• The mystery of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci

Francisco I «is the quintessence of the Renaissance man; He felt passion for art and was rich enough to afford to feed that passion, writes John Julius Norwich in Four Princes , parallel lives of four contemporary monarchs that marked Europe's destiny: Henry VIII, Francisco I, Carlos V and Soliman the Magnificent.

Francisco left his mark on the culture of France with two ordinances that still endure. In 1537, he instituted the legal deposit of all published work; Two years later he imposed French as the official administrative language, compared to Latin. That being transcendent, he is remembered more as a builder king. He transformed 11 castles. First in the Loire (Blois, Amboise), then on the Isle of France (Louvre, Fontainebleau, Saint Germain en Laye) in a first centralizing step of a then itinerant court. Of all of them, the most beautiful is Chambord.

It is surrounded by mysteries. Starting with its author. Original plans are not preserved, if ever there were. It is not known who was its architect. Among other reasons, because at the time the Italian idea of ​​an architect, who was solely responsible for a project, had not yet been imposed.

Some see Leonardo's shadow in this colossal work that has more than 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, 77 stairs and in whose construction 220,000 tons of stone were used. But when the works began, September 6, 1519, Leonardo had been dead for four months.

Describing Chambord is simple. It is a rectangle with its main inscribed habitable place, the keep. This has a Greek cross plan and at its intersection stands its famous double revolution staircase. All very beautiful, harmonious. Nothing original. But full of mystical meanings.

Leonardo's manuscripts contain many Greek cross-shaped churches. A design that one of his friends, Bramante, chose for St. Peter's Basilíca in Rome. This type of plant was studied by Francesco de Giorgio Martini who gave his architectural treatise to the genius of Vinci. Chambord was, of course, one of the first civil buildings with a Greek cross plan.

The position of the staircase in the center of the Greek cross floor is original and may have been inspired by Leonardo. It culminates in a third section that stands out from the terrace of the castle, topped by a fleur de lis , the emblem of the French monarchy.

All of Chambord, and, singularly, the roof of the stairs is decorated with two main square-shaped motifs. One is the salamander, fetish of Francisco I. An amphibious animal, resistant to cold and fire, capable of regenerating its members. Invincible, in a word. The other is an 'F', surrounded by a rope with two types of knots in homage to the Savoy's weapons, such as Luisa, her idolized mother, and her Franciscan devotion.

Well, in that third section of the Chambord staircase, and only there, the efes are upside down to be read from the sky.

And this connects with the validity of the apocalyptic prophecies in 1500. Constantinople had fallen into the hands of Islam, the possibility of recovering Jerusalem by arms was withdrawn and the Apocalypse of St. John, the last book of the Bible, was read avidly. Several codices illuminated with these biblical passages are displayed in Chambord these summer days.

They gave rise to imagine the ideal city, the heavenly Jerusalem. «Then the angel transported me to a high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, which descended from heaven , from God (...) had tall and thick walls and twelve gates (...) three to the east, three to the north, three at noon and west three doors (...) The city was square ... »... Like Chambord, literal architectural translation. The wall evokes that of the castle of Vincennes , which Carlos V, king of France built a century and a half before Francisco. I mean it wasn't an original idea. But mystical yes.

Carlos V dazzled said when he saw it: it is a compendium of what human industry can achieve

Chambord was not conceived as a fortress, nor served as a residence (Francis I spent here 72 days and 16 nights in his entire life), nor was it a hunting lodge because the surrounding swampy land was dried up later.

But it was conceived as an emblem of the crown with a symbolic vocation and demonstration of power and beauty. Here Francisco received Carlos V on December 18, 1539. The rival emperor, dazzled, affirmed: "It is a compendium of what human industry can achieve."

Many sovereigns of France passed through Chambord, invaded by tourists today. But none resided in him. In 1939 eight trucks transported the Louvre treasures here to protect them from war. Among them, l to Gioconda de Leonardo.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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