The Death of Leonardo da Vinci
Francis I Receives the Last Breaths of Leonardo da Vinci
Artist	Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Year	1818
Medium	oil paint, canvas
Dimensions	40, 40, 72 cm (16, 16, 28 in) × 50.5, 81.5 cm (19.9, 32.1 in) × 8.5 cm (3.3 in)
Location	Petit Palais
Commissioned by	Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas
Collection	Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris
Accession No.	PDUT1165
[edit on Wikidata]

The Death of Leonardo da Vinci or Francis I Receives the Last Breaths of Leonardo da Vinci is an 1818 oil painting by the French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, showing the Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci dying, with Francis I of France holding his head. It was commissioned by Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas, the French ambassador in Rome, and is now in the Petit Palais in Paris.^[1]

Another version of the painting created c. 1851 is held by the Smith College Museum of Art.^[2]

Description

The painting depicts the death of the Italian Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci, 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. 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 are a Bible and a small crucifix. The face of Francis I takes up a painting by Titian dating back to 1538.^[3]