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150-534: The Isleworth Mona Lisa is an early 16th-century oil on canvas painting depicting the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa , though with the subject ( Lisa del Giocondo ) depicted as being a younger age. The painting is thought to have been brought from Italy to England in the 1780s, and came into public view in 1913 when the English connoisseur Hugh Blaker acquired it from a manor house in Somerset , where it

300-533: A binocular visual perspective , rather than the traditional monocular perspective. British fine arts consultant Archibald Cecil Chappelow of the Royal Society of Arts , wrote in 1956 that "the face is superbly painted, and the hands more neatly defined than those in the Louvre painting". Asmus specifically asserted that "portions of the hands in the Louvre painting have been criticized as being 'fat and ugly'", while "it

450-455: A kite came to his cradle and opened his mouth with its tail; commentators still debate whether the anecdote was an actual memory or a fantasy. In the mid-1460s, Leonardo's family moved to Florence, which at the time was the centre of Christian Humanist thought and culture. Around the age of 14, he became a garzone (studio boy) in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio , who was the leading Florentine painter and sculptor of his time. This

600-457: A commission from the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. It is a complex composition, of about 250 x 250 centimetres. Leonardo did numerous drawings and preparatory studies, including a detailed one in linear perspective of the ruined classical architecture that forms part of the background. In 1482 Leonardo went to Milan at the behest of Lorenzo de' Medici in order to win favour with Ludovico il Moro, and

750-483: A consensus as to authenticity at that time. In 1936, the work was shown in Leicester, where it was seen by Henry F. Pulitzer, who was immediately struck by it. After Blaker's death later in 1936, the painting was passed to his sister, Jane, who died in 1947, which left the painting's whereabouts unknown for a time. Pulitzer acquired the painting in 1962, and thereafter took the attribution further than Eyre, claiming that it

900-599: A finger in her bible to mark the place and raises her hand in a formal gesture of greeting or surprise. This calm young woman appears to accept her role as the Mother of God , not with resignation but with confidence. In this painting, the young Leonardo presents the humanist face of the Virgin Mary, recognising humanity's role in God's incarnation. In the 1480s, Leonardo received two very important commissions and commenced another work that

1050-524: A fur-lined cloak. On 12 August 1519, Leonardo's remains were interred in the Collegiate Church of Saint Florentin at the Château d'Amboise. Some 20 years after Leonardo's death, Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he

1200-454: A hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined." Leonardo, instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso , resulting in a surface subject to mould and to flaking. Despite this, the painting remains one of the most reproduced works of art; countless copies have been made in various mediums. Toward the end of this period, in 1498 Leonardo's trompe-l'œil decoration of

1350-661: A letter which described the diverse things that he could achieve in the fields of engineering and weapon design, and mentioned that he could paint. He brought with him a silver string instrument – either a lute or lyre  – in the form of a horse's head. With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to know the older Humanist philosophers of whom Marsiglio Ficino , proponent of Neoplatonism ; Cristoforo Landino , writer of commentaries on Classical writings, and John Argyropoulos , teacher of Greek and translator of Aristotle were

1500-458: A letter that "two of Leonardo's pupils were painting portraits which he occasionally worked upon himself", suggested as possibly referring to versions of the Mona Lisa . Kemp notes difficulties in confirming the dates with certainty. In addition, many Leonardo experts, such as Carlo Pedretti and Alessandro Vezzosi , are of the opinion that the Louvre painting is characteristic of Leonardo's style in

1650-631: A local oral tradition recorded by the historian Emanuele Repetti , is that he was born in Anchiano , a country hamlet that would have offered sufficient privacy for the illegitimate birth, though it is still possible he was born in a house in Florence that Ser Piero almost certainly had. Leonardo's parents both married separately the year after his birth. Caterina – who later appears in Leonardo's notes as only "Caterina" or "Catelina" –

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1800-528: A painter, he has also become known for his notebooks , in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and palaeontology . Leonardo is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works comprise a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary Michelangelo . Born out of wedlock to

1950-576: A painting commission of unknown subject matter, but cancelled it when the artist set about developing a new kind of varnish . Leonardo became ill, in what may have been the first of multiple strokes leading to his death. He practised botany in the Vatican Gardens , and was commissioned to make plans for the Pope's proposed draining of the Pontine Marshes . He also dissected cadavers , making notes for

2100-456: A posthumous inventory of his belongings; it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait. Despite the thousands of pages Leonardo left in notebooks and manuscripts, he scarcely made reference to his personal life. Within Leonardo's lifetime, his extraordinary powers of invention, his "great physical beauty" and "infinite grace," as described by Vasari , as well as all other aspects of his life, attracted

2250-723: A priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament . Vasari also records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story may be legend rather than fact. In accordance with his will, sixty beggars carrying tapers followed Leonardo's casket. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving, as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo's other long-time pupil and companion, Salaì, and his servant Baptista de Vilanis, each received half of Leonardo's vineyards . His brothers received land, and his serving woman received

2400-410: A rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a lily. Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now generally attributed to Leonardo. In the smaller painting, Mary averts her eyes and folds her hands in a gesture that symbolised submission to God's will. Mary is not submissive, however, in the larger piece. The girl, interrupted in her reading by this unexpected messenger, puts

2550-632: A rocky landscape rather than architectural details. The painting was eventually finished; in fact, two versions of the painting were finished: one remained at the chapel of the Confraternity, while Leonardo took the other to France. The Brothers did not get their painting, however, nor the de Predis their payment, until the next century. Leonardo's most remarkable portrait of this period is the Lady with an Ermine , presumed to be Cecilia Gallerani ( c.  1483–1490 ), lover of Ludovico Sforza. The painting

2700-475: A single, very long yarn wound in a spiral pattern around a pair of sticks or beams. The warp must be strong to be held under high tension during the weaving process, unlike the weft which carries almost no tension. This requires the yarn used for warp ends, or individual warp threads, to be made of spun and plied fibre . Traditionally natural fibres such as wool , linen , alpaca , and silk were used. However, improvements in spinning technology during

2850-484: A successful career. Despite his family history, Leonardo only received a basic and informal education in (vernacular) writing, reading, and mathematics; possibly because his artistic talents were recognised early, so his family decided to focus their attention there. Later in life, Leonardo recorded his earliest memory, now in the Codex Atlanticus . While writing on the flight of birds, he recalled as an infant when

3000-603: A successful notary and a lower-class woman in, or near, Vinci , he was educated in Florence by the Italian painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio . He began his career in the city, but then spent much time in the service of Ludovico Sforza in Milan. Later, he worked in Florence and Milan again, as well as briefly in Rome , all while attracting a large following of imitators and students. Upon

