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The Unique Mastery of Leonardo da Vinci’s Paintings
Leonardo da Vinci: A Legacy in Painting
Despite the recent recognition of Leonardo da Vinci as a groundbreaking scientist and inventor, his enduring fame has been predominantly rooted in his achievements as a painter for nearly four centuries. A select number of works authenticated or attributed to him are revered as some of the greatest masterpieces in the art world. These paintings are renowned for various qualities, which have been extensively imitated by students and meticulously analyzed by connoisseurs and critics alike. By the 1490s, Leonardo had already earned the title of a “Divine” painter.
What Sets Leonardo da Vinci Apart
Several qualities make Leonardo’s work exceptionally unique:
- Innovative Painting Techniques: Leonardo introduced groundbreaking methods for applying paint, which set his work apart from that of his contemporaries.
- Detailed Knowledge of Anatomy: His profound understanding of human anatomy enabled him to depict the human form with unprecedented accuracy and grace.
- Mastery of Light and Shadow: Leonardo‘s skillful use of light and shadow created depth and realism in his paintings.
- Interest in Physiognomy: His fascination with the human face and expression allowed him to capture the subtle nuances of emotion and gesture.
- Botany and Geology: Leonardo’s studies in these fields enriched his landscapes with realistic and detailed elements.
- Figurative Composition: He innovatively used the human form to create dynamic and harmonious compositions.
- Subtle Gradation of Tone: Leonardo‘s ability to blend tones seamlessly added a lifelike quality to his works.
Iconic Masterpieces
These unique qualities are masterfully showcased in Leonardo da Vinci‘s most famous works: the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and the Virgin of the Rocks. Each of these paintings exemplifies his innovative techniques and deep understanding of various scientific and artistic principles, securing his place as a legendary figure in the history of art.
The Early Works of Leonardo da Vinci
Gaining Attention in the Art World
Leonardo da Vinci first garnered attention for his collaborative work on the Baptism of Christ with his mentor Verrocchio. During his time at Verrocchio’s workshop, he created two notable paintings that are believed to be Annunciations. One of these is a smaller piece, measuring 59 centimeters (23 inches) in length and 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) in height. This painting served as a “predella” for a larger composition by Lorenzo di Credi, from which it has since been separated. The other Annunciation is a significantly larger work, measuring 217 centimeters (85 inches) in length.
Formal Arrangement and Attribution
In both Annunciations, Leonardo employed a formal arrangement similar to two well-known pieces by Fra Angelico depicting the same subject. The compositions feature the Virgin Mary sitting or kneeling on the right side of the painting, being approached from the left by an angel in profile. The angel is depicted with a rich flowing garment, raised wings, and bearing a lily. While the larger Annunciation was previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, it is now generally recognized as the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
Symbolic Gestures in Leonardo’s Annunciations
In the smaller painting, Leonardo da Vinci depicts Mary averting her eyes and folding her hands, a gesture symbolizing submission to God’s will. This portrayal aligns with traditional representations of the Virgin Mary in the context of the Annunciation. However, the larger Annunciation by Leonardo presents a different narrative.
A Confident Acceptance
In the larger painting, the Virgin Mary is interrupted in her reading by the unexpected arrival of the angelic messenger. Instead of displaying submission, she places a finger in her Bible to mark her place and raises her hand in a formal gesture of greeting or surprise. This calm young woman accepts her role as the Mother of God not with resignation but with confidence. Leonardo portrays the Virgin Mary with a humanist perspective, recognizing humanity’s significant role in God’s incarnation.
The Humanist Face of the Virgin Mary
Through this painting, the young Leonardo da Vinci presents a revolutionary depiction of the Virgin Mary, emphasizing her humanist attributes. This portrayal reflects Renaissance humanist ideals, highlighting the dignity and importance of human agency in divine events.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Paintings of the 1480s
Significant Commissions and Ground-breaking Work
In the 1480s, Leonardo da Vinci received two highly important commissions and began another work that was revolutionary in terms of composition. However, two of these three projects remained unfinished, while the third was subject to prolonged negotiations over its completion and payment.
