1. First created 11 Feb 2012. Version 1.0 - 23 Feb 2012. Jerry Tse. London.
Leonardo da Vinci
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free for non-commercial and personal use.
His paintings – A Search for Perfection
2. Leonardo was born in or near the town of Vinci, about half
way between Florence and Pisa, on 15 April 1452. He was the
illegitimate son of a rising Florentine legal official Ser Piero
da Vinci. He was good at drawing and was enrolled with the
leading Florentine artist of Verrocchio in 1469, at the age of
17.
Leonardo was probably the greatest artists of the
Renaissance. His studies were strictly based in the scientific
methods, on vigorous analysis and on objective reasoning.
But it was his inquisitive mind that drove the man forever
forward to understand our place in nature.
Knot pattern inscribed ‘Academia Leonardo Vi-ci’.
1495. Engraving. British Museum, London.
Vinci 2011.
According to Vasari ‘Leonardo disposition was so lovable
that he commanded everyone’s affection’, and there are
many other accounts of his good looks and charm, as well
as his sense of humour and love of practical jokes. Yet he
always had a deep distrust of human society. “Alone you
are all yourself.”
5. EarlyFlorentineYears
The Baptism of Christ. C1470-72. Verrocchio. Uffizi, Florence.
According to Vasari “Leonardo painted
(the left-hand angels) in such a manner
that his angel was far better than the
figure painted by Verrocchio (Leonardo’s
teacher). This was the reason why
Andrea would never touch colours
again, he was so ashamed that a boy
understood their use better than he did.”
6. Early Florence Years
The Annunciation. 1472-74. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
This is Leonardo’s earliest known complete work. Even at this early stage he had developed his distinctive style of
painting flowers. The dark trees and the dark wall behind the angel and Mary demonstrate his use of the Chiaroscuro
technique.
7. Early Florence Years
The Annunciation (Detail – Angel). 1472-74.
The lily held by the Archangel Gabriel is
a symbol of Mary’s purity.
8. EarlyFlorenceYears
Ginevra de Benci. C1474. National
Gallery, Washington, USA.
Leonardo painted Ginevra with a
stiff and solemn expression. This
is rather an uneasy portrait
showing little or no emotion.
Leonardo was the master of using
the ‘Chiaroscuro’ technique,
balancing the light and the dark
areas. He often used a lighted
subject against a skilfully
darkened background.
9. The portrait of Ginevra shows the use of the technique of ‘Sfumato’ , The
blurring of edges and smoothing colours between adjacent areas. Thus it
eliminates harsh outlines. This was first introduced by Leonardo and
Giorgione. This contrasts with Botticelli’s lining approach. Comparison
EarlyFlorenceYears
10. MilanYears
The Milan Years
1483-1499
Ludovico Sforza. 1496-99. by Amrogio de
Predis. Tempera on Vellum. Archivio Storico
Civico and Biblioteca Trivulziana, Milan.
In 1482, Leonardo entered service of
Ludovico II as military engineer and
organiser of festivities, in Milan.
11. MilanYears
Because of the rigid pose and the harshness of
the shadows, some scholars express their doubts
that it was painted by Leonardo. Others pointed to
the fine art of Leonardo’s work on the young man
face. It is possible that there were more than one
painters who worked on the portrait.
The young man has a distinctive stare at
something outside the canvas, encapsulating a
sense of reality. We only know that he was a
musician by the musical score in his hand.
The Musician. c1485. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan.
12. MilanYears
Virgin of the Rocks. 1483-1485.
Musee du Louvre, Paris.
Why are they in a cave?
Why is St John the Baptist with the Virgin Mary
and not baby Jesus?
Why is the angel pointing to St John the
Baptist in the Paris version?
There are two versions of this painting, one in the
Louvre, Paris and the other in the National Gallery,
London. The two paintings are nearly identical, with
obvious differences. The Paris version is the older
of the two.
From history of the painting, it looks to me that the
painting was commissioned, in April 1483, for the
chapel of the newly formed Confraternity of the
Immaculate Conception, attached to the church of
San Francesco Grande.
By December 1484, the Paris version of the painting
was nearly finished. Then there was a dispute about
the price of the painting. In the exchange of
documents, it mentioned that ‘another buyer was
interested’ in the painting. Leonardo and his co-
painters must have sold the Paris version to ‘another
buyer’. Then the dispute dragged on until the
London version was painted to fulfil the original
contract, after some further disputes.
There several unusual features of this painting :-
13. MilanYears
Virgin of the Rocks (Detail). 1483-1485.
Musee du Louvre, Paris.
The Last Supper (Detail – St John).
c1495. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
Are these the same woman?
14. MilanYears
Virgin of the Rocks (Detail). 1483-1485.
Musee du Louvre, Paris. Edited for fading.
The angel is pointing out to the viewer
that the painting is about St John, who
according to the Bible was born by
Immaculate Conception. By implication
Virgin Mary the mother of Jesus must be
born by Immaculate Conception as well.
This is the whole point of the painting!!
Why is St John the Baptist with the
Virgin Mary and not baby Jesus?
Why is the angel pointing to St John the
Baptist?
