Follow in Leonardo's footsteps at the court of the Sforza dukes
Everyone knows Leonardo da Vinci as the genius of Florence. Few know that he spent more than twenty years in Milan, almost a third of his life. He arrived in 1482, aged thirty, stayed until the fall of Ludovico il Moro in 1499 and came back from 1506 to 1513. And the place where his Milanese years come alive is Sforza Castle, the residence of the dukes who hired him as engineer, painter, sculptor and master of court festivities.
With Ad Artem, official education provider of Sforza Castle since 1996, you can discover Leonardo's Milan starting from the castle that still holds his traces: guided tours in English for groups, companies and schools, led by art historians.
Where?
Leonardo's job application to Ludovico il Moro
Leonardo's Milanese story begins with a letter. To introduce himself to Duke Ludovico Sforza, known as il Moro, he wrote what today we would call a CV: ten points listing everything he could do. Surprisingly, almost all of them concern military engineering: portable bridges, cannons, fortifications, waterworks. Painting and sculpture come only at the very end, "in time of peace". The letter is preserved in the Codex Atlanticus at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and it is not in his handwriting: Leonardo wrote in mirror script, from right to left, so he had a clean copy made for the duke.
Leonardo at Sforza Castle: places and stories
The Sala delle Asse
Inside one of the castle towers, Leonardo turned a reception hall into a forest: on the walls and vault he painted a pergola of sixteen mulberry trees whose branches weave an endless pattern of knots and leaves. The mulberry, morus in Latin, is a tribute to the duke's nickname. Used as a stable and whitewashed under Spanish rule, the room was rediscovered at the end of the 19th century during the castle's restoration. The Sala delle Asse is currently closed for restoration and will reopen when the works are complete; our guided tours start beneath the pergola in the Piazza d'Armi, which evokes Leonardo's painted grove.
The great Horse
Leonardo promised il Moro a bronze monument to his father, Francesco Sforza: a horse between 7 and 8 metres tall. He studied the horses in the ducal stables, even noting down their names, and built a full-size clay model. But the bronze set aside for the statue was cast into cannons, and the Horse remained a dream.
The Festa del Paradiso
At the Sforza court Leonardo was also an event designer. In January 1490, for the wedding of Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Isabella of Aragon, he staged the Festa del Paradiso inside the castle: a starry heaven with planets, glittering lights and actors moved by machinery of his own invention. It was remembered as one of the most spectacular celebrations of the Renaissance.
The Leonardeschi: Leonardo's legacy in Milan
In Milan Leonardo left more than masterpieces: he left a school. The artists who trained in his workshop or absorbed his lessons, the Leonardeschi, spread his language through Lombard painting and sculpture. In Room XXI of the Pinacoteca of Sforza Castle you can see it up close: Bernardino Luini's lunettes with the portraits of the Sforza dynasty, Marco d'Oggiono's Virgin of the Rocks, Andrea Solario's Portrait of a Lady, Bernardo Zenale's Saint John the Baptist and Giovanni Angelo del Maino's carved wooden Lamentation. Multimedia stations in English and Italian reveal the restoration of the works and the drawings hidden beneath the paint.
Leonardo guided tours at Sforza Castle
For groups and companies
The Leonardeschi at Sforza Castle – New
Guided tour • 90 minutes • groups of adults and corporate groups
Engineer, director of court festivities, scholar of water, painter: who was Leonardo really at the court of Ludovico il Moro? From the Piazza d'Armi to Room XXI of the Pinacoteca, the tour retraces Leonardo's years in Milan and shows how his legacy transformed the art of the city. Audio headsets available on request.
For schools
The Leonardeschi at Sforza Castle – New
Guided tour • 90 minutes • school groups
The same journey through Leonardo's Milan, designed for students visiting the city on a school trip: the genius at the Sforza court and the artists who carried on his lessons.
More at Sforza Castle and in Leonardo's Milan
Make the most of your visit to Sforza Castle with our other guided tours for groups: the museums of the castle, the walk along the castle battlements with views over the city, and the castle basements. And to complete your Leonardo experience in Milan, discover the Last Supper at the Cenacolo Vinciano and the Portrait of a Musician, Leonardo's only painting still in Milan, at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.
Need help planning your group visit? Write to us at info@adartem.it or call +39 02 6597728.