© Supersoniks 2016 Célébration du 500ème anniversaire de l’arrivée de Léonard de Vinci au Château du Clos Lucé à Amboise (1516-1519).
À l’invitation de François Ier, Léonard de Vinci s’installe au Château du Clos Lucé à Amboise, à l’automne 1516. A l’âge de 64 ans, il traverse les Alpes avec certains de ses disciples, dont Francesco Melzi et Batista de Vilanis son fidèle servant milanais. Il vit là, travaille à de nombreux projets pour le Roi et s’éteint le 2 mai 1519 dans sa chambre du Château du Clos Lucé. La mission du Château du Clos Lucé, menée par la famille Saint Bris depuis 1954, est de transmettre au plus grand nombre l’héritage et le patrimoine de ce génie de la Renaissance. Ce cinq centenaire est donc une formidable occasion de restituer l’atelier vivant de la Joconde, de rendre hommage aux œuvres et travaux réalisés par Léonard de Vinci en France, mais aussi de réactualiser ses idées visionnaires et ses valeurs humanistes. L’année 2016 sera marquée par une programmation exceptionnelle. Une exposition temporaire, la restitution de la demeure après 60 ans de travaux, des spectacles inédits, la remise du Prix Léonard de Vinci et le Festival Européen de Musique Renaissance.
Leonardo da Vinci’s house The Leonardo da Vinci Park A top cultural attraction – a real journey of discovery, on the trail of Leonardo da Vinci’s visionary genius. Enter the universe of Leonardo’s creativity, enjoying a walk which is both fun and educational… Leonardo’s garden The Château du Clos Lucé brings to life the Master’s botanical drawings, geological studies and landscapes. Spread out over a hectare, “Leonardo’s Garden”, a real outdoor museum, has been landscaped and planted in the spirit of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings and drawings.
2016: the year of completion of more than 60 years of restoration
1854 The Saint Bris family take ownership of Le Clos Lucé 1954 100 years later, Hubert and Agnès Saint Bris open the private historical monument to the general public 2016 The Château du Clos Lucé celebrates the completion of its restoration and renovation work. The Saint Bris family has spent more than 60 years renovating Leonardo da Vinci’s final home.
• A family adventure to revive the spirit of the site of Leonardo da Vinci’s home in the days of the Renaissance. • The buildings were restored, stone by stone, by specialized artisans who employed the techniques of their 15th and 16th century ancestors to work the stone, the mortar, the wood and the stained glass
From top to bottom The Château du Clos Lucé © Léonard de Serres Leonardo da Vinci’s bedroom © Léonard de Serres The polyhedron © Léonard de Serres The council room © Léonard de Serres The Saint Bris family © Droits réservés LEONARDO DA VINCI’S LIVING WORKSHOPS
Inaugurated at the same time as the exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci’s workshops put the final touch on the immense restoration project. For this occasion, the Musée de Chambéry agreed to a special loan of a St. Anne from 1855. Located in a 100 m2 space on the ground floor of the building, these three rooms – previously closed to the public – have been restored with the aim of immersing visitors in the abundant creativity and the work environment that reigned at the time. Shadow and light, a recurring theme for Leonardo da Vinci (and theorized in his A Treatise on Painting), guide each guest through a day in the life of the Master, from morning to night. In each room, the décor has been recreated with incredible attention to detail: original frescoes repainted in pigments used during the Renaissance, furniture produced from plans from the era and stained glass with small circular panes that bathe the rooms in the captivating atmosphere of shadow and light beloved by the Master.
Two years of research and renovation, 30 people and 15 trades were required to restore Leonardo da Vinci’s workshops, library and study at Le Clos Lucé.
“Le Clos Lucé was a space of work and inspiration for Leonardo the painter” François Saint Bris, President of the Château du Clos Lucé
From 1516 to 1519, Leonardo da Vinci completed a multitude of personal projects and royal commissions in his workshops at Le Clos Lucé: • sumptuous celebrations for King Francis I and his court; • a gigantic bronze statue; • projects to lay pipes throughout the kingdom; • plans for the perfect city in Romorantin; and the list goes on...
