[MR] BBC and Wikipedia: Death of Leonardo da Vinci

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1519, Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest "Renaissance Man" of
all, died at Château Clos Lucé in France, likely of a stroke. What can I
say about this genius? Not much, because his works speak for themselves.

Today the BBC is offering two features on Leonardo which showcase some of
his best sketches and other works. BBC Culture offers the feature "Leonardo
da Vinci's Lost Masterpieces" at
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190501-leonardo-da-vincis-lost-masterpieces
. This is seconded by "Leonardo da Vinci Portrait Marks 500th Anniversary
of His Death" on BBC News, highlighting a recently identified sketch of the
master as well as some other works:
https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-48105977 .

A biography of Leonardo can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci . This includes a photo of
the lovely and still extant Clos Lucé, plus a link to a Wikipedia page
about the castle itself.

Have you ever wondered why the Mona Lisa (aka "La Gioconda") is in the
Louvre? In 1516 Francis I, invited Leonardo to settle in France and took
him into his service. Leonardo brought the Mona Lisa and two other
paintings, plus his sketch books, with him. Leonardo (as the fairy
godmother character) is depicted in the delightful Drew Barrymore film
"Ever After, A Cinderella Story", where he is shown trying to protect the
rolled up Mona Lisa from bandits. Oops! The Mona Lisa is painted on a
board. Well, it works in the film, which is pure fantasy anyway.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