From October 1st, the Casa degli Atellani Museum, along with Leonardo’s Vineyard, will no longer be accessible to visitors. Reservations and entries are available until September 30th, as specified on the museum’s website. The news had already circulated in recent months, and a notice posted at the entrance of the house museum alerted visitors a few weeks ago. Even Palazzo Marino has confirmed that they have been informed about the imminent closure of the historic palace, a 16th-century gem on Corso Magenta, which houses the famous Leonardo da Vinci Vineyard. However, there are still no certainties regarding the building’s future. The matter is beyond the city’s jurisdiction, as the structure is privately owned. Last December, Casa degli Atellani changed hands, passing from the descendants of entrepreneur and senator Ettore Conti and Piero Portaluppi to the LVMH group, the luxury giant born from Louis Vuitton, owned by Frenchman Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest man in 2023 according to Forbes. In 2013, Bernard Arnault had already purchased a Milanese jewel, the Cova pastry shop on Via Montenapoleone.

The French entrepreneur’s intentions for the future of the 16th-century museum are not known. According to some rumors, the LVMH group intends to transform the palace into a hotel, a destination that would align with the five apartments within Casa degli Atellani, which are currently used as vacation rentals: the Atellani Apartments. There is still a question mark over the future use of Leonardo’s Vineyard: whether it will remain open to the public or not. Today, it can be visited for 10 euros, with an audio guide. Casa degli Atellani was gifted in 1490 by Ludovico il Moro (who had purchased it for 6,000 lire from a nobleman from Piacenza) to Giacometto di Lucia dell’Atella, who decided to make the two adjacent houses, one larger and one smaller, unique with frescoes by Bernardino Luini. Eight years later, the Duke of Milan gifted Leonardo, who was painting the *Last Supper* in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie just across the street, the vineyard on the land behind the house. The vineyard disappeared over the centuries but was meticulously reconstructed in collaboration with the University of Milan in 2014. It was inaugurated the following year for Expo 2015. The vineyard produces the same Malvasia grape variety as Leonardo’s, and it is the only one of its kind still existing in the center of a metropolis.