Despite the challenges and incomplete works, this period marked a significant phase in Leonardo’s artistic journey. His innovative approaches and dedication to his craft during the 1480s laid the groundwork for future masterpieces, including the Mona Lisa. The complexities of these commissions reflect both the artistic ambition and the practical difficulties Leonardo faced in his career.
One of Leonardo da Vinci‘s notable but unfinished works from the 1480s is Saint Jerome in the Wilderness. This painting, which Bortolon associates with a difficult period in Leonardo’s life, is evidenced by a poignant diary entry: “I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die.” Although barely begun, the composition is visible and remarkably unusual. Saint Jerome, depicted as a penitent, occupies the center of the picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His kneeling form takes on a trapezoid shape, with one arm stretched to the outer edge of the painting and his gaze directed in the opposite direction. J. Wasserman notes the connection between this painting and Leonardo’s anatomical studies. Sprawled across the foreground is Saint Jerome‘s symbol, a great lion whose body and tail form a double spiral across the base of the picture space. The sketchy landscape of craggy rocks, against which Jerome is silhouetted, adds another remarkable feature.
The Adoration of the Magi
The daring composition, landscape elements, and personal drama in Saint Jerome also appear in Leonardo’s great unfinished masterpiece, the Adoration of the Magi. This commission from the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto features a complex composition measuring about 250 x 250 centimeters. Leonardo created numerous drawings and preparatory studies, including a detailed one in linear perspective of the ruined classical architecture that forms part of the background. In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci went to Milan at the behest of Lorenzo de Medici to win favor with Ludovico il Moro, leading to the abandonment of the Adoration of the Magi.
Virgin of the Rocks
The third significant work from this period is the Virgin of the Rocks, commissioned in Milan for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. Leonardo da Vinci, assisted by the de Predis brothers, was tasked with creating this piece to fill a large and complex altarpiece. Leonardo chose to depict an apocryphal moment from the infancy of Christ, where the infant John the Baptist, under the protection of an angel, meets the Holy Family on the road to Egypt. The painting exudes an eerie beauty as the graceful figures kneel in adoration around the infant Christ in a wild landscape of tumbling rock and whirling water.
While the painting is quite large, approximately 200×120 centimeters, it is not nearly as complex as the Adoration of the Magi, which was ordered by the monks of San Donato and features about fifty figures and architectural details. Instead, the Virgin of the Rocks includes only four figures set against a rocky landscape. Leonardo eventually completed two versions of this painting: one remained at the chapel of the Confraternity, while the other was taken by Leonardo to France. The Brothers did not receive their painting, nor did the de Predis brothers receive their payment, until the next century.
Lady with an Ermine
Leonardo da Vinci‘s most remarkable portrait from this period is The Lady with an Ermine, presumed to depict Cecilia Gallerani, the lover of Ludovico Sforza, dating from around 1483–1490. The painting is distinguished by the figure’s pose, with the head turned at a sharply different angle from the torso, which was unusual for a time when many portraits were still rigidly in profile. The ermine in the painting carries symbolic meaning, relating either to the sitter or to Ludovico, who belonged to the prestigious Order of the Ermine.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Paintings of the 1490s
The Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci‘s most famous painting of the 1490s is The Last Supper, commissioned for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. This iconic artwork captures the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death. Leonardo masterfully depicts the moment when Jesus declares, “One of you will betray me,” and the ensuing consternation among the disciples. The painting showcases Leonardo’s exceptional ability to convey emotion and narrative through his art.
Observations by Matteo Bandello
The writer Matteo Bandello observed Leonardo da Vinci at work and noted that some days he would paint from dawn till dusk without stopping to eat, only to then refrain from painting for three or four days at a time. This behavior baffled the prior of the convent, who persistently hounded Leonardo until he asked Ludovico Sforza to intervene. According to Vasari, Leonardo, troubled by his ability to adequately depict the faces of Christ and the traitor Judas, humorously told the duke that he might have to use the prior as his model.
