Leonardo da Vinci belongs to the category called Homo universalis, that is, a universal person. In addition to artistic talent, he was a great scientist and inventor, who created many useful things for humanity. But today, let us leave aside his scientific activities, and compose a gallery, which will include the most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. We will also introduce interesting facts about the masterpieces of the Renaissance master.
1
World savior
This painting, painted by Leonardo around 1500, was considered lost over the years. Critics, referring to the recordings, suggest that her painter commissioned the French monarch Louis XII.
Only in 2011, the collector Cook introduced the world to the restored original brush of the Renaissance master. After 6 years, she was sold at auction for a record $ 400 million, and she became the most expensive work of art in history.
There is also an engraving with a portrait of Christ, the so-called New York version, written in the 17th century from the original Leonardo da Vinci.
2
Mona Lisa
The most famous work of the painter, and today holds many secrets and mysteries. Until now, there is no consensus on who is depicted on the canvas, the wife of the silk trader from Florence Lisa Gerardini, or Pachifika Brandano.
At the time of work on the Mona Lisa, the painter set aside all his affairs, and devoted all his talent and time to writing a female portrait.
The famous masterpiece of the brush of the master of the Renaissance is located in the Louvre, and less and less travels around the world. In Russia, then back in the USSR, Mona Lisa visited once, in 1974.
3
Vitruvian Man
Opening the diary of Leonardo da Vinci, you can see many drawings, including an unusual drawing of a person inscribed in a circle and square.
Drawing, as well as explanations for it, in the scientific world began to be called "canonical proportions." A drawing was made using watercolors and inks around the beginning of the 90s of the XV century.
Leonardo created a drawing to determine the proportions of the human body and most likely used it to create paintings and sculptural compositions.
4
John the Baptist
The list of paintings in our gallery is continued by the portrait of John the Baptist, written between 1514-1516 and refers to the late period of the work of the great master.
Leonardo da Vinci deliberately deprived a portrait of the background in order to focus on the figure of John. The picture is not devoid of Christian attributes, namely, the ratio of the body and the right hand creates a kind of cross.
The canvas, which depicts the baptist of Christ, once again confirms that Leonardo was a magnificent portrait painter. He was able to accurately convey not only appearance, but also reflect the inner essence.
5
Lady with an ermine
Together with other portraits, this canvas belongs to the four famous female portraits of Leonardo. The portrait depicts Cecilia Gallerani, and her painter painted in 1490.
Many cultural historians recognize the portrait of the seventeen-year-old favorite of the Duke of Sforza as one of Leonardo da Vinci's most beautiful paintings.
He depicted her waist-high, thereby having the opportunity to draw her hands. Symbolism is laid in the rotation of the head, the position of the shoulders, and even in the ermine itself. The ermine in the ancient Greek language sounds like a “gale”, which refers to the name of the girl Gallerani.
6
Madonna Litta
The portrait, which is now on display at the Hermitage, was painted between 1483 and 1486. The small details of the canvas hid secrets and puzzles that tell about the mother and her child.
The cuts on the shirt are sewn up, which indicates that the woman tried to excommunicate her child. But the viewer sees the moment of feeding, and the seams on the right side are torn, which means that the woman decided to postpone for the time the moment of excommunication of the son from breast feeding.
In the Louvre there is a sketch of the head of the Madonna, and many experts suggest that the figure of the baby was painted by the talented Giovanni Antonio Boltaffio student of Leonardo.
7
Portrait of Ginevra de Benchi
One of Leonardo's early works, in which he portrayed the Florentine poetess Ginevre d’Amerigo de Benchi. According to one version, the portrait was commissioned by Bernando Bembo, passionately in love with a beautiful woman.
The portrait of a beautiful and inspired girl, painted around 1478, was the artist's first work in the portrait genre of painting. Landscapes have always acted as a certain symbol, and here the branches of a juniper tree indicate the name depicted in the portrait of the girl.
This is the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which is located outside of Europe, and exhibited at the Washington National Gallery.
8
Madonna in the rocks
The painting, in which the Madonna and children is depicted amid a mountain landscape, was painted to decorate the altar of the cathedral in Milan. But at the end of the work, the master handed over the painting to Louis XII.
