Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo

Florentine, 1452 - 1519

Explore Selected Works

See all 31 works of art
""

Trattato Della Pittvra Di Lionardo Da Vinci, Nouamente dato In Luce, Con la Vita dell'istesso autore, scritta Da Rafaelle Dv Fresne. Si sono giunti i tre libri della pittura, e il trattato della statua di Leon Battista Alberti, con la vita del medesimo

Leonardo da Vinci · published 1651 · 1 vol: ill: ·  Accession ID  1985.61.2498

Leonardo da Vinci, Grotesque Head of an Old Woman, 1489/1490, pen and brown ink on laid paper; laid down, Gift of Dian Woodner, 2022.84.1

Grotesque Head of an Old Woman

Leonardo da Vinci · 1489/1490 · pen and brown ink on laid paper; laid down ·  Accession ID  2022.84.1

This square portrait shows the head and shoulders of a young woman in front of a spiky bush that fills much of the background except for a landscape view that extends into the deep distance to our right. The woman's body is angled to our right but her face turns to us. She has chalk-white, smooth skin with heavily lidded, light brown eyes, and her pale pink lips are closed. Pale blush highlights her cheeks, and she looks either at us or very slightly away from our eyes. Her brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back, but tight, lively curls frame her face. Her hair turns gold where the light shines on it. She wears a brown dress, trimmed along the square neckline with gold. The front of the bodice is tied with a blue ribbon, and the lacing holes are also edged with gold. A sheer white veil covers her chest and is pinned at the center with a small gold ball. The bush fills the space around her head with copper-brown, spiky leaves. A river winds between trees and rolling hills in the distance to our right. Trees and a town along the horizon, which comes about halfway up the painting, is pale blue under an ice-blue sky.
Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.a

Ginevra de' Benci [obverse]

Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1474/1478 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1967.6.1.a

A laurel branch to the left and a palm branch to the right, both in muted green tones, curve toward each other, crossing near the top to frame a sprig of spiky juniper in this square painting. A scroll with the Latin words “VIRTVUTEM FORMA DECORAT” weaves around and across the circle made by the branches near the bottom of the composition. The laurel has slightly serrated, oblong leaves that come to a point at either end. The palm has closely packed, narrow leaves that flare out like a feather to our right. The laurel, palm, and delicate twig of juniper are cut off near the bottom edge, where there is an area of flat brown that rises like a mound at the middle and tapers to each side. The rest of the background is dark brown speckled with rose pink, and a crimson-red, round seal is pressed into the top right corner.
Leonardo da Vinci, Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], c. 1474/1478, tempera on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.b

Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse]

Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1474/1478 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1967.6.1.b

Five sketches in brown ink are spaced around a vertically oriented sheet of paper. In the top left quadrant, a bearded man faces our right in profile. He has short, curly hair, a deeply lined face, a pronounced underbite, and the tip of his long nose points down. Two independent, wrinkle-lined eyes are sketched in the top right quadrant of the page. Below are two drawings of women with their shoulders angled away from us to the right. Near the bottom left and smaller in scale, a woman looks over her shoulder at us with a slight smile on her lips. In the bottom right quadrant, a woman with her hair pulled back under a snood looks to our right in profile with her chin tipped up. The neckline of both women’s bodices dip across the shoulder blades in the back. The paper is speckled with faint brown stains and spots.
Leonardo da Vinci, Sheet of Studies [recto], probably 1470/1480, pen and brown ink over leadpoint with blind stylus on laid paper, The Armand Hammer Collection, 1991.217.2.a

Sheet of Studies [recto]

Leonardo da Vinci · probably 1470/1480 · pen and brown ink over leadpoint with blind stylus on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1991.217.2.a

A woman wearing a mantle, which drapes over her head and shoulders, and holding her hands together in prayer is lightly sketched in black chalk in this vertical drawing. Her body is angled to our left. Her head tips in that direction, and she looks off into the distance. Forms to the left of the woman are studies of a man’s torso and a muscular leg. The sketches are all faintly drawn on paper that now has some brown speckling.
Leonardo da Vinci, Study of a Madonna [verso], probably 1470/1480, black chalk on laid paper, The Armand Hammer Collection, 1991.217.2.b

Study of a Madonna [verso]

Leonardo da Vinci · probably 1470/1480 · black chalk on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1991.217.2.b

British 19th Century, The Last Supper, probably 19th century, etching, Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.1727

The Last Supper

British 19th Century · probably 19th century · etching ·  Accession ID  1980.45.1727

Raphael Morghen, The Last Supper, 1800, engraving, Gift of David Alan Brown, 2022.150.5

The Last Supper

Raphael Morghen · 1800 · engraving ·  Accession ID  2022.150.5

""

[Choix des meilleures statues antiques]

Angelo Campanella, Antonio Capellan, Giovanni Volpato, Domenico Cunego, Camillo Tinti, Francois Joseph Lonsing, Giuseppe Sforza Perini, Francesco Piranesi · published 1780/1792 and 1793 · 2 books bound in 1 vol: part 1: ill: 40 etching and engravings (4 double-page, rest full-page, versos blank) all by Francesco Piranesi with 19 after Tommaso Piroli, 14 after Ludovico Carazzari, 3 after Bernardino Nocchi, 2 after Lorenzo Rocchegiani, 1after after Baptiste Gagneraux; part 2: ill: 40 etching and engraving (including title page, all full-page versos blank) after paintings by various artists with 21 by Domenico Cunego, 8 by Giovanni Volpato, 4 by Antonio Capellani, 3 by Camillo Tinti, 1by Angelo Campanello, 1 by François Lonsing, 1 by Joseph Perini ·  Accession ID  1985.61.2615

Gerard Edelinck, The Fight for the Standard, 1657/1666, engraving on laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 2003.129.1

The Fight for the Standard

Gerard Edelinck · 1657/1666 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2003.129.1

Bibliography

1878

  • Vasari, Giorgio. Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architetti. Edited by Gaetano Milanesi. 9 vols. Florence, 1878-1885: 4(1879):17-53, commentary 54-90.

1988

  • Clark, Kenneth. Leonardo da Vinci. An Account of His Development as an Artist. Cambridge, 1939. Rev. ed., Intro. by Martin Kemp, London, 1988.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 357.