3150-582: A time when oil painting on canvas was quickly coming into vogue there, "being lighter and more manageable. Mounted on a stretcher it offered the brush a more congenial ground; being softer and more flexible, it offered textural and gestural possibilities..." While in Venice, Leonardo may have been in contact with Giorgione , who was himself painting a significant work on canvas, The Judgement of Solomon , which in turn appears to be stylistically influenced by Leonardo. In 2023, The Isleworth Mona Lisa went on display at

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3300-450: A time. This was beyond the comprehension of the prior of the convent, who hounded him until Leonardo asked Ludovico to intervene. Vasari describes how Leonardo, troubled over his ability to adequately depict the faces of Christ and the traitor Judas , told the duke that he might be obliged to use the prior as his model. The painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterisation, but it deteriorated rapidly, so that within

3450-406: A town plan of Imola in order to win his patronage. Upon seeing it, Cesare hired Leonardo as his chief military engineer and architect. Later in the year, Leonardo produced another map for his patron, one of Chiana Valley , Tuscany, so as to give his patron a better overlay of the land and greater strategic position. He created this map in conjunction with his other project of constructing a dam from

3600-504: A treatise on vocal cords ; these he gave to an official in hopes of regaining the Pope's favour, but he was unsuccessful. In October 1515, King Francis I of France recaptured Milan. On 21 March 1516 Antonio Maria Pallavicini, the French ambassador to the Holy See , received a letter sent from Lyon a week previously by the royal advisor Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet , containing

3750-406: A type of armoured fighting vehicle , concentrated solar power, a ratio machine that could be used in an adding machine , and the double hull . Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime, as the modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the Renaissance . Some of his smaller inventions, however, entered

3900-401: A very young man: a local peasant made himself a round buckler shield and requested that Ser Piero have it painted for him. Leonardo, inspired by the story of Medusa , responded with a painting of a monster spitting fire that was so terrifying that his father bought a different shield to give to the peasant and sold Leonardo's to a Florentine art dealer for 100 ducats , who in turn sold it to

4050-479: Is anatomically impossible—a blemish which is absent in the newly discovered version, while the line of the jaw is not cut in so suddenly against the chin. ... the whole picture is unbelievably beautiful. French artist Albert Sauteur suggested in 2014 that differences between the paintings were accounted for not only by the model having aged, but that the narrower face and closer eyes in the Louvre painting could be accounted for by Leonardo experimenting with painting from

4200-456: Is characterised by the pose of the figure with the head turned at a very different angle to the torso, unusual at a date when many portraits were still rigidly in profile. The ermine plainly carries symbolic meaning, relating either to the sitter, or to Ludovico who belonged to the prestigious Order of the Ermine . Leonardo's most famous painting of the 1490s is The Last Supper , commissioned for

4350-484: Is intriguing to note that the Isleworth thumb is more slender and closer to what would be expected from Leonardo". Asmus notes that this may be the result of inept repair work later on. Konody further stated of the painting that "[t]he hands, with their careful and somewhat hard drawing and terra cotta coloring, suggest at once the name of Leonardo's pupil, Marco d' Oggionno ; whereas the inimitably soft and lovely painting of

4500-507: Is often credited as the founder of the High Renaissance. Despite having many lost works and fewer than 25 attributed major works  – including numerous unfinished works  – he created some of the most influential paintings in the Western canon . The Mona Lisa is his best known work and is the world's most famous individual painting. The Last Supper is

4650-530: Is speculation that since one of the accused, Lionardo de Tornabuoni, was related to Lorenzo de' Medici, the family exerted its influence to secure the dismissal. Since that date much has been written about his presumed homosexuality and its role in his art, particularly in the androgyny and eroticism manifested in Saint John the Baptist and Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings. Despite

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4800-430: Is the only extant example of Leonardo's sculpture. Leonardo was otherwise free to pursue his scientific interests. Many of Leonardo's most prominent pupils either knew or worked with him in Milan, including Bernardino Luini , Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio , and Marco d'Oggiono . In 1507, Leonardo was in Florence sorting out a dispute with his brothers over the estate of his father, who had died in 1504. By 1508, Leonardo

4950-566: Is usually identified as the Caterina Buti del Vacca, who married the local artisan Antonio di Piero Buti del Vacca, nicknamed L'Accattabriga , 'the quarrelsome one'. Ser Piero married Albiera Amadori – having been betrothed to her the previous year – and after her death in 1464, went on to have three subsequent marriages. From all the marriages, Leonardo eventually had 16 half-siblings (of whom 11 survived infancy) who were much younger than he (the last

5100-612: The Benois Madonna was originally painted on wood and then transferred to canvas . Besides the Benois Madonna , the only other generally accepted Leonardo paintings that use canvas, the Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre version) and The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (The Lansdowne Madonna), were also transferred from wood panels. It has also been noted, however, that Leonardo visited Venice in 1500, at

5250-572: The Duke of Milan . By 1472, at the age of 20, Leonardo qualified as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke , the guild of artists and doctors of medicine, but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate and live with him. Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a 1473 pen-and-ink drawing of the Arno valley (see below). According to Vasari,

5400-645: The Industrial Revolution created cotton yarn of sufficient strength to be used in mechanized weaving. Later, synthetic fibres such as nylon or rayon were employed. While most weaving is weft-faced, warp-faced textiles are created using densely arranged warp threads. In these the design is in the warp, requiring all colors to be decided upon and placed during the first part of the weaving process, which cannot be changed. Such limitations of color placement create weavings defined by length-wise stripes and vertical designs. Many South American cultures, including

5550-588: The Isleworth Mona Lisa being begun in 1503 and left unfinished, and the Louvre Mona Lisa being begun after 1513. Specifically, it is believed by some that Leonardo da Vinci had begun working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo , the model of the Mona Lisa , in Florence by October 1503. Although the Louvre states that it was "doubtless painted between 1503 and 1506", Eugène Müntz is known to have reported that by 1501 Fra. Pietro de Nuvolaria had written in

5700-405: The Isleworth Mona Lisa is differentiated by the model being noticeably younger, having columns, and being painted on canvas. The canvas is of hand-woven linen cloth, characterized by "simple 'tabby' weaves with an average count of 18 threads per cm in the warp and 16 threads per cm in the weft , that cross one another regularly, with some variation in thickness. The result is a deformation in which

5850-684: The Isleworth Mona Lisa was painted during Leonardo's lifetime and in his studio, the question being whether Leonardo himself painted any substantial portion of the painting. A number of arguments have been made for and against this proposition. Sources have suggested that Leonardo occasionally worked on paintings being prepared by others in his studio, for example in Fra. Pietro de Nuvolaria's 1501 letter stating that "two of Leonardo's pupils were painting portraits which he occasionally worked upon himself", and Isaacson's assertion that students painting in Leonardo's studio may have received "an occasional helping hand from

