"John the Baptist" by Leonardo da Vinci: description of the painting

In historical science there is a very conventional date for the end of the Middle Ages - 1456. They are succeeded by the Renaissance, which began especially in Italy, when there was a great interest in antiquity with its achievements in various fields of culture and social activity.

High Renaissance

In Italy, torn apart by internal contradictions and feudal wars, suddenly there is an ejection of spirituality - the Renaissance of Leonardo da Vinci. At the same time, the dark Michael Angelo and cheerful, surrounded by the company of friends, Rafael walks the streets. In Florence, simultaneously receive an order for painting the Cathedral of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and to monitor the progress of work entrusted to the young promising official Niccolo Machiavelli. Well, is not this an ejection of spirituality? The ideals of the beauty of antiquity with its precisely verified mathematical proportions of statues and buildings become a model for artists. But they approach it creatively, with great imagination, borrowing only what they consider possible and appropriate, creatively reprocessing the Greco-Roman heritage.

The creative heritage of Leonardo

The genius of this man extended to almost all fields of engineering and painting. He positioned himself mostly not as an artist, which was less in demand, but as an engineer who knows how to create weapons, for example, or as a culinary specialist who brought new inventions and dishes to the kitchen. In Milan, he was also the manager of the table of the duke. He watched both the serving of feasting tables and the cooking. Leonardo da Vinci's engineering achievements include numerous blueprints for building an airplane. A man must fly, this genius thought. Among his engineering inventions include a parachute, a telescope with two lenses, light portable bridges for the army and much more. In his knowledge of anatomy, he was three hundred years ahead of his time. Living in recent years in France, Leonardo da Vinci organized court festivals, created a plan for a new royal palace, simultaneously changed the course of the two rivers and planned a channel between them.

Art

For some internal reasons art was of little interest to Leonardo da Vinci. Works that have survived to our times are relatively few. Still it must be emphasized that the only portrait of Leonardo, perhaps, does not represent him. Da Vinci also worked slowly, and gave little time to painting. But his developments in the field of art are so great and significant that they are at an unattainable height up to the present day. Its fuzzy lines, the airspace surrounding all the figures and objects in the images, is how we see the objects depicted in life.

Notebooks

He wore them all the time and came up with a secret letter, invented, of course, by himself. No one has fully deciphered the record of Leonardo da Vinci. In his entire life, about one hundred and twenty such books have been collected, in which both fables and anecdotes are recorded. They have drawings, sketches. The main thing Leonardo considered was not book knowledge, but knowledge of laws and things. His desire to move science forward was very great.

Manuscripts

Leonardo's manuscripts, which he wrote not with his right, but with his left hand, have reached the present day. He did not publish them, although in the last years of his life such thoughts came to him. He wrote not in scientific Latin, but in the colloquial Italian of his time - concisely, briefly, accurately. His language is rich, bright and expressive. Therefore, in addition to historical and scientific, the records are of artistic value. For our contemporaries, the "Treatise on Painting" written by him is still relevant. Before us came his fables and playful stories, as well as prophecies and allegories, epigrams.

Picture on the board

The painting "John the Baptist" by Leonardo da Vinci was written with walnut oil on wood in 1508-1513. Its size is 69 x 57 cm. I must say that at that time there was a completely different attitude to the materials for painting. Oil stood and bleached in the sun for fifty years. Sixty, or even more, years, the boards were dried. And the painter made the paints himself, using crystals, powdered into powder.

So, the description of the picture of Leonardo da Vinci "John the Baptist". Young John in the middle of the picture is depicted on a dark background. The light on it falls to the left. With the index finger of his right hand he points to the cross, its typical attribute, and to the sky, as if inviting the viewer to reflect on the coming of Christ and prepare for his coming. John the Baptist Leonardo da Vinci talks to the viewer with his eyes, smiling tenderly. His appearance is typical for mature Leonardo. Hermit's clothing is a fur coat, in which he is not completely sheltered. The right shoulder with the correct proportions remained naked. John the Baptist Leonardo da Vinci has long curly hair that falls on his shoulders. The model, presumably, was his disciple Salai. Transitions from light to shadows are thin and refined. This is the famous sfumato, which soft and gentle transitions between light and dark tones emphasizes the plasticity and roundness of the perfect forms, and also reflects the spiritual state of the saint. On the canvas it is simply impossible to detect the traces of the brush.

The first mention of the painting "John the Baptist" by Leonardo da Vinci dates back to 1517. After the death of Leonardo, this work became the property of his disciple Salai, who made a copy for herself, and the one that survived well. And after his death, relatives sold the original to Francis I in France. So this work was in the Louvre. But later it was resold to England in the collection of Charles I. After the execution of the king, she is already in Germany, but no later than 1666 it is purchased by the agents of Louis XIV, and she reappears in France. And now is on display in the Louvre.