But painting occupied a central place in the cultural profusion at Le Clos Lucé. For Leonardo da Vinci, painting was the supreme art, concentrating all the knowledge developed in the other disciplines. Don Antonio de Beatis, the precious secretary to the Cardinal of Aragon, visited him at Le Clos Lucé on 10 October 1517, where he reported seeing the three masterpieces – St. Anne, Mona Lisa and St. John the Baptist – and “countless manuscripts”. Recent research conducted on preparatory drawings for St. Anne’s dress proved that the paper employed came from France. This backs up Antonio de Beatis’s account of the work that Leonardo da Vinci was doing on that piece which would, in the end, remain incomplete.
As if Leonardo da Vinci had just stepped away...
From top to bottom
Living worshops of Leonardo da Vinci © Léonard de Serres THE LIFE OF THE MASTER, MORNING TO NIGHT...
“Visitors go through these spaces over the equivalent of a workday. They first discover the Master’s workshops and library and then find him again at dusk in his study, to which he liked to withdraw.”
THE ARTIST’S WORKSHOP IN THE MORNING
In the first area, visitors discover the ambiance of the bottegas that were typical of the Renaissance, those craft workshops full of life where Leonardo da Vinci took his first steps in Florence and which he recreated at Le Clos Lucé. Book stands, blueprints, pigments and painting tools have been reconstructed according to documents from the period. On the worktables, visitors will find models of the giant bronze statue of a horse commissioned by Francis I but never completed, plus a half dozen copies of sketches in the Master’s hand. A historic copy of his St. Anne, on loan from the Musée de Chambéry, is presented on the easel where it bathes in the morning light.
THE LIBRARY AND THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES DURING THE DAY
In the library, facsimiles from the Institut de France and ancient texts are aligned alongside an astonishing cabinet of curiosities. Astrolabes, world maps, plant illustrations, skeletons and taxidermy, vanitas and shells are revealed in an interplay of shadow and light. “These workshops are a source of great pride, because never has anyone been so close to Leonardo da Vinci’s daily life, which has always been the aim of Le Clos Lucé and the mission taken on by our family” François Saint Bris, President of the Château du Clos Lucé
THE STUDY AT NIGHTFALL
Swept away by an immersive scene, visitors watch the meeting between the Cardinal of Aragon and Leonardo da Vinci at nightfall, thanks to special effects and holograms. An audiovisual production that uses “ghost technology” or “optical theatre” is projected. The visitors become spectators of this extraordinary, immersive and emotional encounter with Leonardo da Vinci in his workshop... as if he were just as present today as he was 500 years ago.
ANTONIO DE BEATIS’S TESTIMONY
His Lordship went to visit with us, in a area outside Amboise, my Lord Leonardo da Vinci, of Florence, more than 70 years old, a very famous painter of our time. He showed the cardinal three paintings: the portrait of a Florentine lady painted unaffectedly in the past by order of the late Magnificent Giuliano de’ Medici, a St. John the Baptist child and lastly a Virgin with the child seated on the lap of St. Anne. Those three pieces were executed with great perfection.
Antonio de Beatis: Itinerary of his Grace the Archbishop and the illustrious Cardinal of Aragon in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Italy (1517-1518) TEMPORARY EXHIBITION 17 June - 15 November 2016
« From the Clos Lucé to the Louvre, the Three Masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci » Exhibition curator: Alessandro Vezzosi Président d’Honneur : Prof.Carlo Pedretti François Saint Bris - President of the Château du Clos Lucé Catherine Simon Marion - Deputy Director
“The aim of the exhibition is to shed some light on the mysteries surrounding these masterpieces.” François Saint Bris, President of Château du Clos Lucé The Château du Clos Lucé showcases the French history of three major pieces by Leonard da Vinci: The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, St. John the Baptist and the famous Mona Lisa. The exhibition explains the construction of the myth over the five centuries that the three paintings have seen. It tells the story of the pieces’ genesis in Italy, followed by their journey from Le Clos Lucé in Amboise to the Louvre Museum in Paris where they still live today. Mona Lisa’s smile is a guiding thread: she smiled and then, beginning in the 19th century, she made others smile in turn. The Research and Restoration Centre for the Museums of France (C2RMF) presents the results of its scientific studies of the Mona Lisa and The Virgin and Child with St. Anne. The secrets of St. John the Baptist will reveal its secrets by the end of 2016, once its studies and restoration are complete. Lastly, the exhibition offers a modern perspective on the artistic and cultural interpretations of these legendary masterpieces. Alessandro Vezzosi is curating the event. He has put a large segment of his collection of artwork and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, as reinterpreted by 20th century artists, on display, along with the portrait of the Monna Vanna, a subject of much debate and mystery making its first public appearance in France.
