In the Middle Ages (1214-1471), the estate belonged to the d’Amboise family, who donated their lands at Le Cloux to the Cistercian nuns of Moncé, an abbey founded in Limeray under the protection of the lords of Amboise.
The epic story of this pink brick and tufa stone residence, built on Gallo-Roman foundations, began under the reign of Louis XI, in 1471. Presented by the King to his favorite Étienne le Loup, an ennobled former kitchen boy, the Château du Cloux in Amboise was surrounded by fortifications. Purchased by Charles VIII on July 2, 1490, it became the royal residence of the kings of France.
The King transformed the medieval fortress into a château d’agrément and built an oratory, a jewel of Gothic architecture, for his wife Queen Anne of Brittany. The young Duke of Angoulême, the future François I, was a regular visitor.
At the end of the 17th century, Château du Cloux was renamed Château du Clos Lucé. It then passed into the hands of the d’Amboise family, who saved it from destruction during the French Revolution. In 1854, it passed into the hands of the Saint-Bris family.
Nocturnes Leonard De Serres
Ateliers De Leonard De Vinci Leonard De Serres 1
Jardin De Leonard 3
Leonardo da Vinci's room
Lhelice Volante David Darrault 2
Chateau Du Clos Luce 3Leonardo spent the last three years of his life at the Château du Clos Lucé
Leonardo spent the last three years of his life at the Château du Clos Lucé, working on numerous projects for the King of France, surrounded by his pupils. He received distinguished guests such as the Cardinal of Aragon, royal dignitaries, ambassadors and his Italian artist friends at the King’s Court, including Dominique de Cortone, known as the Boccador, future architect of Chambord.
An underground passage linking the Château du Clos Lucé and the Château royal d’Amboise enabled the two men to meet on a daily basis. The first few meters of the gallery are still visible. After 10 years of a fascinating relationship between Leonardo da Vinci and three kings of France: Charles VIII, Louis XII and François I, the Italian Master died on May 2, 1519 in his room at Château du Clos Lucé.
Imagine Leonardo da Vinci’s journey across the Alps in 1516
Faced with the young Italian Renaissance artists Raphael and Michelangelo, in the autumn of 1516 Leonardo da Vinci accepted the invitation of the King of France and, at the age of 64, crossed the Alps by mule with some of his disciples, including Francesco Melzi and Battista de Villanis, his faithful Milanese servant.
He brought with him three of his masterpieces: The Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, St. John the Baptist, as well as his notebooks, sketches, drawings and manuscripts later collected in codexes, now scattered around the world.
The Mona Lisa comes to smile at Château du Clos Lucé
According to the testimony of the Cardinal d’Aragon’s secretary, who visited Le Clos Lucé, there was “a painting of a lady from Florence painted au naturel by order of the late Julien de Médicis”. Executed between 1503 and 1514, this painting illustrates Leonardo da Vinci’s famous sfumato of blurred outlines.
Leonardo da Vinci