6000-472: The Mona Lisa (because of the uncertainty concerning its dating and commissioner, as well as its fate following Leonardo's death in 1519, and the difference of details in Raphael's sketch—which may reflect that he made the sketch from memory). Experts universally agree that Raphael's pen-and-ink sketch, in which the columns flanking the subject are more apparent, is based on Leonardo's portrait. Other later copies of

6150-408: The Mona Lisa . In 1914, art critic Paul George Konody criticized early reports of the painting, which contained errors that he believed caused skepticism about the painting to become "hostile incredulity", but Konody nonetheless found that the painting was clearly "very largely worked up by the master himself". Konody also found the painting to have features "far more pleasing and beautiful than in

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6300-483: The Mona Lisa and the Gioconda ' ". The hypothetical first portrait, displaying prominent columns, would have been commissioned by Giocondo circa 1503, and left unfinished in Leonardo's pupil and assistant Salaì's possession until his death in 1524. The second, commissioned by Giuliano de' Medici circa 1513, would have been sold by Salaì to Francis I in 1518 and is the one in the Louvre today. Those who believe that there

6450-510: The Mona Lisa was executed for Giuliano de' Medici , Leonardo's patron at the Belvedere Palace between 1513 and 1516—though this has been suspected an error. According to Vasari, the painting was created for the model's husband, Francesco del Giocondo. It has been asserted that Leonardo "almost invariably commenced two versions of each of his works, which he rarely finished". A number of experts have argued that Leonardo made two versions of

6600-507: The Mona Lisa , such as those in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and The Walters Art Museum , also display large flanking columns. As a result, it was thought that the Mona Lisa had been trimmed. However, by 1993, Frank Zöllner observed that the painting surface had never been trimmed; this was confirmed through a series of tests in 2004. In view of this, Vincent Delieuvin , curator of 16th-century Italian painting at

6750-557: The Mona Lisa , the Last Supper , and the Virgin of the Rocks . Leonardo first gained attention for his work on the Baptism of Christ , painted in conjunction with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at Verrocchio's workshop, both of which are Annunciations . One is small, 59 centimetres (23 in) long and 14 cm (5.5 in) high. It is a " predella " to go at

6900-595: The Promotrice delle Belle Arti in Turin, Italy. The exhibit, titled "The First Mona Lisa," ran through May 26, 2024. Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as

7050-794: The Sala delle Asse was painted for the Duke of Milan in the Castello Sforzesco . In 1505, Leonardo was commissioned to paint The Battle of Anghiari in the Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred) in the Palazzo Vecchio , Florence. Leonardo devised a dynamic composition depicting four men riding raging war horses engaged in a battle for possession of a standard, at the Battle of Anghiari in 1440. Michelangelo

7200-507: The 1490s Leonardo had already been described as a "Divine" painter. Among the qualities that make Leonardo's work unique are his innovative techniques for laying on the paint; his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology; his interest in physiognomy and the way humans register emotion in expression and gesture; his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition; and his use of subtle gradation of tone. All these qualities come together in his most famous painted works,

7350-474: The 16th century that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Walter Isaacson in his biography of Leonardo makes explicit his opinion that the relations with Salaì were intimate and homosexual. Earlier in Leonardo's life, court records of 1476, when he was aged twenty-four, show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with sodomy in an incident involving a known male prostitute. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence, and there

7500-493: The 1780s. After its rediscovery in 1913 this attribution to was again suggested by its owner, Hugh Blaker, who believed it to be by Leonardo. Konody, after his own examination of the painting, wrote in The New York Times that the discovery of the painting had been marred by attendant publicity, stating that "skepticism turns into hostile incredulity, if the discovery is injudiciously exploited by some press agent who sent out

7650-402: The Baptist , a work that won such admiration that "men [and] women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if they were going to a solemn festival." In Cesena in 1502, Leonardo entered the service of Cesare Borgia , the son of Pope Alexander VI , acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron. Leonardo created a map of Cesare Borgia's stronghold,

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7800-489: The Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie . In the spring of 1485, Leonardo travelled to Hungary (on behalf of Sforza) to meet king Matthias Corvinus , and was commissioned by him to paint a Madonna . In 1490 he was called as a consultant, together with Francesco di Giorgio Martini , for the building site of the cathedral of Pavia and

7950-519: The Duke of Milan to paint the Sala delle Asse in the Sforza Castle , c. 1498. The project became a trompe-l'œil decoration that made the great hall appear to be a pergola created by the interwoven limbs of sixteen mulberry trees, whose canopy included an intricate labyrinth of leaves and knots on the ceiling. When Ludovico Sforza was overthrown by France in 1500, Leonardo fled Milan for Venice , accompanied by his assistant Salaì and friend,

8100-405: The French king's instructions to assist Leonardo in his relocation to France and to inform the artist that the King was eagerly awaiting his arrival. Pallavicini was also asked to reassure Leonardo that he would be well received at court, both by the King and by his mother, Louise of Savoy . Leonardo entered Francis's service later that year, and was given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé near

8250-456: The Holy Family on the road to Egypt. The painting demonstrates an eerie beauty as the graceful figures kneel in adoration around the infant Christ in a wild landscape of tumbling rock and whirling water. While the painting is quite large, about 200×120 centimetres , it is not nearly as complex as the painting ordered by the monks of San Donato, having only four figures rather than about fifty and

8400-473: The Isleworth painting". John Eyre reported Adolfo Venturi , in his early 1920s examination, praised "the beauty of the eye drawing... is the principal portion done by Leonardo together with the line of the mouth". A review of the painting in the Deseret News shortly after it was first shown to the public describes its tonality as being darker, and describes the coloring as being in "accordance with almost all

8550-472: The King's residence at the royal Château d'Amboise . He was frequently visited by Francis, and drew plans for an immense castle town the King intended to erect at Romorantin . He also made a mechanical lion, which during a pageant walked towards the King and – upon being struck by a wand – opened its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies. Leonardo was accompanied during this time by his friend and apprentice Francesco Melzi, and

8700-456: The Louvre Mona Lisa . Kemp is particularly critical of the background, finding it monotonous, and the island of trees on the far left and their reflection poorly executed. Konody, however, wrote of the painting, that there "is far more background", and therefore felt that "the spacing is infinitely more pleasing", and that the background was "far less assertive than in the Paris picture". In examining

