In 1834, references are found to a "noble and highly cultured fellow citizen of ours" from Milan who intended to create a bronze monument to Leonardo at his own expense.

[1] The anonymous person had also obtained permission from the Austrian government to place the monument in the courtyard of the Palazzo Brera,[2] decorating the access to the double staircase.

But the most sumptuous monument for which models are now being made, to be cast in bronze, will be that of the great Leonardo da Vinci, which is being erected by one of our most generous gentlemen at his own expense, not only a lover of fine arts, but professing sculpture for pleasure himself.

Thus all was accepted by the Superiority, who alone will have presented the design to it, and he was granted permission for its placement, in that space of a platform, which divides the two staircases on the ground floor and thus comes to remain in front of the great doorway, in the middle of the facade, so that its view will also be revealed from the street.

In 1856, among the competitions of the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, the design of a monument to Leonardo in the form of a fountain to be placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo Brera was requested.

A rich honorary monument to Leonardo da Vinci, composed of marble and bronze, serving at the same time as a source of drinking water, to be placed in the Palazzo Brera facing the main gate, and set where the present trumpet stands.

[4]On February 8, 1857, the Emperor Franz Joseph determined that a proper monument should be erected in Piazza San Fedele with a marble statue 3.6 meters high.

[6] On December 22, 1858, the commission unanimously decided to choose the "Think in marble"[clarification needed] model submitted by Pietro Magni; however, it was also pointed out that it would require an expenditure greater than the 60,000 Austrian liras stipulated in the call for proposals.

Moreover, having substituted for the primitive model with a round base, the other with an octangular base of pure Bramantesque style with the addition of the various ornaments, and with the introduction of 4 large bronze bas-reliefs representing scenes from the life and works of the great artist, it was achieved, as the E. V. had also very appropriately suggested, that the monument be given all that majesty and grandeur that was required of it, both because of the importance of the subject and because of the size of the square for which it is intended.Magni left for Bologna as standard-bearer of the National Guard and on his return in 1861 found Giuseppe Pasolini as the new governor; in order to try to obtain confirmation of the commission to build the monument, he thus contacted the Academy, d'Azeglio (who had retired from politics), Pasolini, the mayor of Milan Antonio Beretta and the president of the Council of Ministers Bettino Ricasoli.

[17] At the same time he was presented with a warning from the Royal State Property Office because he was late in paying rent for the premises he used for his studio; in early 1870 all his models and all his works were seized for auction.

On September 4, the solemn unveiling of the monument to Leonardo da Vinci took place in Milan, erected on the square of the Teatro alla Scala, which presented a marvelous spectacle on that day.

The canvases covering the monument then fell, and it suddenly appeared in all its splendor, amid the thunderous applause of the assembled people, and the harmonies of the music of the National band.

[27] In the depictions made on the occasion of the inauguration, the four pedestals with the statues of the students were no longer separate (as planned in earlier versions), but joined to the central octagonal base.

'Born in Vinci in the Valdarnoin 1452 Died in Cloux near Amboisein 1519' 'Long an envied guestin Milan, where he hadfriends, disciples, glory' There were varying degrees of negative criticism of the monument, which was not considered Magni's best work;[31] some would have liked Francesco Melzi among the student statues,[32] while others would have preferred to replace them with personifications of mechanics, music, geometry, and philosophy.

[39][40] In November 1970, as part of the demonstrations to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Nouveau Réalisme movement, Christo and Jeanne-Claude were commissioned by the city of Milan to create a performance.

On November 24, the monument to Victor Emmanuel II was wrapped with tarps and tied with red rope; however, due to protests, it was decided to remove the covering the next day.

On the same days, the monument to Leonardo da Vinci was also wrapped; on the night of November 28, some young people (apparently neo-fascists) set fire to the tarpaulin, which was removed by firefighters responding to the scene.