Bottega di Leonardo
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The Bottega di Leonardo was the workshop of the Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci, where he would design and build his inventions, as well as decode pages of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex at the request of his friend, the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore. Throughout the years, Leonardo relocated his operations from Florence to Venice, then Rome, though the workshop maintained its appearance and purpose.
Locations
Florence
Shortly after completing his apprenticeship under Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo established his own workshop in the center of Florence.[1] There, he created commissions for the local townspeople, one of whom was Maria Auditore. Through her, Leonardo became acquainted with her son Ezio,[2] who became his good friend and would frequent his different workshops in later years.[3]
After Ezio's father Giovanni and brothers Federico and Petruccio were executed on false treason charges in 1476,[4] Leonardo once hid him in his workshop while he went to intercept a guard searching for him. Aside from painting and design, Leonardo also studied human anatomy. He stored and dissected bodies in his workshop, which the city often sent him for research. Because of this, Ezio was once able to hide a guard he had killed in Leonardo's residence.[5]
This studio was where Leonardo first received and decoded a page of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex, with which he repaired Ezio's Hidden Blade.[5] Through other pages, he also constructed upgrades for it, including a second blade,[6] and an adaption that delivered poison.[7] Leonardo also allowed Ezio to practice with his Hidden Blade in the courtyard next to the workshop; instructing his assistant at the time, Vincenzo, to set up dummies for him to use.[6] Leonardo eventually left his workshop in Florence in 1480 and relocated to Venice after receiving a commission from a local noble.[8][9]
Venice
Upon his arrival and subsequent tour of the city with Alvise da Vilandino, Leonardo was introduced to his new workshop. Alvise commented that it would be "as if he never left Firenze," and indeed, the building and interior were nearly identical to his workshop in Florence.[10] Leonardo continued to decode Codex pages for Ezio in this workshop, where he built the Hidden Gun upgrade for the Hidden Blade.[11] As well as this, he also improved the design of his Flying Machine, which allowed Ezio to fly over Venice to the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia.[12]
In 1488, after retrieving an Apple of Eden from Rodrigo Borgia, Ezio took it to Leonardo's workshop. There, he, his uncle Mario, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Leonardo attempted to discover its purpose, to no avail. Ezio and Niccolò then decided to entrust the Apple to their ally, Countess Caterina Sforza of Forlì, while Mario invited Leonardo to visit the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni.[13] Leonardo accepted Mario's invite and relocated to Monteriggioni, where he continued to decode Codex pages brought by Ezio.[14] Despite having abandoned his Venetian workshop, rumors later began to circulate that Leonardo used it as a secret retreat, returning to it repeatedly during his life.[9]
Rome
In 1499, after being forcibly recruited by the Papal Captain General Cesare Borgia, Leonardo began to design weapons and war machines for the Borgia forces. As such, by 1500, he had relocated his workshop to Rome.[15] Around 1502, Ezio's apprentice Francesco Vecellio visited the workshop and commissioned two Hidden Bolts since Ezio denied him the right to wield a Hidden Gun, though Leonardo requested a large payment upfront[16] because the Borgia were not paying him for their war machines.[15] Leonardo remained there even after Cesare's fall from power in 1503,[17] and spent the next few years studying Pythagoras and the Pythagorean Temple, as well as working on his latest painting, the Mona Lisa.[18]
In 1505, Ezio visited Leonardo while he worked on the Mona Lisa, though the latter was so engrossed in his art that he initially failed to notice his guest. Ezio had come to inform Leonardo that he had thwarted an attempt on his life by mercenaries hired by Pope Julius II, but ultimately decided against disturbing his friend's work and left without saying a word.[19]
In 1506, Hermeticists led by Ercole Massimo kidnapped Leonardo from his workshop and ransacked the room in search of his map to the Temple of Pythagoras.[18] During the ordeal, Leonardo managed to leave a clue for Ezio to find him by writing on the floor of the workshop. During their attempts to find the artist, Ezio and Leonardo's assistant Salaì used his workshop to store the recovered da Vinci paintings and examine them for clues using Ezio's Eagle Vision.[20]
Gallery
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Early concept art of Leonardo's workshop -
Concept art of Leonardo's workshop -
Additional concept art of Leonardo's workshop -
Ezio asking Leonardo about his Flying Machine -
Francesco Vecellio asking Leonardo to make a Hidden Bolt -
Ezio and Salaì inside Leonardo's workshop -
Leonardo in his workshop in 1509
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed II (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Renaissance
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel
- Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
- Assassin's Creed: Identity (appears in deleted scene(s) only)
- Assassin's Creed: Reflections
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice
- Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR
References
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