The French history of these pieces that Leonardo da Vinci never wanted to let go began at the Château du Clos Lucé.
The Château du Clos Lucé has received a special loan of a manuscript from Victor Emmanuel III National Library in Naples: Itinerario di monsignor reverendissimo et Illustrissimo il cardinal de Aragona mio Signore [...], Don Antonio de Béatis, Bibliothèque Nationale « Vittorio Emanuele III », Naples
A future international interpretation centre on the links between Leonardo da Vinci and France. Two sites can help to truly understand Leonardo da Vinci’s influence on France: the Louvre Museum, which houses many of his masterpieces, and the Château du Clos Lucé, his home in Amboise. The great ambition of Le Clos Lucé is to become a central European hub and reference on the links between Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. This expertise went into action in 2009 in the form of an unprecedented scientific research project led by Prof. Carlo Pedretti, the greatest expert in the world on the Italian Master. The exhibition From Le Clos Lucé to the Louvre, the Three Masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci is further step in that process.
From top to bottom The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Wyatt de Vivefay, according to Léonard de Vinci, Musée des Beaux-Arts of Chambéry La Joconde, oil on canva, assigned to Ambroise Dubois, XVIIth century, Collection château du Clos Lucé © Léonard de Serres Saint Jean Baptiste, Léonard de Vinci, musée du Louvre La Joconde Nue, deposit, Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci TEMPORARY EXHIBITION
“The real mystery of these pieces is in their smiles...” Alessandro Vezzosi, exhibition curator Art critic and professor at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence, Alessandro Vezzosi also founded the Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci in the Italian Master’s birthplace. His books have been translated into 18 languages and he has also written reference texts on Florentine genius in Europe, the USA and Japan, beginning in 1979. For Alessandro Vezzosi, these three very mature pieces provide a highly complementary expression of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting style, with all its poetry and its technical excellence. They have fascinated and inspired many artists in a variety of disciplines for the past five centuries. To him, these paintings all share the same mystery: that of the smile. Leonardo da Vinci spent a great deal of time studying the anatomy of this facial expression and sought in his paintings to go beyond a merely physical representation to hint at the invisible and the soul.
“Studies have shown the painter’s intention of depicting details that go deeper than the visible” Isabelle Pallot-Frossard, Director of C2RMF. Created after the Second World War and led today by Isabelle Pallot-Frossard, C2RMF is now one of the top labs in the world for the study of artwork. Covering 5,000 m2 of basement below the Louvre, the Centre receives, performs diagnostics and values pieces for every museum in France. The exhibition presents a number of photos and analyses carried out on Leonardo da Vinci’s work using a whole battery of technological tools: • Ultraviolet: reveals layers of clear varnish applied to protect a work of art and shows any accidents or retouches that may have occurred; • Infrared: these electromagnetic waves reveal pentimenti, or even hidden signatures, that are invisible to the naked eye; • X-rays: help to better understand the structure of the materials used and detect any imperceptible craquelure or fissuring; • 3D scanner: this ultra-powerful camera determines the thickness of each brush stroke to shed new light on an artist’s technique.