8850-439: The Louvre version". Art critic Jonathan Jones expressed himself decisively against the attribution of the painting to Leonardo, above all, but not only, in consideration of the features of the face. The Detroit Free Press reported in 1914 that "[t]he hair which falls over the left shoulder is hardly indicated against the left breast, thus differing from the Louvre picture". Cecconi observed that "the locks of hair falling on

9000-415: The Louvre version". A number of Italian experts in the 1920s echoed Konody's assessment of authorship by Leonardo at a time when the painting was more broadly examined. Much later authorities have made varying characterizations of the degree to which the painting can be ascribed to Leonardo; in 2012, The Guardian described the art world as being "split" over the question, and in 2013, Reuters said that it

9150-472: The Louvre, states that the sketch and these other copies must have been inspired by another version, while Zöllner states that the sketch may be after another Leonardo portrait of the same subject. Dianne Hales wrote that painter and art theorist Gian Paolo Lomazzo also seems to identify two versions of the painting: "Lomazzo, a supposed acquaintance of Leonardo's longtime secretary Melzi, wrote that 'the two most beautiful and important portraits by Leonardo are

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9300-569: The PBS television station's series Secrets of the Dead . This documentary investigated, at length, the authenticity of the Isleworth painting. In support of his assertion of authorship, Isbouts pointed to the similarities of the Raphael drawing and the work done by Asmus, as well as confirmation by other examiners that the canvas and paints were the appropriate age, and that the painting exhibited "downward-extending brush strokes from left to right... consistent with

9450-411: The ancient Incas and Aymaras, employed backstrap weaving , which uses the weight of the weaver's body to control the tension of the loom. Because the weft does not have to be stretched on a loom the way the warp is, it can generally be less strong. It is usually made of spun fibre, originally wool , flax and cotton, today often of synthetic fibre such as nylon or rayon. The weft is threaded through

9600-414: The art of combining complex figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. Piero della Francesca had made a detailed study of perspective , and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and Leon Battista Alberti 's treatise De pictura were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks. Much of

9750-421: The art world as being "split" over the question, and in 2013, Reuters reported that it was "dismissed by some experts", but "also won support in the art world". In 2019, an anonymous "distinguished European family" claimed that the painting's former owner had sold them a 25% stake in the painting, but a lawyer speaking for current owners stated that the claim was clearly without merit. It is generally agreed that

9900-631: The artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting, and modelling. Leonardo was a contemporary of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino, who were all slightly older than he was. He would have met them at the workshop of Verrocchio or at the Platonic Academy of the Medici . Florence was ornamented by the works of artists such as Donatello's contemporaries Masaccio , whose figurative frescoes were imbued with realism and emotion, and Ghiberti , whose Gates of Paradise , gleaming with gold leaf , displayed

10050-469: The base of a larger composition, a painting by Lorenzo di Credi from which it has become separated. The other is a much larger work, 217 cm (85 in) long. In both Annunciations, Leonardo used a formal arrangement, like two well-known pictures by Fra Angelico of the same subject, of the Virgin Mary sitting or kneeling to the right of the picture, approached from the left by an angel in profile, with

10200-505: The basic dichotomy of the world we live in, as in, up/down, in/out, black/white, Sun/Moon, yin/yang, etc. The expression is also used similarly for the underlying structure upon which something is built. The terms "warp" and "woof" are also found in some English translations of the Bible in the discussion of mildews found in cloth materials in Leviticus 13:48-59. In computing, a warp is a term for

10350-526: The beginning of 1914, Hungarian-born London art critic and historian Paul George Konody examined the painting, and concluded that, unlike Wilhelm von Bode 's bust of Flora (which Konody had correctly discerned was falsely claimed as Leonardo), the painting was in fact by Leonardo. Konody wrote that the reception of the painting had been marred by "some press agent who sent out the news broadcast, with wrong statements, misquotations, and other blunders galore", but nonetheless found that "though not altogether from

10500-426: The brush strokes of the face in the painting were performed by the same artist responsible for the brush strokes of the face of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, and replicated that finding in a 2016 study. However, curator Luke Syson has argued that science is "only ever one of several factors we'd use to assess the authenticity and authorship of a work of art". An independent 2015 academic journal article also attributed

10650-445: The canvas for painting, but also how to paint on it". Isbouts said that carbon dating of the canvas returned a result "consistent with a 1503-1506 execution date for the painting". Lorusso and Natali indicate that the canvas was prepared with a layer of reddish-brown material, "a combination of red-brown ochre calcite and some grains of quartz", and that this was a technique used by Leonardo in other paintings to give additional warmth to

10800-465: The clothing to be lacking, particularly in the rendering of the veil, while professors Salvatore Lorusso and Andrea Natali of the University of Bologna , examining multiple portraits sharing the theme of the Mona Lisa , write of the Isleworth painting that "additional impressive features are found that can only be attributed to the hand of a great master", including "details in the rendering and design of

10950-523: The curiosity of others. One such aspect was his love for animals, likely including vegetarianism and according to Vasari, a habit of purchasing caged birds and releasing them. Leonardo had many friends who are now notable either in their fields or for their historical significance, including mathematician Luca Pacioli , with whom he collaborated on the book Divina proportione in the 1490s. Leonardo appears to have had no close relationships with women except for his friendship with Cecilia Gallerani and

11100-415: The embroidery on the dress, which suggest a brilliant mind". It is generally agreed that the painting was originally left unfinished, and specifically that the parts of the background other than the columns were a later addition. In Colasanti's evaluation, for example, "[t]he background did not worry him, it was not Leonardo". According to Pulitzer, testing of the paint indicated that the columns were part of

11250-513: The final painting. Isbouts states that testing of the canvas underlying the painting "revealed a detailed underdrawing with revisions", which he asserts are indicative of an original work rather than a copy. The Mona Lisa Foundation also responded to the use of canvas in the Isleworth Mona Lisa , citing the Benois Madonna (which is generally attributed to Leonardo) as a work Leonardo painted on canvas. However, author Jehane Ragai asserted that

11400-474: The final years of his life, post-1513. Other academics argue that, given the historical documentation, Leonardo would have painted the work from 1513. Proponents of the Isleworth point to the account of sixteenth-century biographer Giorgio Vasari , who wrote of the Mona Lisa that "after he had lingered over it four years, [he] left it unfinished". The record of an October 1517 visit by Luigi d'Aragon states that

11550-500: The foreground sprawls his symbol, a great lion whose body and tail make a double spiral across the base of the picture space. The other remarkable feature is the sketchy landscape of craggy rocks against which the figure is silhouetted. The daring display of figure composition, the landscape elements and personal drama also appear in the great unfinished masterpiece, the Adoration of the Magi ,

