Leonardo da Vinci's paintings are beautiful and full of mysteries. They are brought to an inconceivable degree of perfection, because the master worked on each of his creations for several years.
Our rating lists all the greatest paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, with photos, names and detailed information about each of them. The list did not include drawings of inventions, caricatures, as well as paintings, for which art historians have doubts that they belong to the brush of Leonardo. Also, copies of paintings that have not survived to the present day are not included in the selection.
18. Vitruvian man
Years of writing: 1490.
Where is: Academy Gallery, Venice.
Materials: paper, feather, ink, watercolor.
Dimensions: 34.3 x 24.5 cm.
If you say that this is not a painting, but a drawing, then you will be absolutely right. Indeed, the Vitruvian man is a drawing, illustration, made by Leonardo to the book of the great ancient Roman architect Mark Vitruvius and placed in one of his diaries.
However, this drawing is no less famous than the paintings listed on our list. It is considered not only a work of art, but also a scientific work. And demonstrates the ideal proportions of the human body.
After studying mathematics and geometry, in particular, the work of Vitruvius, Leonardo's thirst for knowledge reached its zenith. In Vitruvian Man, he applied the idea of universal symmetry, the golden ratio, or the “divine proportion” not only to size and shape, but also to weight.
- 6 palms = 1 elbow;
- length from the tip of the longest to the lowest base of 4 fingers = 1 palm;
- 4 palms = 1 foot;
- arm span = height;
- 4 palms = 1 step;
- 4 elbows or 24 palms = height of a person.
Other world-famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, which include the principle of the Golden Ratio, are Mona Lisa, The Annunciation and The Last Supper.
17. Madonna and Carnation
Years of writing: 1478 — 1480.
Where is: Old Pinakothek, Munich.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 42 x 67 cm.
Many art historians attribute this work to young Leonardo, when he still served as an apprentice in the painting workshop of Verrocchio. There are a number of details supporting this version, for example, detailing the face of Madonna, drawing her hair, the landscape outside the window, as well as the soft and diffused light characteristic of the Italian artist.
Unfortunately, the years did not spare the picture, and due to improper restoration, the surface of the paint layer went uneven.
16. The Annunciation
Years of writing: 1472 — 1476.
Where is: Uffizi, Florence.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 98 x 217 cm.
It was with the Annunciation that he began as an artist of Leonardo da Vinci. This painting was allegedly created in collaboration with Andrea del Verocchio, in the studio of which he was given at the age of 14 years old. In favor of the authorship of the future famous Italian master speaks stunning anatomical accuracy, characteristic of all the works of Leonardo, as well as a number of sketches in extant diaries. In favor of the other person’s authorship, the nature of the brushstrokes and the composition of the paints used by Maria; they contain lead uncharacteristic for da Vinci.
Interestingly, if you look at the picture standing directly in front of it, you will notice some flaws in the anatomy. For example, Mary’s hand seems a little longer than is typical for ordinary inhabitants of the planet Earth. However, if you go to the right side of the picture and look from there, Mary’s hand is magically shortened, she herself becomes larger and the center of gravity of the plot is transferred to her figure - as prescribed by the plot. Most likely, the alleged incorrectness in physique is the result of a carefully designed optical illusion: the picture should have hung at an angle to the viewer.
15. The baptism of Christ
Years of writing: 1476
Where is: Uffizi, Florence.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 177 x 151 cm.
And Leonardo co-authored this work with his teacher. According to Giorgio Vasari, who composed the biography of the artist, Verocchio instructed the young apprentice (at the time of painting Leonardo was 24 years old) to write the figure of a white-haired angel in the left corner of the painting. The teachers were so impressed with the student’s skill that he, disgraced, was no longer engaged in painting.
14. Portrait of Ginevra de Benchi
Years of writing: 1474 — 1478.
Where is: National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 38.8 x 36.7 cm.
A wreath of laurel and palm branches on the back of the picture hints that the woman is not simple. The first wreath indicates her poetic studies, and the second - that she is not alien to mercy and compassion. This impression is supported by the strict and somewhat harsh beauty of the model, its pale alabaster skin, and eyelids, as if lost in thought, for centuries. The almost complete absence of jewelry and emphasized modest clothing indicate her intellectual occupations. And it is true - the painting depicts the poetess Ginevra de Benchi.
