revolution staircases — which would inspire Chambord three years after his death. Clos Lucé is a living museum today: 40 life-size models of his machines.
The secret tunnel to Amboise: myth or reality?
Favorite legend: a 400-meter tunnel connecting Clos Lucé to the royal château of Amboise. Truth? A tunnel exists, partially dug, visible on the first 30 meters. Archaeologists lean toward an incomplete defensive gallery. Nevertheless, contemporary sources attest Francis I visited Leonardo "almost every day".
His death on May 2, 1519: in the arms of Francis I?
Iconography immortalized it: dying Leonardo held by the weeping king. True? Probably not. Francis I was at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on May 2, 1519. The scene was invented by Vasari in 1568, popularized by Ingres in 1818. Leonardo died surrounded by Francesco Melzi and Battista de Villanis. He bequeathed manuscripts to Melzi, vines to Battista, painting to Salaì.
Where is Leonardo really buried? The mystery of his tomb
Buried August 12, 1519 in the Saint-Florentin collegiate church. In 1802, the collegiate was destroyed and bones thrown haphazardly. In 1863, archaeologist Arsène Houssaye dug through the rubble and identified a skeleton with an abnormally large skull — "This is Leonardo". Transferred to Saint-Hubert chapel. Historical truth? Unknown. No DNA analysis. The tomb might be empty.
Clos Lucé is 1h10 from Meung-sur-Loire. A perfect day to enter the intimacy of the genius who inaugurated the French Renaissance.