Leonardo da Vinci in Milan
Ludovic Sforza, The Last Supper, court portraits, festivals, canals and a bronze horse which was to surpass all the monuments.
Why did Leonardo leave Florence?
Around 1482, Leonardo joined Milan, capital of a powerful duchy where the court invested in fortifications, festivals, dynastic monuments and land use planning. Florence gave him his training; Milan offers him larger problems and sponsors capable of employing an artist on very different projects.
A famous letter addressed to the Milanese leader lists mainly military skills: bridges, cannons, fortifications and siege machines. Painting and sculpture only come at the end. Even if the writing and dating of the document calls for caution, it reveals a strategy: Leonardo presents himself as a universal technician rather than as a painter looking for a simple altarpiece.
Ludovic Sforza transforms the artist into a court man
Ludovico Maria Sforza, says he Moro, governed Milan before becoming duke in 1494. His patronage served a political project: legitimizing his power, magnifying the dynasty and making the Lombard capital a court comparable to the most brilliant in Italy.
Leonardo responded to this expectation with paintings, ephemeral decorations, emblems and technical projects. The relationship is not that of a free artist in the modern sense: it depends on service, payments, diplomatic priorities and changes of power.
Painter
Portraits and religious commissions.
Engineer
Machinery, hydraulics and defense.
Sculptor
Monument to Francesco Sforza.
Scenographer
Festivals, automatons and shows.
Faces, power and psychology
In Milan, Leonardo adapted the Florentine portrait to a court society where identity was constructed through emblems, gestures and political relationships.
The Lady with the Ermine
Cecilia Gallerani, Ludovic's favorite, turns as if someone had just entered. The ermine refers to purity, to the name of the young woman and probably to the emblematic duke.
La Belle Ferronnière
The parapet, the hairstyle and the side gaze build a restrained presence. The identity of the model remains debated, despite the names attached to the painting.
The Portrait of a Musician
The only male portrait painted on a panel generally attributed to Leonardo, he also recalls his reputation as a musician and the importance of music at court.
The Last Supper: a room becomes a theater
Ludovic orders from Leonardo the scene of Christ's last meal in the Dominican refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, integrated into the dynastic and funerary project of the Sforza.
The perspective extends the refectory
The lines of the walls and ceiling converge on the head of Christ. The painted space appears to continue the actual architecture while organizing a spiritual center.
Four groups of three
The apostles are gathered in groups, but the gestures respond to each other from one set to another. The geometric order contains emotional agitation.
An experimental and fragile technique
Instead of working on fresh coating like in a traditional fresco, Leonardo paints on a dry wall with complex preparation. It can slowly resume its effects, but the layer deteriorates very early.
The court's major projects
An essential part of Milan's work is only known through drawings and texts: projects were abandoned, destroyed or designed to last only one evening.
The Great Horse
The monument to Francesco Sforza was to be cast in bronze on an exceptional scale. A colossal clay model was prepared, but the metal was reassigned to the cannons and the project disappeared during the invasion.
Water and canals
Leonardo observes the Navigli, the locks, the currents and the connection possibilities. Not all Milanese developments are his, but the city sustainably nourishes its hydraulic science.
Machines and theft
The manuscripts bring together gears, weapons, lifting devices and flight research. Drawing is used to analyze forces, not simply to invent feasible objects.
Parties and shows
Sets, costumes, automatons and machinery make the court appear as a world ruled by its prince. Their ephemeral nature explains the rarity of material traces.
La Sala delle Asse: power under a vault of trees
In a performance hall of the castle, sixteen trees rise and intertwine their branches into an immense plant pavilion. Ropes organize the network like flexible architecture.
The mulberry tree, morus in Latin, Ludovic's nickname can be evoked, "il Moro". It also refers to silkworm farming, an important sector of the Milanese economy. Nature, industry and dynastic propaganda overlap.
The fall of the Sforza disperses the workshop
The patron loses Milan
The troops of Louis XII enter the duchy. Ludovic fled, tried to regain power then was captured in 1500.
The horse remains without bronze
The equestrian monument does not go beyond the model and study stage. La Sala delle Asse also remains a complex project.
Leonardo leaves town
He traveled with Luca Pacioli, passed through Mantua and Venice, then returned to Florence. He would later return to Milan under French protection.
Three essential places in Milan
Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano
The Last Supper can be visited in its original refectory; reservation is required and access time is limited for conservation.
Castello Sforzesco
The Sala delle Asse preserves the great plant decor of Leonardo and his workshop, the subject of long restoration campaigns.
Biblioteca Ambrosiana
She keeps it Codex Atlanticus, the largest collection of drawings and writings by Leonardo, as well as the Portrait of a musician.
Works related to Milan
The Last Supper
Horizontal composition designed to transform architecture.
The Lady with the Ermine
Cecilia Gallerani captured in a movement of her gaze and bust.
La Belle Ferronnière
A frontal gaze tempered by the restrained movement of the head.
The Virgin of the Rocks
Figures, gestures and light brought together in an imaginary cave.
Discover the Leonardo da Vinci collection
Hand painted reproductions and customizable formats.
Leonardo and Milan
Why does Leonardo da Vinci go to Milan?
He is looking for a setting offering major artistic and technical commissions. The Sforza court needs painters, engineers, festival organizers and monument creators.
Who was Ludovic Sforza for Leonardo?
The leader and then Duke of Milan was his main patron during the first stay. He notably entrusted the monument to Francesco Sforza, The Last Supper and the decor of the Sala delle Asse.
How long did Leonardo live in Milan?
His first stay lasted approximately from 1482 to 1499, almost seventeen years. He then returned between 1506 and 1513.
Is the Last Supper a fresco?
It is commonly called fresco, but Leonardo did not use the traditional technique on fresh coating. He worked on a dry wall with a more fragile experimental preparation.
Was Leonardo's horse made?
No. A huge clay model was prepared, but the bronze intended for the monument was used for military needs. The model was then destroyed after the entry of the French.
What works by Leonardo can you see in Milan?
The Last Supper in Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Sala delle Asse at the Castello Sforzesco, the Portrait of a musician and sheets of Codex Atlanticus at Ambrosiana.
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