Clos Lucé, Medieval château in Amboise, France
Clos Lucé is a brick château with white stone trim in Amboise, distinguished by Gothic windows and an octagonal tower. The building connects with several exhibition rooms that spread across a terraced garden, where paths wind through models of machines.
Hugues d'Amboise built the house in 1471 on Gallo-Roman foundations, and Étienne Le Loup gave it its present form after buying it that year. Charles VIII bought it from Le Loup on 2 July 1490 for 3,500 gold écus and turned the fortress into a royal summer residence. In 1516 Francis I placed it at the disposal of Leonardo da Vinci, who lived there until his death on 2 May 1519.
The name may come from the Virgo Lucis, a painting of the Virgin above the door of the oratory that Charles VIII built in 1492 for Anne of Brittany. That Gothic chapel of tuffeau stone is decorated with murals by Leonardo's disciples: an Annunciation, a Last Judgement and the Virgo Lucis. The house is also called the manor of Cloux.
The estate opens daily except in January when maintenance work takes place, and visiting typically takes two to three hours. A route leads through the upstairs rooms and then out into the garden with its models.
An underground passage links the estate to the royal castle of Amboise and allowed Francis I to visit Leonardo discreetly. In Leonardo's bedroom hangs a copy of the Mona Lisa, recalling that he brought the original to France.
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