Leonardo and Ludovico Sforza

The cell of Ludovico Sforza

The last time they saw each other was in 1499 in Italy, but by co-incidence Leonardo and his most loyal patron, Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, died in France just twenty-five miles from each other.

If it were not for Ludovico Sforza, a cultured man passionate about the arts, the world would not have The Last Supper. It was he who commissioned it.

The Duke’s Court was the most splendid, the most envied in Europe.

Leonardo was one of hundreds of gifted artists, poets, and musicians. He was employed as a painter, sculptor and designer of court festivals for more than seventeen years. He was the Duke’s technical adviser in architecture, fortifications, military matters and also worked as a hydraulic and mechanical engineer.

The Duke, taken into captivity by the French, was imprisoned in Château Loches. He often tried to escape back to Italy. He died ignored, forgotten and half mad. Leonardo was feted by the King of France.

Ludovico Sforza, the famous Duke of Milan, died alone and friendless in a damp, dark dungeon in Château Loches in May 1508.

His employee, Leonardo da Vinci, died in luxury with devoted friends at his bedside in Clos Lucé, Amboise in May 1519.

Post by Pamela Shields (BA History of Art)

Pamela, a Graduate and Tutor in the History of Art, trained as a magazine journalist at the London College of Printing and has been a freelance writer for over twenty years.