Leonardo da Vinci Famous Paintings and Painters from around the world Leonardo da Vinci Famous Paintings and Painters from around the world Leonardo da Vinci born 1452, Vinci, Florence died May 2, 1519, Cloux, France

[ Paul Cezanne ] [ John Constable ] [ Leonardo da Vinci ] [ Henri Matisse ] [ Michelangelo ] [ Raphael ] [ William Turner ] [ Vincent van Gogh ] [ William Blake ] [ Main Index ] Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495-97) and Mona Lisa (1503-06) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance. His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of his time. There has never been an artist who was more fittingly, and without qualification, described as a genius. Like Shakespeare, Leonardo came from an insignificant background and rose to universal acclaim. Leonardo was the illegitimate son of a local lawyer in the small town of Vinci in the Tuscan region. His father acknowledged him and paid for his training, but we may wonder whether the strangely self-sufficient tone of Leonardo's mind was not perhaps affected by his early ambiguity of status. The definitive polymath, he had almost too many gifts, including superlative male beauty, a splendid singing voice, magnificent physique, mathematical excellence, scientific daring... the list is endless.   The Last Supper   Ginevra de' Benci       Lady with an Ermine   Madonna Litta The Mona Lisa - La Gioconda Portrait of Mona Lisa also known as La Gioconda, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, hangs in the Musee du Louvre, Paris. This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a visionary, mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo's sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa's enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal fame. Reams have been written about this small masterpiece by Leonardo, and the gentle woman who is its subject has been adapted in turn as an aesthetic, philosophical and advertising symbol, entering eventually into the irreverent parodies of the Dada and Surrealist artists. The history of the panel has been much discussed, although it remains in part uncertain. According to Vasari, the subject is a young Florentine woman, Monna (or Mona) Lisa, who in 1495 married the well-known figure, Francesco del Giocondo, and thus came to be known as ``La Gioconda''. The work should probably be dated during Leonardo's second Florentine period, that is between 1503 and 1505. Leonardo himself loved the portrait, so much so that he always carried it with him until eventually in France it was sold to François I, either by Leonardo or by Melzi. The following Leonardo Da Vinci Fine Art Prints are available to buy, framing service is available. Please click on the image for more infomation. Study of the Proportions of the Human Leonardo da Vinci Virgin and Child with St. Anne Leonardo da Vinci St. Anne Leonardo da Vinci Last Supper Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa (La Gioconda), 1503-1506 Leonardo da Vinci Giant Catapult Leonardo da Vinci Portrait of Ginevra deBenci. c.1478-1480 Leonardo da Vinci Bread and Wine Leonardo da Vinci The Annunciation. c. 1472-1475 Leonardo da Vinci Studi Per Un Monumento Equestre Leonardo da Vinci Portrait of Isabella Deste Leonardo da Vinci Renaissance IV Leonardo da Vinci [ Paul Cezanne ] [ John Constable ] [ Leonardo da Vinci ] [ Henri Matisse ] [ Michelangelo ] [ Raphael ] [ William Turner ] [ Vincent van Gogh ] [ William Blake ] [ Main Index ] Compiled by Steve Dawson for fun!