Francesco Melzi, or Francesco de Melzi, was an Italian painter born into a family of the Milanese nobility in Lombardy. He was a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci.
Francesco's father, Gerolamo Melzi, was an engineer for Francesco II Sforza's military and a captain in the militia in Milan under Louis XII. Francesco lived with his family in the Villa Melzi in Vaprio d'Adda (not to be confused with the Villa Melzi d'Eril in Bellagio, Lombardy), which today is still under the ownership of the Dukes Melzi d'Eril. Francesco grew up in the Milanese court, and was raised with proper manners and was granted a good education, which included training in the arts. He was reasonably talented in the arts and worked very hard. As a member of a prominent family of the Milanese court, however, Francesco would have had political and social responsibilities as he got older that would have caused him to discontinue his studies in art had it not been for Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo returned to Milan for some time around 1505 and stayed with the Melzi family. It was there that he met Francesco for the first time, enticed by his good nature and handsomeness. In a biography of Leonardo da Vinci, it is argued that he felt compelled to stay in Milan longer than he had intended after meeting with the young Francesco. Francesco is described in literature as charming and graceful, an adolescent without the awkwardness or lack of manners typical of boys around this age. Francesco and another pupil of Leonardo's, Boltraffo, stood out from the other students as they were capable painters, very bright, and well-learned. Because of his upbringing in the high court, Francesco was gracious and dignified, and had a very good education. Shortly after they met, Francesco began studying and working at Leonardo's workshop and quickly became his master's favorite pupil, and the most devoted as well. Despite this, fairly little is written about the apprentice painter, and what is known about him is almost exclusively within the context of Leonardo. In fact, other than Francesco, none of Leonardo's pupils went on to become respected artists. And although he is not well-known, Francesco is referred to as being the first person responsible for collecting, organizing, and preserving Leonardo da Vinci's notes on painting, and transforming it into a manuscript copy known as the Codex Urbinas. After Leonardo's death in 1519, Francesco returned to Italy and married Angiola di Landriani, and with her he fathered eight children. One of his children, Orazio, would inherit Leonardo's manuscripts after Francesco's death in 1569/70.
Francesco Melzi's career is inextricably linked to Leonardo da Vinci, and this could be a reason that he is not well-known, because his master overshadowed him. Sigmund Freud attributed the lack of success of Leonardo's pupils, including the talented Francesco, to their inability to distinguish themselves as separate from their master, and thus their careers were unable to flourish after his death. Before Leonardo's death in 1519, Francesco's career consisted largely of being an assistant to, and an executor for, Leonardo. Because of their close relationship, more like father-son rather than master-apprentice, he was content with aiding and caring for Leonardo, a companion/secretary. One of his main tasks was to scribe his master's Codex Trivulzianus, a manuscript of learned words and ideas, which is presumed to have been written entirely in Milan because Francesco (or Leonardo) scribed "Milan" on the last page.
Francesco was Leonardo's only pupil who stayed with him until his death, traveling and working with him in Milan, Rome, and France. He accompanied the master painter to Milan, where the French governor of Milan Charles d'Amboise was Leonardo's patron, and went to Rome with him in 1513. In his notebook Leonardo wrote, "I left Milan for Rome on the 24th day of September 1513, with Giovanni Boltraffio, Francesco de' Melzi, Lorenzo di Credi, and il Fanfoia." After three years in Rome, Francesco accompanied Leonardo to France in 1516 where they stayed in the Chateau de Cloux in Amboise. During this time, Francis I of France was Leonardo's patron, and the French court account books logged Leonardo's annual payment was 1000 gold crowns (écus de soleil), while Francesco Melzi received 400.
During this time in France, Andrea Salaí, another pupil, left Leonardo and built a house on his (Leonardo's) estate in Italy, and so Francesco was the last pupil who continued to work for his master until his death. He was the executor and heir of Leonardo's will. Although Francesco was Leonardo's official heir and was bequeathed with his master's manuscripts, drawings, workshop materials and machinery, Andrea Salaino (Andrea Salaí) received Leonardo's paintings in 1524 in France and brought them back to Milan. Francesco's responsibility attaching him to Leonardo da Vinci was to care for his late master's works after he passed. Leonardo wanted his works to be shared with the world and read by others after his death, however Francesco never fully accomplished this. The works would eventually be compiled, and published as the Codex Urbinas. In addition to this, Melzi actually executed and completed a number of plans for paintings, and paintings themselves, that were left unfinished after Leonardo's passing.

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