Ludovico's Last Supper
Church of Saint-Ours de Loches
In December 2020 archaeologists found two skeletons in the collegiate church of Saint-Ours de Loches. One is thought to be that of the Duke of Milan, Ludovic Sforza.
Ludovico, one of the world’s greatest patrons of the arts for whom Leonardo da Vinci produced some of his best work, the cultured man who commissioned The Last Supper one of the world’s most famous masterpieces, was shamefully and unnecessarily deprived of everything which makes life bearable. He spent his last years in a dank dungeon in Château Loches where he died half mad of a broken heart in 1508.
Ludovic Sforza’s cell in Château de Loches
Ludovico was greedy, ambitious, treacherous and ruthless. He was also cultured, intelligent, very generous with a good sense of humour. Milan would not see his like again.
When Louis XIII laid siege to Milan, Ludovico could no longer pay Leonardo. Genuinely fond of him and concerned for his future, instead of money, Ludovico gave him a vineyard. This was his way of looking after his friend’s interests knowing that he himself might soon be homeless.
In 1500, when the French king took Milan, Ludovico tried to re-take it by hiring an army of Swiss mercenaries but when they realised they would be fighting Swiss mercenaries they handed him over to Louis who took Ludovico prisoner.
Leonardo was devastated. He said: The Duke has lost his state, his property and his freedom.
Ludovico was treated quite well until the day he tried to escape from Château Loches. Where did he think he could go? No way could he have raised an army. He had no power and no money. The best he could have hoped for was to walk back to his beloved Milan.
It would be good to know what Leonardo thought of this terrible, unjust, treatment of his old friend of twenty years standing. Eight years after Ludovico’s death Leonardo arrived in nearby Amboise under very different circumstances.
Post by Pamela, Photography by Mark
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