“Reinventing the relationship between a work of art and its audience by investing in artificial intelligence and our most innovative digital technologies” Florent Aziosmanoff, creator of theLiving Mona Lisa The Living Mona Lisa is the figurehead for a new, emerging artistic discipline called living art. It applies to digital pieces that behave autonomously, driven by artificial intelligence which establishes a tangible relationship with their viewers. The digital format paves the way for a new form of artistic expression. With the Living Mona Lisa, the exhibition at Le Clos Lucé brings the Mona Lisa to “life”.
“They’re not just video; they’re poetry!” Gonzague Saint Bris The Culture Drone videos by Gonzague Saint Bris, “Crossing the Alps with Leonardo da Vinci” and another dedicated to the Clos Lucé, are projected in a sneak preview at the exhibition. The writer, historian and video director, retraced the Tuscan Master’s journey through the Alps on a mule, 500 years later, under the same conditions and carrying his own version of the Mona Lisa, La Joconde Bleue. This video is part of a collection of 40 Culture Drone videos, The Châteaux That Make France What It Is, which also cover artists’ and writers’ houses.
From top to bottom Cover of the Excelsior, La Joconde, 1911 Paolo Della Bella, Gioco nda! 2016, mixt technique on canva, Carlo Palli Collection Photography - false colors - before restoration © J-L. Bellec, C2RMF Preparatory drawing for the Saint Anne © Royal Library, Windsor Castle NEW IN 2016
The golden horn’s bridge “Details make perfection but perfection is not a detail” The Château du Clos Lucé inaugurates a new bridge. Adapted from Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing, it is associated with a photographic exhibit about its achievement. This innovative work is conceived by Armedieval, specialist of ancient buildings, and under the advice of the Norwegian artist Vebjørn Sand. Designed in oak, the bridge extends the Leonardo da Vinci Park, and belongs to the Leonardo Bridge Project. This project links a global network of unique bridges, as a link between sciences and cultures.
In 1502, Leonardo da Vinci designs a great bridge upon the Bosphorus, for the Sultan Bayezid II. 360 meters long, the bridge brings together the two shores of Constantinople, uniting Orient and Occident. This ambitious plan is massive and elegant, as an architectural, an artistic, and a modern gesture. The two sides and parabolic arcs are unique because they contribute to resist to lateral wings. Leonardo da Vinci’s idea is not realized at that time, but it shapes today. The Château du Clos Lucé pays tribute to its universalism, his innovation mind, face to technological and revolutionary challenges of the Renaissance.
CULTURAL PROGRAM IN 2016
The Clos Lucé’s nights The Château du Clos Lucé offers a cultural program around Leonardo da Vinci’s character. Two special nights pay tribute to his feast spirit. In July and August, the Clos Lucé offers novel shows, dedicated to the Tuscan genius.
July 22nd August 26th “Leonardo da Vinci, a free mind” “Being Leonardo da Vinci. An Impossible Interview.” An original creation, by Patrick An original creation by & with Massimiliano Scheyder with : Patrick Scheyder Finazzer Flory : a theatrical interview, Léonard piano, Frédéric Lenoir & Jean-Claude de Vinci, played by Massimiliano Finazzer Flory, Drouot text, Benjamin Lacombe tells about his life, ambitions, passions & tries to drawings live on giant screen. answer to problematics from our modern time.
The European Renaissance Music Festival - 11th edition For this 11th edition, the Château du Clos Lucé is making a special 500th anniversary program. Since 2005, the place celebrates Leonardo da Vinci as a musician and talented performer, inviting the best ensembles to its festival. September 23rd September 24th September 25th Doulce Mémoire Ensemble Vedado Quatuor Van Kuijk Novel creation & Latana Phoung
Château du Clos Lucé www.vinci-closluce.com François Saint Bris, President Deputy director, Catherine Simon Marion From top to bottom The Golden Horn Bridge © Léonard de Serres For documents, photos, visits or any demand, Manuscrit L, Leonardo da Vinci please contact : © Bibliothèque Institut de France Communication, Irina Metzl The Château du Clos Lucé de nuit © Léonard de Serres [email protected] The European Renaissance Music Festival Tel : +33 (0)2 47 57 55 78 © Léonard de Serres Mob : +33 (0)6 47 47 31 87