11700-542: The foremost art experts in Italy after the turn of the century", including Lorenzo Cecconi , Arduino Colasanti , and Adolfo Venturi , and those experts generally "agreed the painting probably was done in Da Vinci's studio, by his students, if not by himself". According to journalist Dianne Hales, however the attributions based on connoisseurship evaluating sections of the painting such as face, hair, hands, and background failed to win

11850-469: The foremost. Also associated with the Platonic Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher Pico della Mirandola . In 1482, Leonardo was sent as an ambassador by Lorenzo de' Medici to Ludovico il Moro , who ruled Milan between 1479 and 1499. Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 1499. He was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks for

12000-450: The geometric principles that Leonardo adopted in his Vitruvian Man are also found in both the Louvre Mona Lisa and in the Isleworth painting", and therefore concluded the Isleworth to be by Leonardo's hand. In 2013, Professor Atila Soares examined the painting in detail and published a book where he confirmed its authenticity as a genuine Leonardo. In October 2013, Jean-Pierre Isbouts published his book The Mona Lisa Myth examining

12150-407: The hair is exactly in the center, while that of the Louvre picture starts in the middle of the forehead and runs towards the back of the head at an impossible and incorrect angle". Asmus observed that "the Isleworth figure has a somewhat higher forehead, a slightly wider face, and less of a bulge in the veil over the proper left side of the head". He further reported that "the eyes are much wider set in

12300-482: The hand of Leonardo da Vinci himself, it emanates most certainly from his studio and was very largely worked up by the master himself". Blaker's step-father, John R. Eyre, published a monograph in 1915 that suggested a partial attribution to Leonardo. Eyre cited Konody's evaluation defending the authenticity of the Isleworth Mona Lisa as the motivation for his monograph, "when this opinion was endorsed by an art critic of Mr. P. G. Konody's standing, I felt convinced there

12450-426: The head and bust, the exquisite subtlety of the expression, the golden glow of the general coloring, can be due only to Leonardo". Blaker's stepfather, John Eyre, expanded on Blaker's theory in his 1915 publication, claiming that it was the earlier version of the better known Louvre Mona Lisa. Eyre published another book in 1923, which was the result of consultation with 10 experts, many of whom attributed sections of

12600-438: The head and bust, the exquisite subtlety of the expression, the golden glow of the general coloring, can be due only to Leonardo". Spiridon thought that "[t]he redness of the hands is probably due to a bad varnish that could be removed". Konody found the features of the Isleworth painting overall to be "more delicate" than those of the Louvre painting, stating of them, "let it be boldly stated, far more pleasing and beautiful than in

12750-497: The history and events behind the Louvre and Isleworth paintings and confirmed the latter's attribution to Leonardo. A companion film of the same name was released in March 2014. In April 2014, Albert Sauteur examined the perspective used to execute the Isleworth Mona Lisa and the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, and concluded that Leonardo painted both works, modifying his technique for the second. In July 2014, The Mona Lisa Mystery premiered on

12900-526: The household of his paternal grandfather, Antonio da Vinci, but it is possible that he spent the years before then in the care of his mother in Vinci, either Anchiano or Campo Zeppi in the parish of San Pantaleone. He is thought to have been close to his uncle, Francesco da Vinci, but his father was probably in Florence most of the time. Ser Piero, who was the descendant of a long line of notaries, established an official residence in Florence by at least 1469 and had

13050-470: The invitation of Francis I , he spent his last three years in France, where he died in 1519. Since his death, there has not been a time where his achievements, diverse interests, personal life , and empirical thinking have failed to incite interest and admiration, making him a frequent namesake and subject in culture . Leonardo is identified as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art and

13200-552: The master". Konody wrote in his evaluation of the Isleworth Mona Lisa that "it is worth noting that the painting of two versions of the same subject would not be an isolated instance in the practice of Leonardo—witness the ' Virgin of the Rocks ', of which both the Louvre and the National Gallery in London own authentic versions". Documentary attribution of the painting to Leonardo reportedly traces to its ownership by James Marwood in

13350-494: The mathematician Luca Pacioli . In Venice, Leonardo was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack. On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of Santissima Annunziata and were provided with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the cartoon of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John

13500-405: The most reproduced religious painting of all time and his Vitruvian Man drawing is also regarded as a cultural icon. In 2017, Salvator Mundi , attributed in whole or part to Leonardo, was sold at auction for US$ 450.3 million , setting a new record for the most expensive painting ever sold at public auction. Revered for his technological ingenuity , he conceptualised flying machines,

13650-413: The news broadcast, with wrong statements, misquotations, and other blunders galore", but nonetheless finding that "though not altogether from the hand of Leonardo da Vinci himself, it emanates most certainly from his studio and was very largely worked up by the master himself". Although Konody saw the styles of other artists in parts of the painting, he wrote that "the inimitably soft and lovely painting of

13800-405: The next thirty years. Salaì executed a number of paintings under the name of Andrea Salaì, but although Vasari claims that Leonardo "taught him many things about painting," his work is generally considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils, such as Marco d'Oggiono and Boltraffio . At the time of his death in 1524, Salaì owned a painting referred to as Joconda in

13950-725: The only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, Donatello 's Gattamelata in Padua and Verrocchio's Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, and became known as the Gran Cavallo . Leonardo completed a model for the horse and made detailed plans for its casting , but in November 1494, Ludovico gave the metal to his brother-in-law to be used for a cannon to defend the city from Charles VIII of France . Contemporary correspondence records that Leonardo and his assistants were commissioned by

14100-487: The original work, while the background was "added in the 17th century in paints of a type used by Flemish artists", though Isbouts writes that "[s]everal tests have been made on the pigments, all confirming that the pigment components were all existing and available at the turn of the 16th century". Both Eyre and Pulitzer said in their defenses of the painting that the columns were similar to those included by Raphael in his 1503 sketch of Leonardo's painting, although not found in

14250-406: The painting are cited in his text; he uses the pronoun "we" to refer to the team that conducted the research. As his own Pulitzer Press then published these results, there is a lack of outside corroboration for his claims. In the late 1980s, physicist John F. Asmus used computer image processing to examine the Louvre Mona Lisa to determine how the colors would appear if they were not distorted by

14400-462: The painting attribute it to the Leonardeschi , Leonardo's workshop, believing it to be one of a number of copies of the Mona Lisa produced by Leonardo's collaborators, assistants, and pupils, though, as Leonardo biographer Walter Isaacson expressed it, "perhaps with an occasional helping hand from the master". In 2010, The Mona Lisa Foundation was founded to investigate if the Isleworth Mona Lisa