The Masterpiece and Its Rapid Deterioration
The Last Supper was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterization, yet it began to deteriorate rapidly. Within a hundred years, one viewer described it as “completely ruined.” Instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, Leonardo opted for tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso, resulting in a surface susceptible to mold and flaking. Despite this, the painting remains one of the most reproduced works of art, with countless copies made in various mediums.
Trompe-l’œil Decoration
Toward the end of this period, in 1498, Leonardo da Vinci painted the trompe-l’œil decoration of the Sala delle Asse for the Duke of Milan in the Castello Sforzesco. This work further exemplifies Leonardo’s exceptional skill and innovative approach to art.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Paintings of the 1500s
The Battle of Anghiari
In 1505, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint The Battle of Anghiari in the Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred) in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Leonardo created a dynamic composition depicting four men riding raging war horses, fiercely battling for possession of a standard at the Battle of Anghiari in 1440. Michelangelo was assigned the opposite wall to depict the Battle of Cascina. Unfortunately, Leonardo’s painting deteriorated rapidly and is now primarily known from a copy by Rubens.
Among the works created by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century is the small portrait known as the Mona Lisa or La Gioconda, the laughing one. Today, it is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive smile on the woman’s face, a mysterious quality perhaps due to the subtly shadowed corners of the mouth and eyes, making the exact nature of the smile indeterminate. The shadowy quality for which the work is renowned came to be called “sfumato”, or Leonardo’s smoke. Vasari wrote that the smile was “so pleasing that it seems more divine than human, and it was considered a wondrous thing that it was as lively as the smile of the living original.”
Other characteristics of the Mona Lisa include the unadorned dress, allowing the eyes and hands to have no competition from other details; the dramatic landscape background, suggesting a world in flux; the subdued coloring; and the extremely smooth painterly technique, employing oils laid on much like tempera, blended on the surface so that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable. Vasari expressed that the painting’s quality would make even “the most confident master … despair and lose heart.” The perfect state of preservation and the lack of repair or overpainting are rare in a panel painting of this date.
Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
In the painting Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, the composition again picks up the theme of figures in a landscape, which Wasserman describes as “breathtakingly beautiful,” harkening back to Saint Jerome with the figure set at an oblique angle. What makes this painting unusual is that there are two obliquely set figures superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, Saint Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as he plays roughly with a lamb, a sign of his impending sacrifice. This painting, which was copied many times, influenced Michelangelo, Raphael, and Andrea del Sarto, and through them Pontormo and Correggio. The trends in composition were particularly adopted by the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese.
The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
Prolific Draughtsman
Leonardo da Vinci was a prolific draughtsman, maintaining journals filled with small sketches and detailed drawings that captured everything that piqued his interest. Alongside these journals, there are numerous studies for paintings, some of which are identifiable as preparatory works for specific masterpieces such as The Adoration of the Magi, The Virgin of the Rocks, and The Last Supper.
Leonardo’s earliest dated drawing is the Landscape of the Arno Valley, created in 1473. This detailed sketch illustrates the river, the mountains, Montelupo Castle, and the farmlands beyond it, showcasing Leonardo’s exceptional ability to capture intricate details and the essence of the natural world.
Among Leonardo da Vinci‘s famous drawings are the Vitruvian Man, a study of the proportions of the human body; the Head of an Angel, for The Virgin of the Rocks in the Louvre; a botanical study of Star of Bethlehem; and a large drawing (160×100 cm) in black chalk on colored paper of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist in the National Gallery, London. This drawing employs the subtle sfumato technique of shading, similar to that used in the Mona Lisa. It is believed that Leonardo never made a painting from it, with the closest similarity being to The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne in the Louvre.