The manner of the image (especially shading with fingers - Leonardo has just begun to master this technique, so the paint layer is uneven in places) already speaks loudly about the mastery of the creator. Especially characteristic soft lighting and the landscape in the background, as if shrouded in luminous haze.
13. Madonna Benoit
Years of writing: 1479 — 1481.
Where is: The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
Materials: oil painting on canvas.
Dimensions: 48 x 31.5 cm.
“The ghost of an old woman” with a “wrinkled neck”, “a bloated body” and a “toothless grin” - these unflattering words were described by an American art critic, who was commissioned by the owners, the Benois family, to establish authorship. Despite all the colorful epithets, he still attributed it as belonging to the brush of Leonardo da Vinci - both the writing style and the soft diffused light inherent in the artist, effortlessly creating the volume of two figures, speak in favor of this.
One of the symbolic details is a cruciferous plant, hinting at what fate awaits the child. However, neither the mother nor the baby know about it yet. He plays carefree, and she looks at him with a smile.
12. Adoration of the Magi
Years of writing: 1479 — 1482.
Where is: Uffizi, Florence.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 246 x 243.
One of the paintings of the great artist, sculptor, scientist and engineer of the Renaissance, unfortunately, remained unfinished. Leonardo moved to a residence in Milan and was not going to return. Fortunately, customers retained the unfinished picture. It is notable for its non-standard composition and rich symbolic meaning.
For example, Mary sits under an oak tree, which is a symbol of eternity, a palm tree grows in the distance - a sign of Jerusalem, and the ruins of a pagan temple on the horizon - the destruction of the pagan religion, which crowded out Christianity.
11. Saint Jerome in the desert
Years of writing: 1480 — 1490.
Where is: Vatican Pinacoteca.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 103 x 75 cm.
Despite the fact that the picture remained unfinished, it made a strong impression on contemporaries. This is primarily due to the amazing anatomical accuracy of the image of the human body, which Leonardo was famous for.
A difficult fate awaited the picture - after some time the work was sawn up, and the boards were used for the most base purposes. It is alleged that part of the picture, one of the art lovers found in the form of a lid from the chest.
10. Madonna Litta
Years of writing: 1478 — 1482.
Where is: Hermitage.
Materials: tempera, board.
Dimensions: 42 x 33.
The mastery of the great Italian artist was manifested, among other things, in details telling a kind of story. For example, a woman’s red dress is equipped with special cuts for feeding, one of which is sewn up. Apparently, she made the decision that it was time to stop breastfeeding. But one of them is in a hurry to turn around - the stitches and hanging ends of the thread are visible.
9. Madonna in the rocks
Years of writing: 1483 - 1490 and 1495 - 1508.
Where is: The Louvre Museum and the London National Gallery.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 199 x 122 cm
In the world there are two almost identical works of Leonardo with the same name. One of them is in Paris, and the other in London. The first version of da Vinci was ordered for the altar wing, with a clearly defined plot. However, the artist, apparently, considered that his talent and ability give him the right to some liberties. As a result, there were so many of them that customers refused to pay for the work. A long-standing lawsuit began, which, however, ended relatively well. The second version began to hang in the church, and the first disappeared from art radars for about a hundred and a half years, until it was discovered in the treasury of French kings.
Like many other Leonardo paintings, this one is full of encrypted messages. Cyclamen next to Jesus symbolizes love, primrose - virtue, acanthus - the coming resurrection, and St. John's wort - blood shed by Christian martyrs. It was this picture that the author of the acclaimed “Da Vinci Code” tried to use as an illustration of his constructions, where he stated that in fact the meaning of the traditional plot is completely different.
8. Portrait of a musician
Years of writing: 1485 — 1487.
Where is: Ambrosian Library, Milan.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 43 x 31.