14550-420: The painting from a nobleman's house in Somerset where it was said to have been hanging for over a century. The painting would eventually adopt its unofficial name of Isleworth Mona Lisa from Blaker's studio being in Isleworth , West London. In a letter he wrote to his sister Jane, Blaker stated that he thought the work to be by Leonardo and therefore saw potential for making money out of his purchase. Towards

14700-474: The painting in Phoenix, Arizona, inviting "all experts and critics who wish to view the painting and his evidence". Jean-Pierre Isbouts notes of Pulitzer that despite his success as a publisher he was "not a very talented author", concluding that "[h]is unfortunate 1966 book about the painting, filled with uppercase screeds... did far more harm than good, and ensured that no self-respecting art historian would go near

14850-476: The painting in Verrocchio's workshop was done by his assistants. According to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his The Baptism of Christ ( c.  1472–1475 ), painting the young angel holding Jesus's robe with skill so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio purportedly put down his brush and never painted again (the latter claim probably being apocryphal). The new technique of oil paint

15000-448: The painting is barely begun, the composition can be seen and is very unusual. Jerome , as a penitent , occupies the middle of the picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His kneeling form takes on a trapezoid shape, with one arm stretched to the outer edge of the painting and his gaze looking in the opposite direction. J. Wasserman points out the link between this painting and Leonardo's anatomical studies. Across

15150-472: The painting to Leonardo. Art historian Martin Kemp notes that "His little book of fifty-one pages is full of careful scholarship, and makes about as good a case as can be made". However, Blaker and Eyre's efforts did not result in wide acceptance. When Henry Pulitzer purchased the painting in 1962, he immediately endorsed the attribution of Eyre, stating the Isleworth was the only Mona Lisa done by Leonardo. This

15300-406: The painting was a earlier version of Leonardo's Mona Lisa at the Louvre. In 1922, Eyre traveled throughout Italy consulting various scholars on the painting, who generally concluded that Leonardo painted the most significant parts of the work. Eyre reported these endorsements in a 1923 publication, which also expanded on the thesis of his 1915 book. Eyre's 1923 book contained "opinions from some of

15450-430: The painting was abandoned. The third important work of this period is the Virgin of the Rocks , commissioned in Milan for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. The painting, to be done with the assistance of the de Predis brothers , was to fill a large complex altarpiece . Leonardo chose to paint an apocryphal moment of the infancy of Christ when the infant John the Baptist , in protection of an angel, met

15600-566: The papacy (as Leo X); Leonardo went to Rome that September, where he was received by the pope's brother Giuliano . From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere Courtyard in the Apostolic Palace , where Michelangelo and Raphael were both active. Leonardo was given an allowance of 33 ducats a month and, according to Vasari, decorated a lizard with scales dipped in quicksilver . The pope gave him

15750-494: The portraits through computer image processing technology, Asmus inserted the Isleworth painting subject on the Louvre painting background, so as to analyze the two subjects in the same context. It is generally agreed that the Isleworth Mona Lisa was painted in the early sixteenth century. Those who believe that Leonardo painted it contend that disparate dates proposed for the initiation of the Mona Lisa indicate that two different paintings were worked on at different times, with

15900-447: The recent awareness and admiration of Leonardo as a scientist and inventor, for the better part of four hundred years his fame rested on his achievements as a painter. A handful of works that are either authenticated or attributed to him have been regarded as among the great masterpieces. These paintings are famous for a variety of qualities that have been much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics. By

16050-523: The refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. It represents the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death, and shows the moment when Jesus has just said "one of you will betray me", and the consternation that this statement caused. The writer Matteo Bandello observed Leonardo at work and wrote that some days he would paint from dawn till dusk without stopping to eat and then not paint for three or four days at

16200-462: The rendering in the Isleworth version "routine". With respect to other elements of the body, Colasanti "was inclined to think that Melzi had done a great part of it", noting in particular that the throat "did not give the idea of being able to turn round which was extremely noticeable in all throats painted by Leonardo". Spiridon also thought the throat to have definitely been painted by someone other than Leonardo. Kemp considered certain elements of

16350-411: The results of scientific examinations that established to their satisfaction that the same artist painted the face of both the Mona Lisa and the Isleworth Mona Lisa . Gérard Boudin de l'Arche published a comprehensive historical account in 2017, wherein he stated that Leonardo painted the Isleworth Mona Lisa before the Louvre Mona Lisa . Kemp and others have observed that Leonardo's preferred medium

16500-428: The right shoulder" did not correspond exactly to those in the Louvre's Mona Lisa , and that "the border around the neck differs in small details". Colasanti, in his evaluation, was "particularly strong on the question of the hair", which he thought was indeed by Leonardo. Kemp particularly dismissed the hair and clothing, describing the hair in the Louvre painting as having a "characteristic rivulet pattern", while deeming

16650-402: The same artist responsible for the brush strokes of the face of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Asmus found that the head appears to be "tilted forward toward the viewer... consistent with the dramatically shorter appearing neck, which is also a greater angle to the vertical than that of the Louvre painting". Another early reviewer commented that "[t]he head is tilted more forward and the parting of

16800-491: The same period, Renaissance scholar Arduino Colasanti thought "the upper part with the eyes and nose of the face" were definitely by Leonardo, and noted collector Ludovico Spiridon stated that "the face has been painted by Leonardo; no doubt of this at all". In the 1960s, the art dealer Henry F. Pulitzer claimed that "densitometric tests on the planes of face and hands show a gradual change of tone values from dark to light which only [Leonardo] da Vinci, with his amazing eyesight,

16950-498: The sea to Florence, in order to allow a supply of water to sustain the canal during all seasons. Leonardo had left Borgia's service and returned to Florence by early 1503, where he rejoined the Guild of Saint Luke on 18 October of that year. By this same month, Leonardo had begun working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo , the model for the Mona Lisa , which he would continue working on until his twilight years. In January 1504, he

17100-422: The son of a Lombard aristocrat, who is considered to have been his favourite student. The Council of Florence wished Leonardo to return promptly to finish The Battle of Anghiari , but he was given leave at the behest of Louis XII , who considered commissioning the artist to make some portraits. Leonardo may have commenced a project for an equestrian figure of d'Amboise; a wax model survives and, if genuine,

17250-765: The two Este sisters, Beatrice and Isabella . While on a journey that took him through Mantua , he drew a portrait of Isabella that appears to have been used to create a painted portrait, now lost. Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. His sexuality has been the subject of satire, analysis, and speculation. This trend began in the mid-16th century and was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably by Sigmund Freud in his Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood . Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salaì and Melzi . Melzi, writing to inform Leonardo's brothers of his death, described Leonardo's feelings for his pupils as both loving and passionate. It has been claimed since

