In 1516, Leonardo da Vinci left Italy to live in France at the invitation of King Francois I. The French monarch, one of his greatest admirers, offered Leonardo a place to work and a generous annuity of 1,000 gold crowns. His new home was Manoir du Cloux, a quarter mile from the royal castle.
It was a perfect residence for the artist: In this ideal setting, surrounded by a magnificent park, he could work, create, and dream.
From Italy to France
Located in the small town of Amboise, the restored manor, now the Château du Clos Lucé, showcases some of Da Vinci’s most significant works, allowing visitors to appreciate the scope of the Italian genius. Leonardo’s stately home and its garden welcomed 420,000 visitors last year.
Leonardo da Vinci did not cross the Alps alone in 1516. He brought along three of his paintings: Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Saint John the Baptist, and his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa.
In his luggage he also carried many notebooks and manuscripts.
Note: View the PHOTO GALLERY at the end of this article to see Château du Clos Lucé and its Leonardo da Vinci displays.
Workshop of a genius
The artist, engineer, and visionary moved to France when he was 64.
Appointed "First Painter, Engineer, and Architect to the King” by Francois I, the maestro embarked on his French Period. Three rooms of da Vinci’s workshop are preserved at Clos Lucé today. They allow visitors to experience how the artist worked on the Royal Commission on artworks, engineering projects, and as director of extraordinary celebrations.
Here, he also continued the finishing touches on his paintings of John the Baptist and St. Anne.
Da Vinci as a painter
Painting was his supreme art. Leonardo developed the sfumato technique, playing with light and shadow to create drama.
The renowned Mona Lisa, now housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, is often described as having a “smoky” effect — as if it had been painted without strokes or lines. It is a good example of a portrait where the sfumato technique cleverly adds drama and volume.
One of Da Vinci’s most inspirational quotes is:
“The painter has the universe in his mind and his hands.”
Yet it was also here at Clos Lucé that Leonardo reportedly expressed regret for wasting the artistic talents he had been given. According to the Italian Renaissance painter and biographer Giorgio Vasari, da Vinci lamented "how much he had offended God and the men of the world by not having worked at his art as he should have."
Da Vinci as an engineer, inventor, and architect
Da Vinci developed even more sketches and engineering designs in Ambroise; he was, after all, an engineer in Milan before becoming a painter. His surviving notebooks show ideas that were futuristic for their time, including designs for a revolving bridge, giant weapons, and fantastical flying machines.
In 1495, he even drew up detailed plans for a three-wheeled, self-propelled cart – a precursor to today’s automobiles. A replica of the invention is on display at Clos Lucé, along with models of other designs.
While staying in Amboise at the King's request, he also researched methods to improve urban life. Da Vinci’s notebooks showed idealistic designs for a palace built on water, river redirection, and water level control.
According to Château Clos Lucé:
"The second, most visited (spot) is Leonardo da Vinci's workshop restored as it might have been at the time, based on the model of the Renaissance bottega."(Bottega is the Italian word for studio or workshop.)
Leonardo da Vinci's room, where he took his last breath, is one of the two most visited rooms. It was here that da Vinci was reconciled with God in his last days. According to Giorgio Vasari, shortly before the great painter died, "with much lamenting, having confessed and repented, he devoutly desired to take the most Holy Sacrament [getting] out of bed, even though he could not stand upon his feet and had to be supported by his friends and servants."
The experience of visiting these spaces can be quite moving, Château Clos Lucé reports.
“You have to realize that the Clos Lucé is as much a museum (with its various cultural facilities) as an artist's home where you feel the past and imagine the lives of its illustrious guests.”
The real Da Vinci “code”
Leonardo died on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67. He is not buried at the château but, as he requested, at the royal castle of Amboise, the home of the Kings of France.
Francois I, paying tribute, said of the great man:
“No man possessed such a knowledge of painting, sculpture, or architecture as Leonardo, but the same goes for philosophy. He was a great philosopher.”
One of Da Vinci's philosophical quotes echoes that sentiment, expressing in a simple way the “code” by which he conducted his life:
"A well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a well-spent life brings happy death."
Visiting Château du Clos Lucé
Château du Clos Lucé, Leonardo's last home, takes you through his life in France, his work for the King, and his unique collection of inventions. It is also interesting to note that France’s Loire Valley is a region rich in history and culture and is on the UNESCO Historic Site list.
Getting to Amboise and Château du Clos Lucé from Paris is easy — it's the perfect day trip. It takes 2 hours by car or 1 hour to get there by France's TGV fast train.
The park and château are open all year round except for Christmas Day and January 1.
Program for 2025:
The 2025 program includes a cultural exhibition titled Leonardo Da Vinci and Biomimicry, one of the highlights at the Château from June 7 to September 10.
Clos Lucé describes the exhibit this way:
“For many, biomimicry starts with Leonardo da Vinci. He was one of the most attentive observers of nature. He doesn’t just observe natural phenomena but seeks to understand their profound mechanism and to learn from them. In other words, living things serve as a model for creating and innovation.”
View the PHOTO GALLERY below to see more of Leonardo da Vinci's last home, Château du Clos Lucé in France.
