Leonaedo Da Vinci's Art

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Leonardo da Vinci's Art

Leonardo is famous for his realistic paintings, some of which are recognized around the world as icons of Western art. The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper are among the world's most famous works of art. Some of his drawings, such as the Vitruvian Man , have been equally influential.

Leonardo introduced a number of new painting techniques. Chiaroscuro uses bold contrast between light and dark, yet subtle transitions between colors. To achieve this effect, he used custom-made glazes. Sfumato is a method that creates a hazy or smoky effect.

1452 —1482: The Early Years in Florence

Pen and Ink Drawing of the Arno Valley The earliest known work by Leonardo for which a precise date can be given is a pen-and-ink drawing of the Arno valley (right), produced on the 5th of August, 1473. The accurate realistic use of perspective in this drawing is unusual for the period. It shows a precise perception of physical space that would characterize his pantings in the years that followed.

When he was about 15 years old (+/- 1466 or 1467), Leonardo became an apprentice to Andrea del Verrocchio , an established artist in Florence. In 1476 he assisted Verrocchio in painting The Baptism of Christ (left) for the friars of Vallombrosa. Leonardo added the angel at the front left and the landscape in the background. His fine blending and brushwork make it relatively easy to detect the difference between his work and that of Verrocchio.

Giorgio Vasari , the first biographer to discuss leonardo's life, claimed that when Verrocchio saw Leonardo's work he resolved never to touch a brush again. While it is impossible to verify this account, it is true that Leonardo's work far exceeds that of his master, and that Verrocchio produced few paintings after The Baptism of Christ.

In 1474 Leonardo produced a portrait of Ginevra de Benci, an aristocratic lady of Florence. A portrait (left) believed to be this one now hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

There is no conclusive proof that Leonardo painted the work now in the National Gallery. Some art critics feel that it does not reflect the level of work Leonardo later produced. Nevertheless, its difference from his later works could be explained by the early date.

In 1474 Leonardo was still working under the direction of Verrocchio. There is also significant circumstantial evidence that the painting is authentic. Three written sources state that Leonardo painted a portrait of Ginevra de' Benci in 1474 commemorating her marriage to Luigi Niccolini. The painting's imagery and reverse text both support the identification of the National Gallery portrait with Leonardo's Ginevra de Benci. The plant behind the woman in the portrait is a juniper tree. Juniper was a Renaissance symbol for chastity, a fitting implication for a portrait commemorating a young woman's wedding day.

The juniper motif may also be a pun on the woman's name. The Italian word for juniper is ginepro.

On the reverse of the portrait a juniper sprig is encircled by a wreath of laurel and palm with the Latin phrase, VIRTUTEM FORMA DECORAT ("Beauty adorns Virtue") adding further suggestion that the portrait may have been a wedding piece.

The Madonna and Child (Benois Madonna, right) is possibly one of the two madonnas that Leonardo says he painted in 1478. This is possibly the first work that he completed independently of his master, Verrocchio.

From 1480 to 1481, he painted a small Annunciation sceen, now in the Louvre. That same year he began a painting of St. Jerome (left), but never completed it.

Sometime between 1481 and 1482 Leonardo started painting The Adoration of the Magi (left), but after being hired by the Duke of Milan he left Florence without finishing it.

1482–1499: The Years in Milan

Last Supper For seventeen years Leonardo worked in Milan for Duke Ludovico(from 1482 to 1499). While he was given liscense to pursue any project he chose, he began many more than he finished. Only six paintings survive from this period, though some of these are among his greatest works: The Last Supper (1498), Virgin of the Rocks (1483-86), Madonna and Child with St. Anne (1499). In addition to painting, Leonardo designed court festivals and drew many of his engineering sketches.

The Virgin of the Rocks (below, right) would eventually appear in two different forms. The one pictured here dates from around 1483-1486 and is the older of the two. It is now housed in the Louvre.

Virgin of the Rocks, Paris The Louvre version pictured here is very likely to be authentic, given the typical brush work and use of chiaroscuro (strong contrast between light and dark) characteristic of many of Leonardo's works, especially those of the 1480s. Most art historians agree that this version is mostly by Leonardo, and is the earlier of the two paintings.

The scene depicted is not related to a biblical story, but to a legend of a meeting between the baby Jesus and John the Baptist during the flight into Egypt. The usual interpretation views the woman in the center as Mary, directing John the Baptizer towards Jesus. John's hands are folded in prayer. Jesus is seated on the right with the angel Uriel. He has his right hand lifted in a traditional sign of blessing. Uriel points his right index finger toward john.

Leonardo worked considerably on his notebooks in the latter part of this period. From about 1487 to 1490 he produced the Codex Trivulzianus, a manuscript that spanned 62 pages, though only 55 have survived. The notebook addresses a diversity of topics from character studies to drawings of church domes and military machines. It even includes material on self-improvement (especially vocabulary building), providing direct evidence of Leonardo's attempt to educate himself.

Another of his projects while in Milan was his "Gran Cavallo," a huge bronze horse. He produced plans and models for the twenty-four-foot high (seven metre-high) structure, but before the horse could be cast, war withF rance forced its abandonment. The bronze set aside for the project was used to make armament, and the invading French soldiers used Leonardo's clay model for target practice. Milan fell to the French in 1499; Ludovico was imprisoned, and Leonardo was forced to seek a new patron.

