Utente:Angilolli/Sandbox
Leonardo da Vinci’s Vineyard is a vineyard the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforza best known as Ludovico il Moro, gave as a gift to Leonardo Da Vinci in 1498 while he was working at the Last Supper in the nearby refectory of the cathedral and Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. It was a gesture to give credit for the many admirable works Leonardo had been creating for the Duke .[1]
Leonardo's Vineyard
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The vineyard was located in Milan, beyond the Porta Vercellina district, closed to the Borgo delle Grazie, on the land belonging to San Vittore great vineyard. [2]
The vineyard the Duke intended to donate consisted of 16 rows but the related borders had not been set.[1] In the Codex Atlanticus and in the Manuscript I of France Leonardo’s notes report the measure of a territory of about 100 “braccia milanesi” length (approximately 59 metres equals to 64 yards) and 294 “braccia milanesi” width (approximately 175 metres equals to 321 yards) to match an area of about 15 “pertiche milanesi”, namely around 1 hectare (about 2,5 acres); some of these notes are accompanied by references to the neighboring lands.[3]
In 1920 the Italian architect and politician Luca Beltrami, relying on historical documents, was able to describe the likely position of the original vineyard, which ran probably parallel to the current Via De Grassi (De Grassi Street);[4] besides he photographed the vineyard that was then on the same spot while though cultivations started to be eradicated because at the time a resolution passed to subdivide the territory in lots to build new constructions.[5]
A forgotten story
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The Vineyard is firstly mentioned in a notary deed dated October 2nd 1498, yet Ludovico il Moro’s donation was only confirmed later on, by an official letter, dated April 26th 1499. [1] As Italian Wars started precipitating and the French army invaded the Duchy of Milan, forcing Ludovico il Moro to flee and repair to Innsbruck, Leonardo left the city as well, heading towards Mantua. However, before leaving, he managed to rent his Vineyard to Sir Pietro di Giovanni da Oppreno, father of his apprentice Gian Giacomo Caprotti, better known as Sir Salai.[6]
Once the French authority took over, they reviewed the proceedings concerning the last donations made by Ludovico il Moro. As a consequence, in 1502 they confiscated the Vineyard and assigned it to Leonardo Biglia, a Sforza official.[7] Only in 1507, when Carlo II d’Amboise asked Leonardo to leave Florence, where he was then living, to come back to Milano in order to ultimate a few works he had previously started, Leonardo was able to point out his vineyard’s confiscation and get its ownership back. Thus, the Vineyard was returned to him by a deliberation specifying that the artist should not - «patire spesa pur de uno soldo» [8] - be charged of any expenses.
«Dilecti nostri. Tocando il caso de magistro Lionardo fiorentino ve dicemo et commettemo che lo remettiate nel primo stato, come esso era, de la vigna sua inante che la gli fusse tolta per la Camera, et non gli fareti chel ne habia a patire spesa pur de uno soldo.»
Leonardo stood in Milano till 1513. Then he came back to Rome and after that went to France, where he died. In his last will, compiled in Amboise, a month before his death, he disposed that the rectangular vineyard was to be subdivided in two equal lots: one to be assigned to Sir Salai, who had there previously built his own house and the other one to Giovanbattista Villani, a faithful servant of his, who had followed him to France [9]. In the last document he wrote in life, Leonardo remembered his Vineyard.
«Item epso Testatore dona et concede a sempre mai perpetuamente a Batista de Vilanis suo servitore la metà zoè medietà de uno iardino che ha fora a le mura de Milano, et l'altra metà de epso jardino ad Salay suo servitore, nel qual iardino il prefato Salay ha edificata et constructa una casa, la qual sarà e resterà similmente a sempremai perpetudine al dicto Salay, soi heredi et successori, et ciò in remuneratione di boni et grati servitii, che dicti de Vilanis et Salay dicti suoi servitori, lui hanno facto de qui inanzi.»
As early as 1534 Villani transferred his lot’s property to the closed by San Gerolamo Monastery [10] while the other lot, the nearest to the current Via Zenale (Zenale Street), was inherited, after Sir Salai’s death (1524), by his family.
The Scientific project
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]Leonardo’s Vineyard came to new life with Expo 2015, by the will of Portaluppi Foundation and the owners of the adjacent Atellani House, under the patronage of the President of Italian Republic and thanks to the contribution of the University of Milan (Università degli Studi di Milano).
In 2007 Serena Imazio and a team headed by Professor Attilio Scienza, leading expert in grapevine genetics, carried out research manually excavating living biological residues of the original grapevine found in the Atellani House’s garden: results allowed them to replant Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Leonardo’s original grapevine. [11] On September 12th 2018 the grapes of Leonardo’s Vineyard were for the first time harvested.
References
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]- ^ a b c Beltrami, pp. 41-42.
- ^ Beltrami, passim.
- ^ Gerolamo Calvi e Augusto Marinoni, I manoscritti di Leonardo da Vinci, 1982, pp. 123-126.
- ^ Beltrami, p. 38.
- ^ Beltrami, pp. 37-38.
- ^ Beltrami, p. 42.
- ^ Beltrami, p. 44.
- ^ a b Beltrami, p. 43.
- ^ a b Beltrami, p. 45.
- ^ Beltrami, p. 46.
- ^ Il progetto scientifico, su La Vigna di Leonardo. URL consultato il 12 gennaio 2018 (archiviato dall'url originale il 13 gennaio 2018).
Bibliography
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]- Ghilardotti Jacopo, Casa degli Atellani e Vigna di Leonardo, Milano 2015.
- Luca Beltrami, La vigna di Leonardo da Vinci, Milano, Allegretti, 1920.
- Gerolamo Biscaro, La vigna di Leonardo da Vinci fuori di Porta Vercellina, in Archivio Storico Lombardo, 1909, pp. 363-396.
- Scienza Attilio, pubblicazione scientifica.
- Maroni Luca, Milano È la Vigna di Leonardo, Sens, Roma 2015.
Related projects
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