How Did Leonardo Da Vinci Die? | t

[For better readability, the text is provided with paragraphs and headings.]

[Introduction]

"It shall be made known to all those present and those who may join us later, that at the court of the King, our Sovereign, in Amboise, Master Leonardo da Vinci, Painter to the King, has personally appeared before us; He is currently staying in the place Cloux, near Amboise, and considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of its hour, he has declared and confessed before the aforementioned court, to which he has submitted and subjected himself, and before us, that by the wording of this document, he has made and established his last will and testament in the following manner. Above all else, he commends his soul to the Lord our God, the glorious Virgin Mary, the holy Archangel Michael, and all the blessed angels and saints in Paradise.

[Burial, Procession, and Services in Four Churches]

Furthermore, the said testator expresses his wish to be interred in the church of Saint-Florentin in Amboise, with his remains to be carried there by the chaplains of the church.

Furthermore, his remains shall be conveyed from the aforementioned place to the church of Saint-Florentin by the college of the said church, namely the rector and the prior, or by the deputies and the chaplains of the church of Saint-Denis in Amboise, as well as by the Minorites of the aforementioned place, and before his remains are brought into the church, the testator wishes that three high masses be celebrated in the aforementioned church of St. Florentin with a deacon and subdeacon, and on the day when three high masses are celebrated, thirty Gregorian silent masses shall also be held.

Furthermore, the same services shall be celebrated in the church of St. Denis as stated above.

Furthermore, the same services shall be celebrated in the church of the aforementioned monks and Minorite brothers.

[Books and Instruments to Francesco Melzi]

Moreover, the same testator gives and bequeaths to Master Francesco de Melzi, gentleman from Milan, as compensation for the services rendered to him in the past through his own courtesy, all and each of the books that the testator currently possesses, as well as the instruments and treatises on his art and the techniques of the painter.

[Land in Milan to Salai and Battista de Vilanis]

Moreover, the same testator gives and bequeaths to his servant Battista de Vilanis, forever and ever, half, that is, half of the garden he owns outside the gates of Milan, and the other half of the same garden to his servant Salai; in this garden, the aforementioned Salai has built and constructed a house, which shall also belong to the aforementioned Salai, his heirs and successors, forever and ever, as compensation for the good and welcome services that his servants, the aforementioned de Vilanis and Salai, have rendered to him, from now on and forever.

[Cloak and Payment to Maturina]

Furthermore, the same testator gives his maid Maturina an upper garment made of good black cloth, lined with leather, and a one-time payment of two ducats: also as compensation for the good services that the same Maturina has rendered to him, from now on and forever.

[Funeral Procession with 60 Candles]

Furthermore, he wishes that at his burial, sixty large wax candles be carried by sixty poor persons, to whom, at the discretion of the aforementioned Melzi, money shall be given, and these wax candles shall be distributed among the four mentioned churches.

[Additional Candles for the Four Churches]

Furthermore, the same testator gives each of the aforementioned churches ten pounds of wax in the form of large candles, which shall be placed in the aforementioned churches to serve on the day when the aforementioned services are held.

[Donations to the Poor]

Furthermore, the poor in the hospice, the poor of Saint Lazarus of Amboise, shall receive something, and for this, the sum and amount of seventy soldi tornesi shall be given and paid to the treasurers of this brotherhood.

[Outstanding Wages and Clothes to Francesco Melzi]

Furthermore, the same testator gives and bequeaths to the aforementioned present and consenting Master Francesco da Melzi the remainder of his salary due up to the day of his death and the sum of money owed to him by the treasurer or chief chamberlain M. Johan Sapin, and the sum of money he has received from the aforementioned Sapin as his said salary, and in the event that the aforementioned Melzi predeceases the aforementioned Melzi, and no other, [he bequeaths him] the funds that, according to his account, are currently in the possession of the aforementioned testator at the aforementioned place Cloux. And likewise, he gives and bequeaths to the aforementioned Melzi all his clothes that he currently possesses in the aforementioned place Cloux, both as a reward for the good and pleasant services he has rendered to him, from today and at all times, and as payment and fee for the effort he may have from executing this will, all, however, at the expense of the aforementioned testator.

