Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Da Vinci sleeps here

This little high-gothic chapel built on the ramparts of the Château d'Amboise is the final resting place of Leonardo da Vinci. He is supposedly buried under the floor of the chapel; a stone marker indicates the spot.

La Chapelle Saint-Hubert at Amboise, built in the late fifteenth century.

Da Vinci was brought to live at Amboise in the last years of his life by King François I. You can visit the house he lived in; it's been made into a da Vinci museum and is filled with personal effects and models of some of his engineering designs.

8 comments:

  1. Models paid for by IBM... thanks IBM!
    One day we'll visit and I'll see them for real, not pictures.

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  2. Clos Lucé filled with Leonardo's personal effects? Are you sure? My impression is that they take a very small amount of Leonardo and stretch him a very long way.

    Apparently the guy who discovered and ID'd Caravaggio's remains in Italy recently has applied to examine the remains believed to be Leonardo's in Amboise -- it will be interesting to see if he gets permission -- tourist blurb in Amboise is based more and more on their connection with Leonardo, so they won't want to risk finding out it isn't him in the grave.

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  3. The Clos Lucé is a fun visit on a nice day when you want to stroll in the gardens where most of the models are. Not really for a cold or rainy day. The models are interesting and it's a good place to take children. I don't remember if I felt it was expensive, or not, so probably not outrageously priced. When we visited, a few years ago, the house had an exhibit of Da Vinci's sketchbooks alongside models -- very instructive.

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  4. An interesting place to visit I'm sure, probably filled with tourists all the time.

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  5. Ellen

    I felt it was expensive also when we went last year. I asked one of the cashiers and the reply was : " parce que c'est un musée privé".

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  6. I didn't go inside, but I saw the outside (on my one-day whirlwind bus trip to see Amboise, Blois and Chambord with Jane and Aimée).

    I'm glad you're getting the hedges done by someone this year :)

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  7. I visited the museum in Vinci, Italy with models and small texts by Leonardo explaining his engineering. I've also seen a traveling exhibit of the same models. I'm thinking there must be many of them.

    Mary in Oregon

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