Picturesque Amboise, France built up
around a fortified chateau. We hiked up
a long steep hill to reach the manor house of Chateau du Clos Luce, built in 1471 over a 12th century
foundation. We entered the small manor house by climbing up a narrow spiral
staircase in the tower. The pink brick and tufa stone bear the architectural
mark of the 15th century. The summer home of French kings for 200
years, the chateau is surrounded by acres of woodland park. Da Vinci was free to dream and work here.
I quote from a flyer: Leonardo da Vinci’s last residence, the
Château du Clos Lucé, is dedicated to conveying an overall picture of the art
and the boundless vision of the Tuscan artist. From civil and military engineer
to botanist, in his work as an architect and as a musician, the
all-encompassing nature of Leonardo da Vinci’s intuition is brought to life
before your eyes.
The interior of the manor house shows
the everyday life of Leonardo da Vinci and his 40 fabulous machines. It was
here at the Château du Clos Lucé that da Vinci, at the invitation of the King
of France, Francis I, spent the last three years of his life. He brought his
famous Mona Lisa with him. From 1516-1519 he spent time perfecting his many
inventions before passing away on 2 May 1519.
The royal Chateau d’Amboise sits higher on a
hill a few meters from the Clos Luce where da Vinci lived. The two buildings
are connected by an underground passageway. There are several models of da
Vinci’s inventions in the house. Except for his bedroom the house was
unremarkable. He slept in a Renaissance canopy bed with maroon drapes. It was a beautiful warm day. Once though the
chateau we headed out into the woodland.
The wellsprings of Leonardo's
inspiration is punctuated by 16 giant and actionable machines, 32 transparent
canvases (3 to 4 meters high) depicting the Master's sketches or details of his
paintings, and 8 sound stations featuring the voice of the celebrated French
actor Jean Piat. The display of his
early inventions was astonishing. We wandered and saw most of the park and arrived
at the water retrieval machine just as it went into action.His inventions were numerous and
displayed in a very understandable way for us with a lesser inventive and
imaginative mind. I don’t even have the notes to describe many of them. There
was so much to see!
When my friend tired of walking the park
we returned to the manor house and sat awhile in the small garden. We babbled
on excitedly about the genius of this man who generally is known for his
painting. We were both stunned to learn so much about this man. It seemed,
besides the large number of huge chateaux, the Loire Valley had a surprise in
each one and on every country road.
A formal French garden goes back to
Louis XIV. French gardens are more
sculptured than English gardens and no bush is higher than 3 ½ feet tall. Louis
didn’t want anyone hiding. French gardens also have less color.
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