17400-400: The warp is slightly tighter than the weft". Konody observed of the Isleworth subject that "[t]he head is inclined at a different angle". Physicist John F. Asmus , who had previously examined the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and investigated other works by Leonardo, published a computer image processing study in 1988 concluding that the brush strokes of the face in the painting were performed by

17550-470: The warp using a " shuttle ", air jets or "rapier grippers". Handlooms were the original weaver's tool, with the shuttle being threaded through alternately raised warps by hand. The expression "warp and weft" (also "warp and woof" and "woof and warp") is used metaphorically the way "fabric" is; e.g., "the warp and woof of a student's life" equates to "the fabric of a student's life". Warp and weft are sometimes used even more generally in literature to describe

17700-403: The weft is introduced during the weaving process. It is regarded as the longitudinal set in a finished fabric with two or more sets of elements. The term is also used for a set of yarns established before the interworking of weft yarns by some other method, such as finger manipulation, yielding wrapped or twined structures. Very simple looms use a spiral warp , in which the warp is made up of

17850-416: The work of a left-handed artist", as Leonardo was. In 2015, an academic publication by professors Salvatore Lorusso and Andrea Natali provided an extensive analysis of Mona Lisa paintings and copies, and concluded that the Isleworth Mona Lisa was an original work by Leonardo, on stylistic grounds. In 2016, Asmus revisited the painting with professors Vadim Parfenov and Jessie Elford, with the trio publishing

18000-450: The work to Leonardo on stylistic grounds. The Isleworth Mona Lisa is of the same subject as the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and there are many similarities between the two. Both paintings depict a dark-haired woman, Lisa Gherardini , who sits at an angle and is surrounded by the landscape behind her. The work measures 84.5 × 64.5 cm, slightly larger than the Louvre Mona Lisa . However,

18150-610: The work". When Pulitzer died in 1979, his partner, Elizabeth Meyer, inherited the painting and after her death in 2008, the Isleworth Mona Lisa was sold to a group of Geneva -based investors. On 27 September 2012, The Mona Lisa Foundation of Zurich officially unveiled the painting and simultaneously presented the Foundation's research and arguments for the painting's authenticity. Several leading modern scholars have continued to express skepticism. In 2012, The Guardian described

18300-473: The works attributed to Leonardo—that of a golden glow—while the finish is of a most minute character". Italian curator Lorenzo Cecconi , who also examined the painting in the 1920s, said that "the fusion of the tints of the flesh, especially in the eyes; the line which designs the nose, the mouth, and the oval of the face" were remarkable, and indicated that "this may be a second work of the Great Leonardo". In

18450-461: The world of manufacturing unheralded, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy , civil engineering, hydrodynamics , geology, optics , and tribology , but he did not publish his findings and they had little to no direct influence on subsequent science. Leonardo da Vinci, properly named Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ("Leonardo, son of ser Piero from Vinci"),

18600-507: The yellowing of the aged varnish, and discovered previously unknown evidence that the subject had originally been painted with a necklace, which had apparently then been painted over and thereby removed, by Leonardo. In 1988, Asmus published his results from using this technology to compare the faces of Isleworth Mona Lisa and the Louvre Mona Lisa , finding that they shared a signature frequency of degrees of lightness and darkness, which Asmus concluded indicated that this aspect of both paintings

18750-505: The young Leonardo was the first to suggest making the Arno river a navigable channel between Florence and Pisa . In January 1478, Leonardo received an independent commission to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel of Saint Bernard in the Palazzo Vecchio , an indication of his independence from Verrocchio's studio. An anonymous early biographer, known as Anonimo Gaddiano , claims that in 1480 Leonardo

18900-538: Was "dismissed by some experts", but "also won support in the art world". Art historian Jean-Pierre Isbouts has endorsed Leonardo's involvement in painting the work, asserting that "24 of 27 recognised Leonardo scholars have agreed this is a Leonardo", while art historian Martin Kemp dismisses the proposition that Leonardo painted any part, and in 2012 described his contemporaries in the art world as being equivocal, or making "encouraging but noncommittal statements" on this point. Kemp and others who doubt Leonardo's hand in

19050-540: Was 65, which may indicate why he left works such as the Mona Lisa unfinished. He continued to work at some capacity until eventually becoming ill and bedridden for several months. Leonardo died at Clos Lucé on 2 May 1519 at the age of 67, possibly of a stroke. Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari describes Leonardo as lamenting on his deathbed, full of repentance, that "he had offended against God and men by failing to practice his art as he should have done." Vasari states that in his last days, Leonardo sent for

19200-498: Was Leonardo's only real portrait of Lisa Gherardini , implying the Louvre Mona Lisa to be a copy. Hales wrote that "Pulitzer had to sell his grand house in Kensington, all of its furnishings, and many of its paintings... Although the art world never overcame its skepticism, Pulitzer remained a believer to the end". Pulitzer's argument included much historical evidence, including Vasari's controversial account. In 1963, Pulitzer exhibited

19350-482: Was a very great philosopher." Salaì , or Il Salaino ("The Little Unclean One", i.e., the devil), entered Leonardo's household in 1490 as an assistant. After only a year, Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton," after he had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions and spent a fortune on clothes. Nevertheless, Leonardo treated him with great indulgence, and he remained in Leonardo's household for

19500-542: Was about the time of the death of Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor Donatello . Leonardo became an apprentice by the age of 17 and remained in training for seven years. Other famous painters apprenticed in the workshop or associated with it include Ghirlandaio , Perugino , Botticelli , and Lorenzo di Credi . Leonardo was exposed to both theoretical training and a wide range of technical skills, including drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics, and woodwork, as well as

19650-457: Was an observation repeated in his book where he argued that Leonardo's contemporary Raphael made a sketch of this painting, probably from memory, after seeing it in Leonardo's studio in 1504. The Raphael sketch includes the two Greek columns that are not found in the Louvre's Mona Lisa , but are found in the Isleworth painting. Pulitzer presents a few pages of art expert testimonials in his book; some of these experts seemed to believe that Leonardo

19800-546: Was applied to areas of the mostly tempera work, including the landscape, the rocks seen through the brown mountain stream, and much of Jesus's figure, indicating Leonardo's hand. Additionally, Leonardo may have been a model for two works by Verrocchio: the bronze statue of David in the Bargello and the archangel Raphael in Tobias and the Angel . Vasari tells a story of Leonardo as

19950-425: Was assigned the opposite wall to depict the Battle of Cascina . Leonardo's painting deteriorated rapidly and is now known from a copy by Rubens . Warp and weft In the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution facilitated the industrialisation of the production of textile fabrics with the "picking stick" and the " flying shuttle ", which latter was invented by John Kay , in 1733. The mechanised power loom

