Francesco melzi biography

Who was Melzi?

Francesco Melzi (1493–1570) was born into a noble family in Milan. He became Leonardo’s favoured pupil after joining his Milanese workshop in around 1508. Melzi worked for Leonardo in Rome, and followed him to France, where he stayed until Leonardo’s death in 1519.

It is largely due to Melzi’s efforts that Leonardo’s notebooks and drawings have survived.

Leonardo left ‘each and every one’ of his notebooks to Melzi, who took them back to Milan. The artist and biographer, Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), visited Melzi in his old age, and reported that Leonardo’s ‘much beloved’ pupil had inherited his late master’s anatomical designs: ‘he holds them dear, and keeps such papers together as if they were relics’.

Melzi’s 'Flora' is so close to the style of his teacher that for many years it was thought to be by Leonardo himself.

The female facial type with its downcast look is characteristic of Leonardo, and comparable to the face of the Virgin in Francesco Melzi | Italian noble | Britannica PEZ