Leonardo da Vinci : Poison at the Court of Milan

 

Poison at the Court of Milan

Date: 1493

Story:

While serving Ludovico Sforza (Il Moro), Duke of Milan, Leonardo was commissioned to paint The Last Supper. But court intrigue swirled around him. In 1493, a banquet at the ducal palace ended in mass illness—three musicians died, and several guests were left poisoned.

Suspicion fell on Leonardo, who had designed the mechanical banquet devices, including rotating platters and self-serving goblets. A jealous rival, architect Donato Bramante, is believed to have accused him of hiding poison in the rotating food table’s mechanics.

Leonardo was interrogated for three days. He insisted the mechanism had no secret compartments, claiming “art does not kill—it elevates.” After forensic inspection (primitive as it was), the blame fell on a cook, who was executed. But Leonardo’s name remained tainted.

He resumed work on The Last Supper, embedding subtle symbols of betrayal and death—some say as a reflection of this near-downfall. The dish of spilled salt, the shocked faces—are said to mirror real events more than scripture.

Key Characters:

Leonardo da Vinci

Ludovico Sforza

Donato Bramante

Court cook (executed)

Reference:

Leonardo: The Artist and the Court by Serge Bramly

Letters from Duchess Beatrice d’Este

Milanese court archives, 1493

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