Top Twenty Artworks 12 Leonardo

 Leonardo da Vinci

Virgin and Child with Ss Anne and John the Baptist

1499-1500,  National Gallery, London

I've visited this picture many times over the years. It never diminishes with over-viewing. There must have been generations of artists who have stood in front of this drawing and asked themselves 'How does he do it?'

The subtlety and precision of his draughtsmanship is startling. And yet the image is so calm. The craftsmanship seemingly so effortless. 

The Virgin Mary sits on the lap of her mother, Saint Anne. The Christ Child blesses his cousin Saint John the Baptist (the child on the right). Leonardo also treated the meeting of the two children in his two paintings of the Virgin of the Rocks. Both works are set in a wild mountainous landscape. 

Saint Anne’s gesture, her finger pointing to heaven, alludes to Christ’s future destiny. Since she does not look very old and seems intimately related to Saint John the Baptist, many scholars have proposed that she is Saint Elizabeth, the Baptist’s mother. 

However, there is no tradition of placing the Virgin upon Elizabeth’s lap, whereas Saint Anne was often represented in this way. 

This large drawing is a cartoon, that is, a full-size preparatory study for a painting. Usually, in order to transfer a design onto a panel, the outlines of cartoons were pricked or incised. This example is intact. It must have been preserved in its own right as a finished drawing, although some areas have deliberately been left inconclusive or in rough outline.

Notes from National Gallery

Of course, artworks which are so famous can attract the wrong kind of attention:-

In 1987, the cartoon was attacked in an act of vandalism with a sawn-off shotgun from a distance of approximately seven feet. 

The shooter was identified as a mentally ill man by the name of Robert Cambridge who claimed he committed this act in order to bring attention to "political, social and economic conditions in Britain." 

The blast shattered the glass covering, causing significant damage to the artwork which has since been restored. 

Note from Wikipedia 

But fortunately it was repaired and it's back in it's little darkened room for us all to see.

I suppose in this case we perhaps should cut a little slack for the attacker who was obviously suffering from some kind of metal problem. 

But it is surprising how many works of art have been damaged or destroyed by people with various kinds of malignant motivations over the centuries. I think I'll do a posting on this interesting topic in the near future.

'The Virgin and Child with St. Anne.'

Leonardo da Vinci. Oil Painting. c. 1510, Louvre Museum, Paris.

This of course is the painting for which the Burlington cartoon was made. You can see the similarities instantly, but also notice the many differences on examination.

A long time ago I remember reading the most far-fetched theorising about this painting in a book about Leonardo written by Sigmund Freud.

If I remember correctly Freud proposed that da Vinci had 'passive homosexual' fantasies, and that the evidence was to be found hidden in this painting. Leonardo recounts (in passing, in a scientific treatise), that he remembers as a child a 'vulture' landed on his cot, and brushed it's tail against his lips. Freud interprets this memory in his 'Leonardo had gay fantasies' proposition.


Freud demonstrates his 'proof' for this proposition in the shape of the Virgin's blue garment in the painting, which (if you turn your head sideways and squint your eyes a bit) takes the form (presumably subconsciously depicted by Leonardo) of a vulture(?). 

This 'vulture-form' suggests the flapping of a birds wings(?); which in turn suggests a male member flapping in the mouth(?); therefore signifying fellatio.

Blimey!

(I discussed this whole business of seeing patterns where none exist (e.g., shapes in the clouds, faces in wood grain or voices in white noise) in a previous posting 'Rhythm and Texture').

This theory by Freud seems so thin, so laboured and so convoluted, that I rather think that Freud's chums should have suggested that perhaps he should get out a bit more!

I suppose that we should be grateful that he didn't give us his opinion on St Annes single upwards-pointing finger in the cartoon above!


Ah well.....

             quiz  quiz quiz  quiz  quiz       “details, details............”    quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz          

Any ideas where these colours are from, and who painted them?

(The answer will be in the next posting.)

And here's the answer from the last posting -

'Selfportrait'.  

by Alexej von Jawlensky, 1905.

             quiz  quiz quiz  quiz  quiz       “details, details............”    quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz  quiz          

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." 

George Bernard Shaw

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. . . . and now, a Recommended Read . . . .

