Sforzesco Castle
Medieval fortress turned Renaissance ducal court, its towers hiding a whitewashed Leonardo da Vinci ceiling for four centuries.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Sforzesco Castle in Milan turns on a room in its northern tower, where Duke Ludovico Sforza put Leonardo da Vinci to work in 1498 on a ceiling of painted mulberry trees laced with his own nickname. It follows what happened after the duke fled French troops the next year and Leonardo's finished room was left behind, as the castle passed through centuries of very different uses, from barracks to stable. Stand beneath the vault in the Sala delle Asse and look straight up.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Renaissance dining hall holding Leonardo's Last Supper mural, saved by sandbags when wartime bombs destroyed the room around it.
Leonardo's Last Supper Museum
Fragile wall mural of Christ's final meal, painted in an experimental dry technique that began flaking within years.
Leonardo da Vinci's Vineyard
Renaissance vineyard given to a painter by a duke, replanted from DNA-matched roots after five centuries.
Ca' Granda
Renaissance-Gothic former hospital of soaring brick arcades, built around courtyards, now a university's grand halls.
Palazzo Marino
Ornate Renaissance palace built by a banker who died bankrupt, later finished as a city hall.
Chiesa di San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore
Frescoed Renaissance church known as Milan's Sistine Chapel, hiding a former cloistered nuns' choir.