5 x Leonardo da Vinci in Milan

In front of the church of Maria delle Grazie, where you can see Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper (cenacolo.it), lies the vineyard that Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, gave him in 1498. It has since been replanted with the same grape variety in the original location. Nowadays it’s part of the garden of Casa degli Atellani.

After arriving in Milan in 1482 under the reign of Ludovico il Moro, Leonardo regularly frequented the Sforza Castle. The decoration of the Sala delle Asse (Room of the Wooden Boards) might refer to the Duke himself because of the pergola of mulberry trees that covers the vault.

In 1609, Cardinal Federico Borromeo founded Europe’s first public library. It has an amazing collection including Leonardo’s Codex Atlanticus (dated 1478-1518), arranged in 12 volumes dealing with mathematics, astronomy, botany, and zoology. Here you can also see Leonardo’s painting Portrait of a Musician.

Leonardo was also an inventor, an attentive observer and a keen interpreter of nature. The museum has an installation of 130 three-dimensional models, which were reproduced according to his sketches on paper. There is also an interactive area.

The functioning of the locks, which were part of the ingenious water transportation system that Leonardo invented, can still be seen nowadays at the top of Via San Marco, even though most of it was covered with roads and buildings during the Fascist period. After the restoration, the wooden gates that were used to regulate the flow of water were replaced.