A sketch of the "Gran Cavallo" is provided in Madrid Manuscript II. The notebook is housed at the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Italy.

In 1498 Leonardo produced what is often called the Burlington House Cartoon (left). This title reflects the many years the drawing spent in the Royal Academy.

This full-size treatment of St. Anne with Mary (her daughter), the Christ child, and St. John the Baptist is currently housed in the National Gallery in London. Using both charcoal and chalk over the surface of eight sheets of paper, Leonardo combined two popular themes from the era: the Virgin and child with St. Anne, and the Virgin and child with St. John the Baptist.

The gazes of the four figures create an impression that the drawing captures a moment in an ongoing sequence of movement. St Anne is smiling at Mary; Mary's gaze is fixed on her son. St. John also watches the Christ child.

There are no sharp delineations between the characters. Whle Leonardo's finished works often display suptle edges, the degree of fluidity between the characters in this scene suggests that the drawing may never have reached its intended final form.

Cartoons (preparatory drawings) were used as guides for for later paintings. By puncturing the paper along the outline of the figures, it was possible to transfer that outline to another surface to be painted. The Burlington House Cartoon, however, was never punctured, indicating that it was never transfered to a panel.

1499–1519: the "Nomadic" Period

Following the collapse of Milan, Leonardo worked for a succession of patrons, moving often until he was hired by Francis I, king of France in 1516. This period is often called the 'Nomadic Period' since Leonardo did not stay long in any one location.

In 1500 he went to Mantua where he sketched a portrait of the Marchesa Isabella d'Este. He left for Venice in 1501, and later that same year returned to Florence. He remained in Florence till 1506, though he regularly traveled between Florence and Milan in the latter part of this period.

Around 1501 Leonardo painted the Madonna of the Yarnwinder. In this scene the Christ child looks knowingly at a cruciform yarnwinder while Mary holds him and looks at him peacefully.

At least three copies of this painting have survived, but it is impossible to determine with certainty which, if any, is the work of Leonardo himself. The two pictured here are the most likely candidates. While they are strikingly similar, the color schemme is quite distinct and the background is clearly different, with the bluer copy containing rugged mountains while the greener copy shows a sea scape.

Until recently the copy on the right hung in the Duke of Buccleuch's collection at his home in Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. In 2003, however, it was stolen by two thieves posing as tourists and has not been recovered.

It is highly likely that Leonardo produced what would eventually become his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa (a.k.a La Gioconda) during this second period in Florence. He appears to have begun work on this masterpiece in 1503 and continued to refine it through 1506. He may have "edited" it from time to time even after leaving Florence in 1506. The painting is now housed in the Louvre (Paris).

It is generally thought that the subject was Lisa de Gherardini del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. The painting was probably commissioned by her husband, a prominant silk merchant. Zollner proposes that it was commissioned to commemorate the birth of their second son and their move to a new home (Zollner p.240). Leonardo probably kept the painting close at hand, and appears to have taken it with him when he traveled.

This painting became famous during Leonardo's own lifetime. Leonardo's sfumato (the smoothing effect characteristic of his work) was revolutionary at that time.The sitter's contraposto angle was also unusual, as was the treatment of the background with the horizon high, suggesting that the woman is sitting in a location far from the ground.

In the centuries that followed, the enigmatic smile of the subject, and Leonardo's failure to deliver the painting to the person who commissioned it created an air of mystery about this work. This mystery enhanced the fame of the painting.

Also while in Florence Leonardo received a comission to paint a mural depicting the Battle of Anghiari. Michelangelo was to paint the Battle of Cascina on the facing wall. Leonardo produced a wide variety of studies for the work, but he left Florence without finishing the mural. He left because of his employer's failure to pay him as he wished, and also because of dissatisfaction with the method he had chosen. As with the Last Supper, Leonardo experimented with oil binders in an attempt to make the paint plyable for a longer period. In a sixteenth century battle the unfinished mural was demolished.

In 1506 Leonardo moved once again to Milan, where he would remain till 1513. For the first six years of this "second Milanese period," he worked under the patronage of Charles d'Amboise.

At least as early as 1508 a second version of the Virgin of the Rocks (right) had appeared. It is widely believed to be authentic and is presently housed in the National Gallery, London.

This painting differs from the Louvre version in a few ways. Uriel's pointing finger is gone from this later version, perhaps because confusion had arisen over the identities of the characters pictured. Leonardo may have felt it directed too much attention to John. Halos and the elongated cross traditionally associated with John have been added by a later hand, probably after Leonardo's death. The addition of the cross was probably intended to clarify the identities of the two children.

Recent examinations using infra-red imaging (June 2005) have revealed that an earlier painting lies beneath the surface picture. That earlier painting appears to be a woman, with one hand outstretched. Was this perhaps an earlier attempt to depict an adoration of the Christ child?

In 1509 Leonardo painted St Anne. Also during this second Milanese period he painted Leda and the Swan, known today only through copies by other artists.

In 1514 Leonardo moved to Rome, and then once again to Florence. While working under the patronage of Pope Leo X, he painted St. John the Baptist. In 1515 he moved three times, first to Pavia, then Bologna, and finally back to Milan.

In 1516 Leonardo came under the patronage of the king of France, Francis I, and he remained in France till his death in 1519. When Leonardo died, he still had the Mona Lisa in his possession and left it to one of his pupils, Giacomo Salai.