[Bank Assets to Leonardo's Brothers]

He determines and wills that the sum of four hundred Sun-EcUs, which is kept in the hands of the treasurer of Santa Maria Nuova in the city of Florence, be given to his legitimate brothers living in Florence, and in addition, the interest and income owed to the said treasurer by the said testator until today on the said four hundred EcUs, from the day they were handed over and entrusted to the said treasurers by the said testator.

[Francesco Melzi to Execute the Will]

Furthermore, the said testator wants and determines that the said Master Francesco da Melzi is the sole and exclusive executor of the entire testament of the said testator, and that the said testament fully and completely takes effect, and that what has been declared and said is maintained and observed, monitored and followed, the said testator, Master Leonardo da Vinci, who herein appears himself, hereby binds and obliges his heirs and successors with all his present and future movable and immovable property, and has expressly waived all to the contrary.

[Witnesses and Closing Formula]

Given in the aforementioned place Cloux, in the presence of Magister Spirito Fleri, vicar of the church of St. Denis in Amboise, M. Guilelmo Croysant, parish priest and chaplain, Magister Cipriane Fulchin, Friar Francesco de Corton and Francesco of Milan, friar of the Minorite monastery in Amboise, who were summoned and summoned as witnesses for the aforementioned court, and in the presence of the aforementioned, consenting and consenting Master Francesco da Melzi, who, by his faith and oath on his body, which was personally given to us, has promised never to do anything against it, never to say anything against it, never to take any action against it. As a sign of truthfulness and as required and set forth in the legal contracts of Amboise, sealed with the royal seal. Given on the 23rd day of April 1518, before Easter.

[Rights to the Navigable Canal of St. Christoph to Battista de Vilanis]

And on the 23rd of April 1518, in the presence of M. Guilelmo Borian, royal notary at the court of Amboise, the aforementioned Master Leonardo da Vinci, in his testament and the aforementioned disposition of his last will and testament, granted the aforementioned present and consenting M. Battista de Vilanis the right to the waters belonging to the navigable canal of St. Christoph in the Duchy of Milan, which the late King Louis XII, preserved in venerable memory, had once given to the said da Vinci, so that the aforementioned de Vilanis can always enjoy it in the manner of the aforementioned gentleman who gave it to him. In the presence of Master Francesco da Melzi, gentleman of Milan, and myself.

[Furniture and Utensils to Battista de Vilanis]

And on the aforementioned day of the aforementioned month of April in the aforementioned year 1518, the aforementioned Master Leonardo da Vinci, in his testament and the aforementioned disposition of his last will, gave the aforementioned Master Battista de Vilanis, currently present and consenting, all and each of his furniture and utensils from his present house in the aforementioned Cloux, but only in the event that the aforementioned de Vilanis outlives the aforementioned Master Leonardo da Vinci; in the presence of the aforementioned Master Francesco da Melzi and myself, Notary, etc., Boreau."

The Dating of the Will

The dating of the will to 2018 often leads to confusion. Today, it is likely that this was merely a writing error.

• The testament is dated by the notary Boreau as "23.04.1518, before Easter"
• Easter Sunday in 1518, however, fell on April 4, so in the testament, it should have been "23.04.1518, after Easter" (and not "before")
• In contrast, Easter Sunday in 1519 fell on April 24, so "23.04.1519, before Easter" would have been correct (Leonardo's year of death)

It is therefore very likely that Leonardo's testament was not written in 1518, but in 1519, and it was a confusion of the notary or the scribe. This is relevant because the correct dating suggests that Leonardo knew he would soon die, indicating acute suffering.