The only portrait image of a man among the famous paintings of da Vinci. Initially, art critics believed that the painting depicts the Duke of Milan himself, the patron and friend of Leonardo da Vinci (as far as a person occupying such a public position can generally be someone else). Until it was subsequently discovered that the young man was clutching a scroll in his hands, beginning with the words "angelic song." Therefore, the picture was renamed to "Portrait of a musician." And a number of art critics make a bold assumption that this is Leonardo himself, because music also entered his sphere of interests.
7. Lady with an ermine
Years of writing: 1488 — 1490.
Where is: Czartoryski Museum, Krakow.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 54.8 x 40.3 cm.
Although the authorship of a brilliant Italian artist was sometimes questioned, at the moment, art critics agreed: this is one of the best paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, if not the most perfect from a picturesque point of view. It is believed that the artist, who adored riddles and ciphers, in the image of a white animal in the arms of the model encrypted her name. In Latin, the Kunih family is called gale, and the name of the girl is Cecilia Gallerani.
The snow-white ermine skin (and it is most likely he is depicted in the portrait) is a daring challenge to the somewhat dubious status of a containment of the Duke of Milan. According to popular belief, this animal appreciates its immaculate white fur so much that it is more likely to die than to stain it with dirt.
6. The Last Supper
Years of writing: 1495 — 1498.
Where is: Temple of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
Materials: fresco.
Dimensions: 460 x 880 cm.
One of the most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci is essentially not such. This is a kind of the largest and most unsuccessful experiment of the great Italian scientist. At the end of the 15th century, the Duke of Milan ordered the illustrious artist to paint the monastery wall for an amount equivalent to 700 thousand dollars now.
It was assumed that the artist would, like many before him, paint on raw plaster - after the final polishing, such a painting would be strong and durable. However, the mural imposes its limitations - in addition to the specific manner of applying paints (it is necessary to paint immediately and white, further corrections are impossible), only some pigments are suitable for it. And then their brightness decreases, “eaten up” by a well-absorbing surface.
For Leonardo, who was skeptical of authority, who came to everything on his own and, apparently, was quite proud of this circumstance, such restrictions were unbearable. With a truly Renaissance scale, he decided to reject the legacy of the past and re-process the whole process - from the composition of the plaster to the paints used. The result was predictable. The paint layer of the mural began to decay already two decades after the end of the work. In addition to unsuccessful technical solutions, the picture suffered from time to time.
First, the inhabitants of the monastery decided to saw off Christ's feet by making a door in this place, and then the untalented painters, trying to renew the painting, shamelessly perverted its plot (for example, the hand of one of the apostles turned into ... a loaf). The building was flooded, then a hayloft was built from it, and a bomb hit the temple in World War II. Fortunately, the fresco did not suffer from it. It is not surprising that 20% of the original painting barely reached our time.
It is interesting that it was this crumbling and tinted image from time to time that for many years was the most famous painting by da Vinci - but what is there, the only one available to the ordinary viewer. The rest were all kept by the rich of this world. The status quo changed only with the transfer of Mona Lisa from Napoleon’s bedchamber to the Louvre.
From the remaining two frescoes created by da Vinci, only fragments have survived to this day.
5. Beautiful Ferronier
Years of writing: 1493 — 1497.
Where is: Louvre Museum, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 62 x 44 cm.
An interesting legend is associated with one of the most famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci. When the painting came to France, one of the owners wrote on it - “ferronier”. This mysterious word (like the undoubted beauty of a woman) for many years excited the imagination of people close to art.
The gallant “historian of love”, Guy Breton, who lived in our time, composed a whole story. Allegedly, the unnamed beauty was the mistress of Francis I, and she began to wear her jewelry to hide the bruise received during the night with the king.
Most likely, the painting by Leonardo da Vinci with the name "Beautiful Ferronier" depicts Lucretia Crivelli. She was one of the lovers of the patron of Leonardo, the Duke of Milan. And the name comes from her decoration on her forehead - a ferronier.
4. Girl's head
Years of writing: 1500 — 1505.
Where is: National Gallery, Parma.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 24.6 x 21 cm.
The incomplete image of a young woman with a careless hairstyle (hence the other name of the picture - La Scapigliata, tattered) was painted in a manner similar to other unfinished works - oil paints with a little pigment. Art critics, however, believe that the contrast between barely outlined hair and a perfectly executed face was part of the artist's plans.