Customers from Milan turned to the courts with a lawsuit, and then Leonardo painted the second portrait of Madonna in the grotto, which adorned the altar of the church of San Francesco Grande.
For the first time, the artist was able to perfectly combine the image of people and landscape. The first version of the royal collection was inherited by the Louvre, but the second is exhibited in London.
9
Madonna and Spindle
Unfortunately, the lost canvas of the great master, which has come down to us only in copies written by his students. One of the copies, written around 1501, is now in Edinburgh.
Among the mountain landscape is a young Virgin Mary with little Jesus holding a spindle. The item in the hands of the baby, more like a cross, symbolizes the future fate of the Savior. At the same time, it also acts as a symbol of the hearth and comfort.
The masterpiece of the school of Leonardo da Vinci was stolen in 2003 from the collection of the Duke of Buckle. The painting was found in Glasgow in 2007, and is housed in the Scottish National Gallery.
10
Leda and the swan
Leonardo in the late period of creativity was completely absorbed in the study of female anatomy and the process of childbearing and it is rather difficult to distinguish his artistic images from scientific research.
In his records there are drawings of the embryo in the female uterus, and approximately in 1515 he depicted a plot where the earthly girl Leda hugs Zeus in the image of a beautiful swan. Nearby are their children.
The canvas, written on the plot of the ancient Greek myth, has been lost, and only the Florentine copy has survived to this day.
11
Self portrait
The Royal Library of Turin has a self-portrait of Leonardo, allegedly painted by him at the age of 60. This portrait also includes the description of the drawing, compiled by Lomazzo.
The self-portrait was identified in the 19th century, when they compared the image of Leonardo in the image of Plato on Raphael’s fresco "School of Athens" with a drawing of an elderly man with a beard.
Because of its fragility, a drawing written by a sanguine is not exhibited. You can see it only in reproductions or in photographs.
12
Madonna Benoit
The name of the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci sometimes has a double name. So, the Madonna Benois, created around 1480, is also called the Madonna with a flower.
One of the earliest works, for unknown reasons, was not finished, but a special style of a novice painter can be traced in it. The basis of creativity remained the Florentine school, but the rotation of bodies and the proportions of the body became an individual feature of Leonardo's technique.
In 1914, the "Madonna Benoit" began to be exhibited in the Hermitage, and acquired it from Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of the architect at the court of Emperor Nicholas II.
13
Annunciation
The young, beginning Leonardo, while still working in the workshop of his teacher Andrea Verrocchio, turns to biblical subjects and draws the Annunciation.
It is still difficult to consider the special technique of the future master, since the composition is quite simple and traditional. But here the novice painter carefully draws the details, and not just the main characters. Over time, it is the details that will become an important component of art paintings and drawings.
Leonardo portrays the archangel and Mary remotely, which allows them to place behind them a vast landscape and architectural elements of the building.
14
Portrait of a musician
There is a portrait in the art museum of Milan, and in the course of the study it was found out that he was repeatedly rewritten. It was unequivocally established that it was originally a brush of Leonardo, but for some reason the canvas remained unfinished.
The debate of art historians continues on the question of who is depicted. There is a version that it is the Duke of Lodovico Moreau, as well as a version that is painted by musician Francino Gafuri.
This assumption was made after, as a result of the restoration, notes were found in the hands of the young man. Francino became known at the end of the 15th century as the bandmaster of the Cathedral of Milan, and therefore one of the nobles could well order his portrait.
15
The Last Supper
The fresco decorating the refectory of the Dominican monastery in Milan was created over 3 years, from 1495 to 1498. The biblical story about the last meal of Christ, which was attended by all his disciples, was taken as the basis.
Leonardo left the traditional technique of writing frescoes and painted not on wet, but on dry plaster. Before applying the paint, he covered the wall with a mixture of resin, mastic and gypsum.
Art historians agree that the fresco depicts the moment when Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray his teacher.
We also recommend that you look at an interesting article on most-beauty.ru about 10 images of Jesus that caused heated debate in society.
Conclusion
Recently, it has become popular to mirror the masterpieces of a master, finding secret meaning and predictions in them. But even without this, the artist and sculptor of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci left a significant mark in world art culture. And his inventions became the basis for the creation of most modern machines and mechanisms. It is amazing how in it alone so many talents were combined, but, of course, Leonardo was a man who was centuries ahead of his time.