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1513-1519
The last years: Rome and France
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Leonardo in Rome
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Possibly already residing in Rome at the time of
Cesare Borgia (1502-03) and under the pontificate of
Julius II (1504-05), Leonardo returned to the papal city
between 1513 and 1516 when Giuliano, duke of Nemours,
brother of Leo X, offered him protection. In this deeply
intellectual and creative milieu, artists could meet
notable figures such as Pacioli, Bramante, Giocondo da
Verona, Giuliano da Sangallo, and Raphael. Leonardo's
work, however, remained confined to an almost private
circle: having completed the De ludo geometrico,
he studied Archimedes, drew up plans for the drainage of
the Pontine Marshes, completed a drawing of the Villa
Adriana at Tivoli, and submitted plans for the gate of
Civitavecchia. There is no trace of the two small
pictures of the Roman period mentioned by Vasari. His
studies of military architecture continued: in Latium he
familiarized himself with the most recent defensive
works, the fortresses of Ostia, Nettuno, and Civita
Castellana.
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Leonardo da Vinci, Study of Dancing Figures,
c.1515,
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.
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Leonardo da Vinci, Scheme for the Draining of the Pontine
Marshes, 1514-15,
Royal Library, Windsor.
In 1515 Giuliano obtained from his brother, the pope, possession of
this flooded area.
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Leonardo da Vinci, Studies for
Civitavecchia, Codice Atlantico, c.1514,
Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.
From 1508 Bramante was occupied with the harbor
structures of Civitavecchia, in particular the
defensive system and the dockyard. On Bramante's
death, Leonardo was invited to the city (1513-14);
this drawing may have aimed to re-evoke a harbor
city of antiquity based on the configuration to be
found on Roman coins. Initiated under Julius II, the
reconstruction of the fortress was continued by
Giuliano da Sangallo, on the initiative of Leo X,
and was subsequently completed by Michelangelo.
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Leonardo da Vinci
Map of Tuscany and the Chiana Valley
c.1502
Black chalk, pen, ink and colour on paper
Royal Library, Windsor
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Giovanni Antonio Dosio, View of the Courtyard of the Belvedere,
Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe,
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Leonardo lived in the Vatican where Pope Leo X had given him an
apartment.
With Giuliano de' Medici Leonardo went to Parma (1514) and Florence
(1515)
where he worked on restoration plans around San Lorenzo and in the
Medici Palace. |
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