Caricatures and Portraits
Other notable drawings include numerous studies often referred to as “caricatures” because, although exaggerated, they appear to be based on observations of live models. Vasari relates that Leonardo would seek out interesting faces in public to use as models for some of his work. There are also numerous studies of beautiful young men, often associated with Salaì, featuring the rare and admired facial feature known as the “Grecian profile”. These faces are often contrasted with those of warriors. Salaì is frequently depicted in fancy-dress costumes, which may be connected to Leonardo’s designs for pageant sets. Other meticulous drawings include studies of drapery, showing a marked development in Leonardo’s ability to draw drapery over time.
Macabre Sketch and Architectural Designs
One often-reproduced drawing is a macabre sketch created by Leonardo in Florence in 1479, showing the body of Bernardo Baroncelli, hanged in connection with the murder of Giuliano, brother of Lorenzo de’ Medici, in the Pazzi conspiracy. In his notes, Leonardo recorded the colors of the robes that Baroncelli was wearing when he died.
Like the two contemporary architects Donato Bramante (who designed the Belvedere Courtyard) and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, Leonardo experimented with designs for centrally planned churches. Several of these designs appear in his journals as both plans and views, although none were ever realized.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Journals and Notes
Fusion of Art and Science
Leonardo da Vinci‘s studies in science and engineering are sometimes considered as impressive and innovative as his artistic work, a reflection of Renaissance humanism which recognized no mutually exclusive polarities between the sciences and the arts. These studies were meticulously recorded in 13,000 pages of notes and drawings, seamlessly blending art and natural philosophy (the forerunner of modern science). Leonardo maintained these records daily throughout his life and travels, making continual observations of the world around him.
Leonardo da Vinci’s notes and drawings exhibit an enormous range of interests and preoccupations. Some entries are as mundane as lists of groceries and people who owed him money, while others are as intriguing as designs for wings and shoes for walking on water. His journals include compositions for paintings, studies of details and drapery, studies of faces and emotions, animals, babies, dissections, plant studies, rock formations, whirlpools, war machines, flying machines, and architecture.
These notebooks – originally loose papers of different types and sizes – were largely entrusted to Leonardo da Vinci’s pupil and heir, Francesco Melzi, after the master’s death. Melzi was tasked with publishing them, a daunting challenge due to the scope and Leonardo’s idiosyncratic writing. Some of Leonardo’s drawings were copied by an anonymous Milanese artist for a planned treatise on art around 1570. After Melzi died in 1570, the collection passed to his son, Orazio, who initially took little interest in the journals.
Dispersal of the Notebooks
In 1587, a Melzi household tutor named Lelio Gavardi took 13 of the manuscripts to Pisa. There, the architect Giovanni Magenta reproached Gavardi for taking the manuscripts illicitly and returned them to Orazio. Orazio, possessing many more such works, gifted the volumes to Magenta. As news of these lost works of Leonardo da Vinci spread, Orazio retrieved seven of the 13 manuscripts and gave them to Pompeo Leoni for publication in two volumes, one of which became the Codex Atlanticus. The other six works were distributed to a few others. After Orazio’s death, his heirs sold the rest of Leonardo’s possessions, leading to their dispersal.
Major Collections and Ownership
Some works have found their way into major collections such as the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, the Louvre, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, which holds the 12-volume Codex Atlanticus, and the British Library in London, which has put a selection from the Codex Arundel (BL Arundel MS 263) online. Works have also been at Holkham Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in the private hands of John Nicholas Brown I and Robert Lehman. The Codex Leicester is the only privately owned major scientific work of Leonardo; it is owned by Bill Gates and displayed once a year in different cities around the world.
Unique Writing Style
Most of Leonardo da Vinci’s writings are in mirror-image cursive. Since Leonardo wrote with his left hand, it was probably easier for him to write from right to left. He used a variety of shorthand and symbols and stated in his notes that he intended to prepare them for publication. In many cases, a single topic is covered in detail in both words and pictures on a single sheet, together conveying information that would not be lost if the pages were published out of order. Why they were not published during Leonardo’s lifetime remains unknown.
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