''The Death of Leonardo da Vinci'' or ''Francis I Receives the Last Breaths of Leonardo da Vinci'' is an 1818 painting by the French artist

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic orthodoxy against the ...

, showing the painter

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...

dying, with

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

holding his head. It was commissioned by the

Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas Pierre-Louis Jean Casimir, Count of Blacas d'Aulps (10 January 1771 – 17 November 1839), later created 1st Duke of Blacas (1821), was a French antiquarian, nobleman and diplomat during the Bourbon Restoration. Biography Early life He was ...

, the French ambassador in Rome, and now hangs in the

Petit Palais The Petit Palais (; en, Small Palace) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. Another version of the painting created is held by the

Smith College Museum of Art The Smith College Museum of Art (abbreviated SCMA), is an art museum in Northampton, Massachusetts connected with Smith College. The museum is known for its compilation of American and European art of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by ...

Description

The painting depicts the death of Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian artist and inventor, which took place in the Clos Lucé house, in Amboise, on May 2, 1519. As a source of inspiration for this painting, Ingres took up the story of the death of the painter present in the ''Lives'' of

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

. The king of France Francis I embraces the dying artist to receive his last breath, while other characters, including priests and servants, observe the scene. The young dauphin Francis of Valois sadly observes the scene and a cardinal places a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. On a table next to Leonardo's bed you can see a Bible and a small crucifix. The face of Francis I takes up a painting by

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

dating back to 1538.

References

1818 paintings Paintings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Paintings about death Works about Leonardo da Vinci Paintings in the collection of the Petit Palais {{19C-painting-stub