Leonardo da Vinci
| Full Name: | Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. |
|---|---|
| Birth: | 1452, Italy. |
| Death: | 1519, France. |
| Style: | Renaissance painting. |
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was an Italian artist, inventor, and scientist, a key figure of the Renaissance. Born in Vinci (Tuscany), he trained in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. As a painter, he created masterpieces such as The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, introducing innovations in light, perspective, expression, and the use of sfumato. At the same time, he investigated anatomy, botany, hydraulics, and mechanics, leaving designs for machines far ahead of his time. His legacy synthesizes art and science into a unique vision.
The study of the human body
Leonardo da Vinci was also a pioneer in the study of anatomy. His highly detailed drawings of muscles, bones, and internal organs reveal an unprecedented scientific vision. Through the dissection of human bodies, he sought to understand the functioning of the organism with the same rigor with which he observed a landscape or a face. His notebooks, filled with meticulous illustrations, not only served as a foundation for medical knowledge but also influenced the precision with which he portrayed the human body in his paintings.
Leonardo and his time
Leonardo’s life was deeply connected to the great political and cultural transformations of his era. While working in Florence, the city was a hotbed of creativity under the patronage of the Medici, where artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo converged. Later, when he moved to Milan, his work became intertwined with the court of Ludovico Sforza, reflecting how art served both aesthetic splendor and the propaganda of power.
The last years in France
At the end of his life, Leonardo settled in France under the protection of King Francis I, at a moment when the Italian Renaissance was beginning to spread northward into Europe. There, at the Clos Lucé castle, he worked on his final projects, carrying with him the legacy of an Italy in full artistic effervescence, while Europe was moving toward a modernity marked by geographic discoveries, scientific advances, and religious tensions.
Works of Leonardo
1. Head of Leda
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Testa di Leda |
| Type: | Pen and Ink |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Drawing |
| Support: | Paper |
| Year: | 1504-06 |
| Subject: | Classical Mythology |
| Located: | Royal Collection Trust, Londres |
This work is an initial study of the young woman’s head from the painting Leda and the Swan. It is a drawing of a female head looking diagonally downward. The hair is neatly arranged and adorned around the ears.
The mythological figure Leda was seduced by the god Jupiter, who had taken the form of a swan. Leonardo worked on two compositions on this subject. The final work was destroyed in the 18th century. In the four surviving studies, Leonardo placed special emphasis on the expression of the faces and the details of the hair; in all of them the same inclination of the head can be seen. Today, The Head of Leda is part of the Royal Collection of the British royal family.
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2. Head of a Young Woman (Study for the Angel in The Virgin of the Rocks)
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Genre: | Retrato |
3. A Study of a Woman's Hands
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Studio di braccia e mani |
| Type: | Drawing |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Support: | Paper |
| Year: | 1474 |
| Subject: | Anatomy |
| Located: | Castillo Windsor, UK |
4. Belle Ferronnière
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Belle Ferronnière |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Wood Panel |
| Year: | 1490-95 |
| Genre: | Retrato |
| Located: | Louvre museum, París. |
La Belle Ferronnière (c. 1495–1498) is an oil portrait on walnut panel by Leonardo da Vinci, currently housed in the Louvre Museum, Paris. It depicts a woman in half-length and three-quarter profile, her hair tied back and held by a metallic headband with a small jewel at the center. She wears a dark dress with a square neckline trimmed in gold and a beaded chain crossing diagonally over her chest. The shadowy background intensifies the strength of the figure. The model’s identity remains unconfirmed; it has been suggested to be Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza —Duke of Milan and Leonardo’s patron—, or Beatrice d’Este, his wife.
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5. Lady in a Fur Wrap
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Dama con l'ermellino |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Wood Panel |
| Year: | 1488-90 |
| Genre: | Retrato |
| Located: | Museo Czartoryski, Cracovia |
Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489–1490) is an oil portrait on walnut panel by Leonardo da Vinci, preserved in the Czartoryski Museum, Kraków. It depicts Cecilia Gallerani, a young woman of the Milanese court, turned in three-quarter view. She wears a braided headdress pulling the hair back, a dress with wide sleeves trimmed in red, and a fine black necklace around her neck. In her arms she holds a white ermine, shown restless, its body tense and head raised. The dark background removes any spatial reference and concentrates all attention on the figure.
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6. The Mona Lisa
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Gioconda |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Wood Panel |
| Year: | 1503-06 |
| Genre: | Retrato |
| Located: | Louvre museum, París. |
7. Head of a Woman (La Scapigliata)
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Head of a Woman (La Scapigliata) |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Earth Pigment |
| Support: | Wood Panel |
| Year: | 1508 |
| Genre: | Retrato |
| Located: | Galería Nacional de Parma, Italia |
Title in italian: La Scapigliata.
Currently located in the National Gallery of Parma, Italy. Read more
8. The Last Supper
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Ultima Cena |
| Type: | Fresco |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Tempera |
| Support: | Gessoed Wall |
| Year: | 1494-99 |
| Subject: | Biblical passage |
| Located: | Convento Santa María de las Gracias, Milán |
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci is a religious painting on the wall of a church. The original of this work corresponds to a fresco measuring 28.87 x 15.09 feet. Painted on gesso (a mixture of plaster and chalk) between 1495 and 1497 in the convent Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy. As the state of conservation of the original painting does not allow one to see the details well. It is our artists' own interpretation, with expertise, skill, and deep knowledge of Leonardo's style, that allows us to offer a reproduction of this work that will leave the viewer truly satisfied to appreciate from such close proximity a painting that sometimes seems so far away.
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9. Leda and the Swan
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Leda col cigno |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Wood Panel |
| Subject: | Classical Mythology |
10. Salvator Mundi
| Author: | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Renaissance |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Walnut panel |
| Year: | 1499-1510 |
| Genre: | Retrato |
| Located: | Louvre Museum Abu Dhabi |
The Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, depicts Christ as the redeemer of the world, an image of profound symbolic weight that merges the divine and the human. His right hand is raised in a gesture of blessing while his left holds a crystal orb. Christ’s gaze does not focus on an external point but seems to penetrate the viewer.
Read moreSee it in the store in the section Da Vinci oil paintings
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