The Art Forgers Handbook.

by Eric Hebborn

I remember reading this many years ago and then again a couple of years ago, when I was going to give a talk on forgery. It is a fascinating book for anyone interested in forgery, or indeed in any kind of painting, not only because of the sideways take on the art world as experienced by an active criminal, but also because it demonstrates the immense knowledge of style, materials and techniques that forgers have to acquire to successfully carry out their dodgy careers. Of course Hebborn was successful only for a time, and came to a rather sticky end, - being killed with a blunt instrument in the street, reputedly by the Italian Mafia, (although this is obviously not explored in this book!).

Take note that this is an out of print book (it can be bought from Amazon for £300 or so!), but your local library, assuming that you still have one, will get it for you if you order it.

The international art world was plunged into turmoil when it was revealed in 1980 that many drawings previously attributed to artists as varied as Brueghel, Piranesi, Pontormo, Corot, and Augustus John were in fact the work of the English artist Eric Hebborn (1934-1996). Here, in The Art Forger's Handbook, compiled shortly before his mysterious and untimely death, Hebborn unpacks the secrets of his forging techniques. 64 illustrations.                                                        Amazon Review. 

Published on Overlook Books

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'The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist:

The Burlington House Cartoon'

Leonardo da Vinci. 1452-1519

Charcoal on paper.  1499-1500, National Gallery, London. 

This drawing (or, more precisely, cartoon, - i.e., a full sized preparatory drawing for a painting ) is on public display in it's own darkened room at the National Gallery in London. It is a very large drawing on eight sheets of drawing paper stuck together then attached to a canvas backing. Leonardo drew it in charcoal (with wash?) and some white chalk for highlights.

The Virgin Mary sits on the lap of her mother, Saint Anne. The Christ Child blesses his cousin Saint John the Baptist (the child on the right). Leonardo also treated the meeting of the two children in his two paintings of the Virgin of the Rocks. Both works are set in a wild mountainous landscape.

Saint Anne’s gesture, her finger pointing to heaven, alludes to Christ’s future destiny. Since she does not look very old and seems intimately related to Saint John the Baptist, many scholars have proposed that she is Saint Elizabeth, the Baptist’s mother. However, there is no tradition of placing the Virgin upon Elizabeth’s lap, whereas Saint Anne was often represented in this way.

(text from the National Gallery).

It is a drawing that I have visited many times, and like all great work, it's impact never diminishes. I wonder how many thousands of artists have stood in front of this and thought 'how the hell can I possibly do something this good?' 

It is beautifully modelled and is clear and precise where it needs to be, yet overall it has energy and a wonderful sense of mystery. Some parts have not been completed. 

It is thought it could have been the cartoon for the Paris 'Virgin and Child with St Anne', although it has not been 'pricked' (part of the process for transferring the image to the painting) so it is known that it was not actually used.

It also has an interesting history:

The Cartoon was damaged in July 1987 by a man who entered the gallery with a shotgun concealed under his coat. The man, Robert Cambridge, told the police his intent had been to show his disgust with ''political, social and economic conditions in Britain.'' Mr. Cambridge is now in an institution for the criminally ill.

The pellets did not penetrate the Cartoon. But the blast pulverized a section of protective laminated glass, tearing a hole about six inches in diameter on the Virgin's robe.

Martin Wyld, the gallery's chief restorer, said in an interview that as a result of the restoration work, only about one square centimeter of the drawing, which measures nearly 5 feet high by 3 1/2 feet wide, had been lost. Glass Fragments Removed

Mr. Wyld said glass fragments and loose bits of paper had had to be removed from the surface of the Cartoon, which consists of eight sheets of linen rag paper pasted together in overlapping joints. The creamy white paper is coated in a pinkish brown color and the drawing itself is in charcoal heightened with white chalk.

''Some of the fragments were only being held on by dust,'' Mr. Wyld said. ''They had to be removed to get the powdered glass from underneath. We picked up other loose bits of paper which had become detached, took out the largest fragments of broken glass that were trapped in partly loosened Cartoon paper and spent some months talking about how to restore it.''

New York Times.

This poor chap was obviously in some mental difficulties, so maybe we shouldn't judge him too harshly. 

But it prompts me to think that there must be a book waiting for someone to write about the destruction of works of art across the centuries by different people and for different reasons.