Paintings

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”-Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his various creations, the most known is the famous and parodied “Mona Lisa” and also “The Last Supper”. His drawing of the “Vitruvian Man” is also known as a cultural icon, it has been produce in any sources of media across time, such as, books, the euro coin, clothing, room deco, etc. Few of his works had survived, fifteen to be more exact, nevertheless, these works, together with his own hand-writing notebooks, compose a big contribution to future generations of artists.

"Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci (1517)

The "Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci (1495-'98)

Today, this man is known for his diverse talent, and for now we are focusing in his artistic pieces that we can nowadays see. Da Vinci´s paintings are so famous because a variety of qualities, which have been imitated by students across the centuries. This qualities that make Leonardo´s work so distinctive are the innovative techniques that he used on his paintings, his vast knowledge about the human body´s anatomy, his interest for physiognomy and how he succeeded in shaping our emotions and gestures, and his used of tonality gradation. All this qualities that described Da Vinci´s work come together and create his most famous paintings, such the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and the Virgin of the Rocks.

 

The "Virgin of the Rocks" by Leonardo da Vinci (1486-'96)

• Some of his most known paintings:

Mona Lisa: also known as “La Gioconda”, an oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco Giocondo, this pictures a woman with a very enigmatic expression, and this is why artists, and people around the world is still so fascinated with it.

Baptism of Christ: This was painted by Leonardo in Verrochio’s workshop when he (Leonardo) was his pupil. The picture shows the Biblical Gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke, were it tells the Baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist.

Baptism of Christ

The Annunciation: This oil and tempera on poplar panel was once considered to be done by Verocchio until 1869. This pictures the bible verse in Luke 1:26-39, where the angel Gabriel announces to Mary the she will conceive and give birth to the messiah, Jesus, the son of God.

The Annunciation

Madonna of the Carnation: This painting is probably done in Tempera, and oil in poplar panel, this work is considered to be Leonardo’s even though it has some over painting done by a Flemish artist. The “Madonna of the Carnation” is focused in Mary with baby Jesus over her lap, she is wearing precious jewelry and fine clothes, and she is holding a carnation in her left hand, which symbolizes health. In this painting it is pictured that baby Jesus is looking up, while Mary isn’t doing any eye contact with her child.

Madonna of the Carnation

The Madonna of the Yarnwinder: This painting is done with oil on walnut panel shows the Virgin Mary seated in a landscape with Jesus Christ, who is gazing at a yarnwinder, this is a symbol of Mary’s domesticity and as a foreshadowing of the cross on which Christ was crucified.

Madonna of the Yarnwinder

As an admirer of da Vinci's artwork, once he said "The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands", and I think that throughout his life, he has applied his own concept as a painter, he did wonderful pieces of art, his innovative technique, is just something that has revolutionized for all the students that had followed his steps. My favorite paintings of his, is the "Mona Lisa", and "La Scapigliata", I remember seeing them when I was really young, and looking at the details that he had for the female features, that got me, that's was the time that I was sure that drawing was something I wanted in my life. Leonardo da Vinci has been a big influence in me, and I'm a big fan of his work.

Authors: Elizabeth Cisneros Tlaxcala

Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani (The Lady with the ermine) 1490: This painting is a masterpiece of Renaissance Art. In this picture Cecilia is holding Ermine in her arms. This painting represents virtue and purity. DaVinci used  his technique sfumato in this picture to create a fine and gradual tonal changes around the eyes and mouth.

Authors: Jolene Hall