An interpretation of painting
The following interpretation of the
painting is based on a document written
by James Kettlewell on the internet,
which makes sense to me.
The painting is about the Immaculate
Conception (that is born without the Original
Sin) of the Virgin Mary. According to the
Confraternity, both St John and Mary were
born by Immaculate Conception and they are
not divine. They belong together. Baby
Jesus and the angel are grouped together as
they are divine.
15. MilanYears
Virgin of the Rocks (Detail). 1483-1485.
Musee du Louvre, Paris. [Image with
fading removed and brightened.
Dialogue of hands.
The angel is looking at us and pointing
at St John the Baptist.
16. MilanYears There are two versions of the painting one in Paris and the other in London.
17. MilanYears
Virgin of the Rocks. 1495-1499 & 1506-08. National Gallery, London.
So why are they in a cave?
This is the London version of the painting. It is a later
painting. Unlike the Paris version the painting has
been restored, it is brighter and the colours more
vivid. The painting was painted in 1495-1499. The
Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and the
artists continued their arguments about the contract.
It was finally finished some time between 1506 and
1508.
The major difference between the London version
and the Paris version is that the angel no longer
points to St John the Baptist and no longer looks
toward the viewer. In 1483, Vatican gave support to
the idea of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary
and condemned those who preached against it.
Maybe it was this declaration that the Confraternity
no longer felt the need for the angel to point at St
John the Baptist.
James Kettlewell thinks that Virgin at a grotto is a
traditional setting in art. Others think that this may
be a reference to the stainless Virgin as in God’s
creation of the world. Others point to the meeting
with St John on the flight into Egypt. The rugged
cave would be such a remote place to offer seclusion
and refuge. Still others think that the cave is a
symbol of Mary, as in the Song of Song (114), in
which Mary is described as “dove … in the clefts of
the rock”. Finally, in the specification of the
painting, the Confraternity did make the reference to
“the mountains and rocks to be worked in oil”.
19. MilanYears
Virgin of the Rocks (Angel). 1495-1499 & 1506-08.
National Gallery, London.
She is the most beautiful woman ever
painted in the history of European
paintings. Don’t you agree?
20.
21. MilanYears
Cecilia Gallerani. C1489-1490. National Museum, Cracow.
The lady was the mistress of Ludovico Sforza (Leonardo’s
boss). Note the very faint shadows of the beads on her chest.
22. MilanYears
Madonna Litta. c1490-91. Hermitage. St Petersburg.
A rather playful baby Jesus, who
noticed our presence.
The exceptional love of a mother?
23. MilanYears
La Belle Ferroniere (Detail). C1490-
1495.
Sometimes this painting is attributed to
Leonardo’s followers.
The most disconcerting feature of the
portrait is the intensity of her gaze,
perhaps with a hint of hostility. The
expression of the rest of her face is
somewhat sober. The title of the painting
is called ‘La Belle Ferroniere (The
beautiful ironmonger)’.
However the title ‘La Belle Ferroniere’
was a 1642 confusion, in which this
painting was mistakenly identified.
In reality, we do not have much idea who
the sitter really was.
24. Milan Years
The Last Supper. 1496-97. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
Four groups of three disciples and three windows behind Jesus. The disciples were behaving more like Italian
than Jew with their hand gestures and heated discussions, in an atmosphere charged with emotions. Jesus was
isolated in the painting. He alone would have to face what was to come.
25. Milan Years
The Last Supper (Detail). 1496-97. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
Bartholomew
James the Less
Andrew
Peter with
knife
Judas with
his money
John
with
tear
26. Milan Years
The Last Supper (Detail). 1496-97. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
ThaddeusJesus Thomas with his
poking finger
James the
Elder
Phillip
SimonMatthew
27. Juda
St James the Elder
Milan Years
Drawing studies of The Last
Supper.
Studies of the disciples in
the Last Supper.
The painting is noted for its
emotionally charged
expressions and the
animated gestures of the
disciples.
28. Milan Years
St Philip
St Bartholomew
Drawing studies of The Last
Supper.
Studies of the disciples in
the Last Supper.
The painting is noted for
its emotionally charged
expressions and the
animated gestures of the
disciples.
29. The Last Super, after Leonardo da Vinci. c1520. Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli. Magdalen College, Oxford.
Milan Years
Only around 20% of Leonardo’s Last Supper is still visible today. However, an accurate copy and almost the same
size as the original Last Supper, still in good conditions exists. It was painted about 25 years later by Rizzoli. This
painting was used extensively for reference, during the 20-year-restoration of the original painting in Milan.
30. A rediscovered portrait by Leonardo?
La Bella Principessa (Bianca Sforza). Colour chalk
on paper. 1496. Private Collection.
MilanYears
The name of the young woman of the portrait was
Bianca Sforza, an illegitimate daughter of the
Duke of Milan. She was 13 or 14 at the time of the
portrait and died a few months later.
Investigators of the portrait demonstrated that it was
painted by Leonardo, when it was shown to be from a
missing page of a 500 year-old-book, at the National Library
of Poland, Warsaw. The book was commissioned for the
1496 wedding of Bianca Sforza. [For further details see
February 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine,
which funded the investigation.]
