On May 2, 1519, Leonardo da Vinci passed away in France. Three years before, the Renaissance man, 65, had left Italy — never to return — for France upon King Francis I’s invitation.

Today, people in Europe are marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death by staging a series of events throughout the year.

In Leonardo’s birth town of Vinci, a lock of hair that historians claim could belong to the genius is on display.

Two Italian historians, Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato, said they discovered the hair strand in a private collection in the United States, and they expect to soon perform DNA tests on it.

They said they would compare the analysis to that of the living descendants of Leonardo’s half brother they identified in 2016. (Leonardo didn’t marry, nor did he father a child.)

But other historians and scientists are skeptical, saying it is difficult to trace Leonardo’s unbroken family tree and the DNA might have been contaminated.

Whatever the result will be, the alleged discovery of hair simply makes an addition to the unending craze over Leonardo.

No more than 20 paintings in existence are attributed to Leonardo. The Louvre owns five and another one that is believed to be a collaboration between Leonardo and his students.

During his service at the French court, Leonardo was treated with esteem, honor and freedom to create by the young French king, an avid sponsor of art and admirer of Italian Renaissance artists.

It is said that Leonardo went across the mountains of Alps on a mule to reach central France, bringing with him unfinished artworks. At a chateau called Cloux the artist spent the last years of his life drawing inventions on his sketchbooks, designing the king’s gardens and adding finishing strokes to some of his great pieces of work, including the “Mona Lisa.”

The friendship between Leonardo and King Francis I was later hailed in “The Death of Leonardo da Vinci in the Arms of Francis I,” an 1818 painting by French painter Jean-August-Dominique Ingres.

In reality, Francis I was at the front lines when Leonardo died.

After Leonardo’s death, the king purchased from Salai, the painter’s assistant and heir to his legacies, the paintings which now become the Louvre’s collections.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【怀疑的】huáiyí de skeptical doubtful about a particular thing

【污染】wūrǎn contaminate make impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean, bad, etc.

1519年5月2日，达•芬奇在法国去世。在此三年前，65岁的达•芬奇离开意大利，应法国国王弗朗索瓦一世的邀请来到法兰西。此后直到去世，这位文艺复兴巨匠再未回到家乡。今年，欧洲在用一整年的时间举办一系列的活动来纪念达•芬奇逝世500周年。

在他的出生地，意大利中部的小镇芬奇，正在展出一缕据说是达•芬奇的头发。

两位意大利的历史学家亚历桑德罗•韦佐西和安尼斯•萨巴托声称他们在一个美国的私人收藏中发现了这缕头发，他们希望能尽快对头发开展DNA测试。达•芬奇一生没有结婚、没有留下子嗣。2016年，这两位史学家说他们找到了达•芬奇同父异母弟弟的后代，因此他们可以将头发的DNA分析结果和这些后裔的进行比对。

其他历史学家和科学家对此表示怀疑。他们认为首先很难保证达•芬奇家族的谱系在这500多年中没有发生中断，而且头发的DNA也有可能遭到破坏。无论结果如何，这缕被打上了达•芬奇标签的头发再次证明了世人对于这位大师未曾停止的狂热。

目前已知是达•芬奇的画作不超过20件，而卢浮宫就拥有其中的5幅，还有一幅认为是达•芬奇和弟子合作的作品。

达•芬奇开始他为法国宫廷的服务后，这位大师感受到的是来自他年轻的雇主、法国国王极大的礼遇。弗朗索瓦一世对艺术和收藏充满热情，尤其崇拜意大利艺术家。他给予达•芬奇崇高的荣誉和自由创作的空间。据说当年达•芬奇骑着骡子、翻越阿尔卑斯山抵达法国中部，随身携带未完成的画作。达•芬奇在克鲁城堡度过了生命最后的时光，他在素描本上描绘发明设计稿，为国王设计宫殿花园，完成之前拖延已久的画，包括《蒙娜丽莎》。1818年，法国画家安格尔在《达•芬奇在弗朗索瓦一世怀中去世》里刻画了二人的友情。事实上，达•芬奇去世的时候，弗朗索瓦一世还在前线指挥战事。达•芬奇去世后，他最亲密的助手沙莱成为遗产继承人；弗朗索瓦一世向他买下了达•芬奇的遗作，这些画作后来成为卢浮宫的馆藏。(Chinadaily.com.cn)