20100-564: Was at least good ground for investigation". In this monograph Eyre was the first to formally propose the painting as an earlier version of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Kemp notes of Eyre that "His little book of fifty-one pages is full of careful scholarship, and makes about as good a case as can be made". With the approach of World War I , Blaker sent the painting to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for safekeeping. Blaker's step-father, John Eyre, also believed in its attribution and claimed that

20250-542: Was back in Milan, living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila. In 1512, Leonardo was working on plans for an equestrian monument for Gian Giacomo Trivulzio , but this was prevented by an invasion of a confederation of Swiss, Spanish and Venetian forces, which drove the French from Milan. Leonardo stayed in the city, spending several months in 1513 at the Medici's Vaprio d'Adda villa. In March 1513, Lorenzo de' Medici's son Giovanni assumed

20400-456: Was born on 15 April 1452 in, or close to, the Tuscan hill town of Vinci , 20 miles from Florence . He was born out of wedlock to Piero da Vinci (Ser Piero da Vinci d'Antonio di ser Piero di ser Guido; 1426–1504), a Florentine legal notary , and Caterina di Meo Lippi ( c.  1434–1494 ), from the lower class. It remains uncertain where Leonardo was born; the traditional account, from

20550-474: Was born when Leonardo was 46 years old) and with whom he had very little contact. Very little is known about Leonardo's childhood and much is shrouded in myth, partially because of his biography in the frequently apocryphal Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550) by 16th-century art historian Giorgio Vasari . Tax records indicate that by at least 1457 he lived in

20700-408: Was capable of". Asmus similarly found in the 1980s that amplitude histograms sorting the number of pixels of each brightness level in these features "reveal a remarkable similarity even though the images are noticeably different". Other differences have been observed with respect to aspects of the face: The Louvre picture, whether from cleaning or some other cause, shows a bulge over the left eye which

20850-584: Was living with the Medici and often worked in the garden of the Piazza San Marco, Florence , where a Neoplatonic academy of artists, poets and philosophers organised by the Medici met. In March 1481, he received a commission from the monks of San Donato in Scopeto for The Adoration of the Magi . Neither of these initial commissions were completed, being abandoned when Leonardo went to offer his services to Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza . Leonardo wrote Sforza

21000-485: Was of ground-breaking importance in terms of composition. Two of the three were never finished, and the third took so long that it was subject to lengthy negotiations over completion and payment. One of these paintings was Saint Jerome in the Wilderness , which Bortolon associates with a difficult period of Leonardo's life, as evidenced in his diary: "I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die." Although

21150-760: Was only one true Mona Lisa have been unable to agree between the two aforementioned fates. Researchers have indicated that the Isleworth painting was likely brought to England from Italy in the 1780s by a Somerset nobleman named James Marwood, who was documented as owning a painting attributed to Leonardo and titled La Jaconde (the French title of the Mona Lisa ). A record of holdings of the Avishays Estate in Chard, also mentioning Marwood, includes an 1858 entry for "[c]atalogues of plate and china, and of furniture etc. including picture of La Joconda ". In 1913, English connoisseur and art collector Hugh Blaker spotted and acquired

21300-525: Was painted by the same person. Between 2012 and 2013, experts examined and studied the work. Kemp wrote that at a 2012 conference, art historians and Leonardo experts Alessandro Vezzosi and Carlo Pedretti "made encouraging but noncommittal statements about the picture being of high quality and worthy of further research". A summary of examinations and tests that were carried out was reported by Reuters on 13 February 2013. Alfonso Rubino, who had previously studied Leonardo's Vitruvian Man , "demonstrated that

21450-510: Was painted in part by Leonardo, but as an earlier version of the Louvre Mona Lisa . Differing views have been expressed on the relative weight to be given to scientific evidence versus connoisseurship. Physicist John F. Asmus , who pioneered laser-restoration techniques for Renaissance art , and who had previously examined the Mona Lisa in the Louvre for this purpose, published a computer image processing study in 1988 concluding that

21600-523: Was part of a committee formed to recommend where Michelangelo's statue of David should be placed. He then spent two years in Florence designing and painting a mural of The Battle of Anghiari for the Signoria, with Michelangelo designing its companion piece, The Battle of Cascina . In 1506, Leonardo was summoned to Milan by Charles II d'Amboise , the acting French governor of the city. There, Leonardo took on another pupil, Count Francesco Melzi ,

21750-458: Was patented by Edmund Cartwright in 1785, which allowed sixty picks per minute. The word weft derives from the Old English word wefan , to weave. Warp means "that across which the woof is thrown". (Old English wearp , from weorpan , to throw, cf. German werfen , Dutch werpen ). The warp is the set of yarns or other things stretched in place on a loom before

21900-425: Was struck by the equestrian statue of Regisole , of which he left a sketch. Leonardo was employed on many other projects for Sforza, such as preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions; a drawing of , and wooden model for, a competition to design the cupola for Milan Cathedral ; and a model for a huge equestrian monument to Ludovico's predecessor Francesco Sforza . This would have surpassed in size

22050-522: Was supported by a pension totalling 10,000  scudi . At some point, Melzi drew a portrait of Leonardo ; the only others known from his lifetime were a sketch by an unknown assistant on the back of one of Leonardo's studies ( c.  1517 ) and a drawing by Giovanni Ambrogio Figino depicting an elderly Leonardo with his right arm wrapped in clothing. The latter, in addition to the record of an October 1517 visit by Louis d'Aragon , confirms an account of Leonardo's right hand being paralytic when he

22200-554: Was the painter, others felt the artist was somebody who worked in Leonardo's studio, and still others suggested that other artists may have done it. He then presents laboratory evidence, such as light to dark ratios across the canvas and X-rays, that suggested the painting to be by Leonardo. However, specific detail on the manner in which these studies were carried out, and by whom, is not provided. He wrote: "I have no intention of cluttering up this book with too many technicalities and wish to make this chapter brief". No independent reports on

22350-418: Was thought to have been hanging for over a century. The painting would eventually adopt its unofficial name of Isleworth Mona Lisa from Blaker's studio being in Isleworth , West London. Since the 1910s, experts in various fields, as well as the collectors who have acquired ownership of the painting, have asserted that the major elements of the painting are the work of Leonardo himself, as an earlier version of

22500-453: Was wood, asserting that he rarely painted on canvas. Others have countered that Leonardo "assiduously experimented with new ideas and technologies", and that "the artist did occasionally paint on canvas". In particular, Lorusso and Natali note that Leonardo had previous painted studies on drapery on a canvas that "had almost identical features", and that Leonardo's manuscript, A Treatise on Painting , "describes in detail not only how to prepare

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