The story of this place
In 1516, at the invitation of the young King Francis I, the ageing Leonardo da Vinci crossed the Alps to France, bringing three paintings including the Mona Lisa, and settled at the manor of Clos Lucé beside the royal château of Amboise. Named the king's 'first painter, engineer and architect', he spent his final years sketching inventions, designing court festivities and a never-built palace, though a stroke had partly paralysed his hand. He died at Clos Lucé on 2 May 1519; legend, popularised by a painting, holds that he expired in the arms of Francis I. Today the manor displays models of his machines built from his notebooks.