France June 2016 - De Vinci at Amboise
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A short distance from the Chateau Royal d'Amboise was the Chateau du Clos-Luce -- better know as the Chateau where Leonardo da Vinci lived.
From Rick Steves: In 1516, Leonardo da Vinci packed his bags (and several of his favorite paintings, including the Mona Lisa) and left an imploding Rome for better wine and working conditions in the Loire Valley. He accepted the position of engineer, architect, and painter to France's Renaissance king, Francois I. This "House of Light" is the plush palace where Leonardo spent his last three years. Francois, only 22 years old, installed the 65-year-old Leonardo here just so he could enjoy his intellectual company."
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The Chateau included some very nice grounds we enjoyed walking around.
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| A statue of Francois I. We would this statue many times on our tour of northern France. |
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The view of a pretty rose garden from Leonardo's room.
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| A sculpture of the great man himself: Leonardo De Vinci (1452 - 1519). His areas of interest included: invention, drawing, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography! Many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the "Universal Genius" or "Renaissance Man", an individual of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination", and he is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. Leonardo is renowned primarily as a painter. The Mona Lisa is the most famous of his works and The Last Supper is the most reproduced religious painting of all time. |
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| Leonardo's bedroom. |
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| Downstairs was a neat exhibit of models of Leonardo's inventions. This is the forerunner of the modern tank. |
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A paddle-boat. All that is missing is the steam engine.
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| Back to the garden. |
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Looking back at the Chateau Royal d'Amboise up on the hill.
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| A French cat rests comfortably under a sea of roses. |
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