Leonardo was probably inspired by an excerpt from the ancient writer Pliny the Elder, popular during the Renaissance. He said that the great artist Apelles intentionally left his last image of Venus Kosskaya unfinished, and that admirers more admired him than his other works.
3. Saint Anna with the Madonna and Child Christ
Years of writing: 1501 — 1517.
Where is: Louvre Museum, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 168 x 112 cm.
The content of this picture is deeply symbolic, Mary sits on the lap of her mother Anna and stretches her hands to the generation of her womb - the baby Christ. The lamb symbolizes meekness and the coming fate of the Savior as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Contemporaries deeply appreciated the liveliness and naturalness of facial expressions of all three participants in the scene - especially the Leonard brand of the mysterious half-smile, with which Anna looks at her daughter and grandson.
2.Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa)
Years of writing: 1502 — 1516.
Where is: Louvre Museum, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 76.8 x 53.
It’s probably hard to find a person on the globe who wouldn’t know the “Mona Lisa”. This is certainly the most famous work of a talented Italian. Many of the mysteries and secrets of this painting by Leonardo da Vinci have not yet been solved:
“Mona Lisa” was of particular importance in the life of the artist - it is no secret that sometimes, fascinated by something new, he reluctantly returned to interrupted work. However, he worked on Gioconda with passion and passion. Why?
It is not clear exactly who is depicted in the portrait. Was it the wife of the merchant del Giocondo? Or the same woman who posed for "Lady with an Ermine"? There is even a version that Salai, one of the artist’s apprenticeships, depicted by him in at least two more paintings, acted as a model for Mona Lisa.
What color was the Gioconda dress originally? Apparently, Leonardo again experimented with paints, and again unsuccessfully, so that nothing was left of the original color of the sleeves. Contemporaries, by the way, admired the magnificent color of the picture.
And finally, the mysterious half-smile - is she smiling at all, or is it just an illusion skillfully created by the artist due to the shadows in the corners of her lips?
1. John the Baptist
Years of writing: 1508 — 1516.
Where is: Louvre Museum, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 69 x 57 cm.
The last picture of the artist, which allegedly depicts Salai, is one of the artist’s apprentices, who for some unknown reason enjoyed Leonardo’s special location. The master forgave the student a lot. Up to the theft of money for a previously purchased cloak in which Salai was draped for Bacchus - a painting that has survived only as a copy. A pampered face, carefully curled curls and a particularly immodest half smile gave rise to well-known doubts about the nature of the relationship between the master and the apprentice.
However, according to the artist’s diaries, it is difficult to understand anything - after accusations of sodomy at a young age, he carefully avoided mentioning his personal life anywhere. By the will, he left his estate and money, by the way, to Leonardo of the same Salai and another of his assistants.
Turin self portrait Leonardo da Vinci
Years of writing: after 1512.
Where is: Royal Library, Turin.
Materials: sanguine, paper.
Dimensions: 33.3 x 21.6 cm.
It is considered a self-portrait of the artist, painted at the age of 60. The portrait was made with a stick for drawing from kaolin and iron oxides, which is why the picture has a yellowish tint. Currently not exhibited due to fragility.
Around the authorship of the popular work, there is still controversy, despite the fact that the hatching goes from left to right, as Leonardo was used to, but some art historians consider it a fake. According to some reports, during an X-ray survey, a painting dated presumably from the 17th century was found under the image of an old man.
The most expensive painting by Leonardo da Vinci in a private collection: Savior of the world
Cost: $400 000 000
Years of writing: 1499 — 1507.
Where is: private collection.
Materials: oil painting on a blackboard.
Dimensions: 66 x 47 cm.
That the author of this picture was precisely Leonardo da Vinci, many art critics doubt. For this reason, she was not on our main list. However, the “Savior of the world”, without a doubt, is one of the most expensive works of art in history.
At Christie’s auction in November 2017, the canvas was sold for an impressive amount of $ 400 million. Now it is stored in the private collection of one of the Saudi princes and, possibly, will be exhibited in the Louvre branch in this country.
