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Who is the Mona Lisa in the Louvre?
January 2, 2014As we argued at the very beginning, the purpose of the Mona Lisa Myth book is to dispel the extensivePosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
The Earlier Version of the Mona Lisa
December 26, 2013In previous blog posts, we discussed Leonardo’s revolutionary approach to portraiture, which emphasized the soul of the sitter. We now arrive atPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
The Differences between the two Mona Lisas
December 24, 2013A British art connoisseur, known primarily for his interest in Old Masters and modern French art, had stumbled onPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
Why is the Mona Lisa called the Mona Lisa?
December 19, 2013As Vasari puts it: “Leonardo undertook to execute, for Francesco del Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife.”Posted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
How did the painting of the Mona Lisa come about?
December 17, 2013Lisa was everything a man could want in a wife. She soon became pregnant and in early 1496 gavePosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
The marriage of the real Mona Lisa and her husband was a love story
December 12, 2013The suggestion that the silk merchant was deeply in love with his wife—not an inevitable outcome, in an age whenPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
Who was the real woman behind the Mona Lisa?
December 10, 2013Unlike Leonardo’s other sitters, the Mona Lisa (or La Gioconde as she is known in France) was neither a Duke’sPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
Why Leonardo painted not one, but two Mona Lisa portraits
December 9, 2013As we saw, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci remains a mystery—the source of a growing mythology that continuesPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
Who is La belle Ferronière?
December 2, 2013Duke Ludovico Sforza chose not to marry Cecilia Gallerani, the presumed subject Leonardo’s “Lady with an Ermine.” He instead weddedPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
Who is the Mysterious Lady with an Ermine?
November 25, 2013Another truly enigmatic painting is the so-called portrait of a Lady with an Ermine, currently in Krakow, Poland. Of all thePosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
Who is Ginevra de’ Benci?
November 11, 2013Ginevra de’ Benci (1473-1536) was the wife of Luigi di Bernardo Niccolini. We believe she sat for a portrait byPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth -
The Mystery of the Mona Lisa
November 4, 2013Who is the Mona Lisa? Who is the lady who so placidly gazes at us through the protective glassPosted In: The Mona Lisa Myth
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Machiavelli
December 20, 2013Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469-1527), statesman and author, who together with Leonardo traveled in Cesare Borgia’s entourage in 1503Posted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti
December 18, 2013Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti (1475-1564), Florentine sculptor, painter and architect, and Leonardo’s principal rival. At 13, he joined the workshopPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli
December 16, 2013Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (1445-1517), Italian mathematician, teacher and Franciscan friar who was a friend and collaborator of Leonardo’s fromPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Francesco Melzi
December 11, 2013Francesco Melzi, (1491-1570), son of a Milanese nobleman, joined Leonardo as a pupil in 1507. He eventually became an accomplishedPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
“Salai”
December 7, 2013Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed “Salai” (1480-1524), was apprentice and close companion to Leonardo from 1490 until 1516.Posted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Andrea del Verrocchio
December 6, 2013Andrea del Verrocchio (c.1435-1488), painter, sculptor and goldsmith who apprenticed pupils including Leonardo da Vinci in his workshop, whichPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Lisa Gherardini
December 4, 2013Lisa Gherardini (1479-1542), second wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo and the original subject of Leonardo’sPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Lucrezia Crivelli
December 3, 2013Lucrezia Crivelli, (1452-1508), lady-in-waiting to Ludovico Sforza's wife, Beatrice d' Este, who in 1495 succeeded Cecilia Gallerani as thePosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Cecilia Gallerani
November 29, 2013Cecilia Gallerani (1473-1536), one of Ludovico Sforza’s mistresses, believed to be the subject of Leonardo’s painting Lady with anPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Ginevra de’ Benci
November 27, 2013Ginevra de’ Benci (1473-1536), wife of Luigi di Bernardo Niccolini, who sat for a portrait by Leonardo in 1474. ThePosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
François I
November 25, 2013] François I was king of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. Leonardo was present at the peacePosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici
November 22, 2013Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici was one of the sons of Lorenzo de’ Medici, “The Magnificent”, and brother ofPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici
November 20, 2013Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici was one of the sons of Lorenzo de’ Medici, “The Magnificent”, and brother ofPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Cesare Borgia
November 18, 2013Cesare Borgia, made famous by the “Borgias” TV series, was the illegitimate son of the Spanish Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia,Posted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Ludovico “Il Moro” Sforza
November 15, 2013Ludovico “Il Moro” Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1494-1499, and along with his wife Beatrice d’ Este spentPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Francesco da Vinci
November 14, 2013Francesco da Vinci was Leonardo’s paternal uncle, who lived in the family’s farmhouse in Vinci and is thought to havePosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Caterina
November 12, 2013Caterina was Leonardo’s mother. Shortly after Leonardo was born in 1452, she married a lime burner named Antonio di PieroPosted In: Artists & Collaborators -
Ser Piero da Vinci
November 8, 2013SER PIERO DA VINCI was Leonardo’s father, a successful, middle-class legal notary to merchant families in Florence. He did notPosted In: Artists & Collaborators
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Leda and the Swan (after Leonardo)
December 20, 2013The true genesis of both the Leda and the Saint Anne lies in Leonardo’s fascination with the enigma of humanPosted In: Paintings -
The Trinity of Saint Anne
December 19, 2013Leonardo’s meditation on the mystery of motherhood would become the principal theme of his art in the last 10 yearsPosted In: Paintings -
Anatomical study of a woman
December 17, 2013Leonardo would produce some two hundred detailed anatomical studies, based on the autopsies of some thirty cadavers. All but aPosted In: Paintings -
Isleworth Mona Lisa (Geneva), detail of the dress
December 14, 2013“He wasted a lot of time drawing knots of cords in an intricate pattern, in such a way that thePosted In: Paintings -
Isleworth Mona Lisa (Geneva)
December 13, 2013Given the obvious care with which Leonardo depicted them, do the hands carry an allegorical meaning? Are they placed inPosted In: Paintings -
Vitruvian Man, ca. 1490
December 9, 2013Leonardo was firmly convinced, like Pacioli and ancient authors before him, that nature corresponds to a fundamental set of laws,Posted In: Paintings -
Lady with an Ermine
December 5, 2013Leonardo’s portraiture is marked by a truly revolutionary work, the portrait of a Lady with an Ermine. Of Leonardo’s keyPosted In: Paintings -
The Ginevra portrait
November 29, 2013The Ginevra portrait is Leonardo’s first serious attempt to solve the essential problem of portraiture: how to capture the character,Posted In: Paintings -
Masaccio, The Tribute Money
November 28, 2013Despite his tragically short career—he died in 1428 at age 27— Masaccio would have a lasting influence on Michelangelo’s SistinePosted In: Paintings -
Portrait of Isabella d’Este
November 26, 2013Even as the century progressed, the profile portrait remained the preferred format among the upper classes because of its obviousPosted In: Paintings -
Study of defensive armament
November 21, 2013For some of us, that may come as a shock that Leonardo designed weapons. By our 21st century standards, it’sPosted In: Paintings -
The Lansdowne Madonna
November 19, 2013Madonna of the Yarnwinder, also known as The Lansdowne Madonnam is probably a painting by one of Leonardo’s more giftedPosted In: Paintings -
Madonna of the Carnation
November 16, 2013In 1481, Leonardo received his first “big” commission, the one that had the potential of cementing his reputation as onePosted In: Paintings -
School of Verrocchio, Lorenzo de Medici
November 13, 2013To be a successful artist in the 1470’s meant having a connection to the private circle of Lorenzo de’ Medici,Posted In: Paintings