One of the great Renaissance painters in the history of art, Leonardo da Vinci, who created innovative compositions. Celebrating the Italian's birthday, here are five of some of his magnificent artworks, besides Mona Lisa.
Ginevra de’ Benci (c. 1474/78)
Ginevra de’ Benci, painted at a time when da Vinci was still an apprentice of Verrochio, is one of the first known three-quarter-view portraits in Italian art. The medium used was oil on 42.7 x 37 cm wood.
The portrait now sits at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C, being the first painting of da Vinci to be on an American gallery in 1967.
Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489–91)
Da Vinci's 'Lady with an Ermine' is one of the most important works in all of the Western art. It came into Polish art resources in 1800, as the young Prince Adam Czartoryski bought it for his mother during his travel around Italy.
The painting was exhibited at the Czartoryski family’s Gothic House in Puławy. Then, it was deported to Paris during the November Uprising. Eventually, it was brought to Krakow to be a part of the Czartoryski Museum at the end of the 19th century.
Last Supper (c. 1495–98)
Last Supper, one of history's most influential works of art, also called Lord’s Supper, in the New Testament, portrays the final meal shared by Jesus and his disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem, the occasion of the institution of the Eucharist.
Salvator Mundi (c. 1500)
In 2017, the head-on portrait of Salvator Mundi made headlines when it sold for a record-breaking $450.3 million at auction. The high price was all the more surprising as the portrait was in poor condition.
Many pundits criticized the poor skill used to represent Jesus’ face; the stiff posture, which was so unlike the Renaissance master’s characteristic twisting poses; in addition to the unconvincing representation of the glass globe, which, if solid, would have reflected a distorted view of its holder, an optical trick that Leonardo would have known about.
Nonetheless, Christie’s, the auction house that managed the sale, dismissed the criticisms, claiming that any lack of craft was the result of heavy restoration in previous centuries.
Head of a Woman (1500–10)
Da Vinci's painting, a small brush drawing with pigment, depicts a young woman with her head tilted and her eyes downcast. Her posture recalls the Virgin Mary in Leonardo’s 'The Virgin of the Rocks', suggesting that the drawing may have served as a model.
Surprisingly, the drawing’s nickname, La scapigliata, translates to “disheveled” which refers to the young woman’s wayward strands of hair.
The loosely sketched tendrils and shoulders contrast with the highly finished face, where da Vinci smoothly modeled the woman’s delicate features, from her heavy eyelids to her tender lips.
Head of a Woman reveals the artist's fluid means of working, utilizing both expressive drawing to create form and controlled layering to provide detail.
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