Leonardo da Vinci and France
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A FNRS researcher at the University of Liège and an acknowledged specialist on Leonardo da Vinci, Laure Fagnart is, with Carlo Pedretti, Emeritus Professor at the University of Los Angeles (UCLA), the academic commissioner of an exhibition which will open its doors on the 24th of June, 2009, at Clos Lucé, the very place where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life. The exhibition will give a view of the relationship between the Italian artist and France, focusing on Leonardo’s French years, between 1515 and 1519. What was he doing during that period? What were his activities in the service of François the 1st? He was above all an events organiser, directing and staging festive occasions (read the article Leonardo da Vinci in France). He was also an architect, designing a plan for an equestrian statue of the king, or the plans for the new town of Romorantin. The exhibition will also be the occasion to discover his daily life in the shade of the Amboise chateau. Facsimiles of his works and his designs, scale models and three dimensional reconstructions of his architectural plans will allow the visitor to get an idea of the work accomplished over these years by the Italian genius. The exhibition will be on show until the 30th of January, 2010.