Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli’s “Tre Rane” Inn

A fun fact about the Renaissance period, transmitted through the centuries: Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli were friends and, for a short period, they owned an inn together.
Leonardo and Botticelli met around 1470, they were both pupils of master Verrocchio, a sculptor, painter, goldsmith, mathematician and engineer. They worked with him in his workshop in Florence. Leonardo and Botticelli wanted to supplement the scarce salary Verrocchio gave them, so they decided to work as waiters in an inn close to Ponte Vecchio.
Later on, their friendship grew stronger and they decided to open an inn called “Tre Rane” (three frogs), where customers could choose from a menu painted by Botticelli and a menu written from right to left by Leonardo.
Despite their imagination and their passion for cooking, the inn closed quite soon. That experience was very important for the two of them, but especially for Leonardo, who created saving-time cooking tools.

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