However, there are scholars that expressed their doubts on
the portrait. David Ekserdjian, a scholar of 16C Italian
drawings, suspects the work is a “counterfeit”. [see
Wikipedia].
N
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33. The use of ‘Sfumato’, the blurring of
edges and smoothing colours to
eliminate harsh outlines, on the lips,
may have led to the enigmatic smile of
Mona Lisa.
Illustration from National Geographic
Magazine Feb 2012.
Late Florence years
Mona Lisa was the second wife of a
Florentine silk merchant Francesco del
Giocondo, hence its title La Gioconda.
Leonardo worked on it for four years
and never delivered the finished work.
He kept the painting for himself and
brought it with him to France.
The painting is now in poor condition
and the glazed varnish has now cracked
and turned a dirty green. Today it is
hung in a bullet-proof glass cage.
Recent research discovered the death
certificate of Mona Lisa, who died in
1542, in the convent of St Orsola in
central Florence.
34. Late Florence years
This is a copy of the Mona Lisa in the Prado
Museum, before cleaning and restoration.
As the black paint was removed, the museum
discovered the familiar landscape of the
original Mona Lisa. The work is believed to
have been made by an apprentice of Leonardo,
possible painted at the same time as the
original. The painting shows greater details
and brighter colours.
N
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36. Madonna of the Yarnwinder. 1499 onward. Leonardo &
Anonymous painter. Duke of Buccleuch.
LateFlorenceYears
Madonna of the Yarnwinder. 1501-7. Leonardo &
Giacomo Salai (?). Private Collection. New York.
37. LateFlorenceYears
The Virgin and Child with St Anne. 1508-13.
Musee du Louvre, Paris.
The painting depicts Virgin Mary sitting
on the lap of her mother, St Anne, benting
forward to give her son, Jesus support,
as he played with the lamb.
The lamb is the sacrificial lamb, which
baby Jesus was holding. Mary
symbolically pulls her son away from his
terrible destiny. This subtle message of
the painting is hidden by calm and serene
figures.
The figures of St Anne and Virgin Mary are
jumbled together, with St Anne looking as
young as her daughter. The arrangement
of the three feet make it even easier to
confuse the two women.
All the figures are set against the
backdrop of a striking mountains
landscape. Consistently, Leonardo used
mountain backdrop to give paintings their
depth. The mountain backdrop can be
found in his early painting of
Annunciation, The Virgin of the Rocks,
Madonna Litta, The Last Supper, the Mona
Lisa etc. The presence of mountains in his
paintings could also be connected to his
interest in geological and hydrological
studies.
St Anne also carries one of Leonardo’s
distinctive enigmatic smile.
39. Cartoon : Virgin & Child with St Anne & St John
the Baptist. c1501. National Gallery, London
Late Florence Years
The relation between this Leonardo’s Burlington
House Cartoon in London and The Virgin and Child
with St Anne in the Louvre is far from clear.
Scholars are still uncertain.
The drawing depicts Mary seated on her mother’s
knee (St Anne) twisted to hold onto baby Jesus,
who was preoccupied with his cousin St John the
Baptist. Note St Anne was depicted on the same
level as Mary and her right shoulder and her right
arm was missing.
40. LateFlorenceYears
Christ as Salvator Mundi. 1506 onward. Private Collection.
The painting was last acquired in 2005. It has been
authenticated by a group of experts in 2007. It was
first exhibited in London in 2011, after its latest
restoration.
The painting shows Christ holding a clear crystal
sphere, painted in delicacy and precision. It was
painted for the King of France.
Tiny specks of bubble in the globe, suggest it is made
of quartz crystal. The secret knowledge of working the
crystal into a sphere was lost at the time of the
painting. Thus the spherical crystal was a
representation of perfection.
N
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41. In 1517 Leonardo went to France, at the invitation of Francis I. He died in May 1519, aged 67. Ingres painted the
above in 1818, as he imagined that Leonardo died in the arms of Francis I, as his honoured guest.
FranceThe last years 1517-1519
44. LeonardoTimeline 1452 – 1519 67 years
There are only about 16 paintings
which are believed to be painted
by Leonardo existing today, in the
world.
45. All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective
owners. Available free for non-commercial and personal
use.
Music – Julian Bream plays the Vivaldi
Concerto in D for Lute and string RV93.
“I am well aware that because I did not study the ancients, some foolish men will accuse me of being uneducated.
They will say that because I did not learn from their school books, I am unqualified to express an opinion. But I
would reply that my conclusions are drawn from first hand experience, unlike the scholars who only believe what
they read in books written by others.” Leonardo da Vinci.
A16C copy of Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari painted
as fresco in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
The End
Editor's Notes
Leonardo achievements in art stem from his mastery in representing natural effects, allied to a supreme ability to idealize. He was the originator of the style we call the High Renaissance. Leonardo evolved his famous chiaroscuro in which the tonal structure of the entire painting is established in monochrome, from black shadows to light highlights, then coloured through the applications of translucent glazes in varying hues. Another pictorial device his used is sfumato, the blurring from dark to light or from one or from one hue to another.
