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The Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci

Da Vinci's paintings entwine meticulous scientific observation with artistic genius, resulting in masterpieces that resonate across time. His revolutionary sfumato technique veils figures in hazy layers, blurring the line between subject and atmosphere, lending them an aura of mystery and life. An unflinching anatomist, he dissects form in works like the Mona Lisa, where the hand, meticulously rendered from his anatomical studies, becomes a silent dialogue between physicality and inner life. His mastery of perspective manipulates space, drawing viewers into the drama of The Last Supper with its vanishing point anchoring the emotional intensity of the scene. Light and shadow dance across his canvases, sculpting form and revealing not just physical presence, but the unspoken language of emotion and thought. Leonardo's paintings are not mere images, but portals into the human condition, each brushstroke a testament to his insatiable curiosity and profound understanding of the world, both inner and outer.

 
Title
Date
Medium
Size (cm)
Location
Attribution
 
The Baptism of Christ (the angel in the foreground, parts of the landscape, in Verrocchio's painting)
1470–75
Oil and tempera on panel
152 x 180
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Generally accepted
attribution
(one figure)
The Annunciation
c. 1472
Oil on panel
90 x 222
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Generally accepted
attribution
Ginevra Benci (Portrait of a Lady)
1474–78
Oil on panel
42.7 x 37
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Own hand
Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll
(on reverse of Portrait of a Lady)
1474–78
Oil on panel
42.7 x 37
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Own hand
Madonna and Child with a Pomegranate (or Dreyfus Madonna)
1475–80
Oil on panel
16.5 x 13.4
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Generally not attributed
The Fall
1475
Water-colour
Unknown
Lost
Unknown
 
Head of the Medusa
1475
On panel
Unknown
Lost
Unknown
 
Madonna of the Carnation (or Madonna del garofano or Madonna with the Vase of Flowers)
c. 1475
On panel
62 x 48.5
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Own hand
Bust of an Angel
1475 (?)
Unknown
Unknown
Lost
Unknown
 
The Annunciation
1478–85
On panel
16.2 x 60.7
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Disputed; Da Vinci, Lorenzo di Credi, or a collaboration of the two
Altarpiece for the Chapel of St Bernard in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence
1478
On panel
Unknown
Lost
Unknown
 
Madonna with the Flower (or Benois Madonna)
1478–80
Oil on panel on canvas
49.5 x 33
State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
Own hand
St Jerome
1480
Oil on panel
103 x 74
Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City
Own hand
The Adoration of the Magi
1481–82
Oil and tempera on panel
246 x 243
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Own hand
The Virgin of the Rocks
c. 1483–86
Oil on panel on canvas
199.5 x 122
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Own hand
Portrait of a Musician (Franchino Gaffurio?)
c. 1485
Tempera and Oil on panel
44.7 x 32
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
Generally accepted attribution
Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine (or Lady with a Ferret [with a Marten]) (Cecilia Gallerani?)
1485–90
Oil on panel
54 x 39
Czartoryski Museum, Cracow
With assistants
Portrait of a Lady (or The Lady with the Pearl Hairnet)
c. 1490
Oil on panel
51 x 34
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
Generally not attributed
Head of a young girl (or La donna scapigliata)
c.1492–1501
Oil on panel
24.7 x 21
Galleria Nazionale, Parma
Generally not attributed
Virgin giving the Breast to the Child (or Madonna Litta)
Mid-1490s
Oil on panel on canvas
42 x 33
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg
Traditionally attributed, but disputed
Portrait of an Unknown woman (or La belle ferronnière)

1490–97
Oil on panel
63 x 45
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Generally accepted attribution
The Crucifixion (portraits of the donors only)
After 1495
Lime wash, dry finishes, and pastiglia fresco
 
Convent of Sta Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Generally not attributed
The Last Supper
1495–97
Tempera on wall
460 x 880
Refectory, Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan
Own hand
Three lunettes above The Last Supper
1495–97
Tempera on wall
Middle lunette: 335 base;
left and right lunettes: 225 base
Refectory, Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan
Traditional attribution
Interlacing branches
1498
Tempera on plaster
 
Sala delle Asse, Castello Sforzesco, Milan
Workshop
Salvator Mundi
c. 1500
Oil on panel
64.5 x 45.7 cm
Louvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi
Generally accepted attribution
The Mona Lisa (or La Gioconda)
1503–05
Oil on panel
77 x 53
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Own hand
St Anne, the Virgin and the Infant Christ with a Lamb
1503–19
Oil on panel
168 x 130
Musée du Louvre, Paris
With assistants
The Battle of Anghiari
1504–06
on wall
Unknown
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence [lost]
Unknown
 
The Virgin with the Young St John, the Infant Christ and an Angel (or The Virgin of the Rocks)
c. 1506–08
Oil on panel
189.5 x 120
National Gallery, London
Collaborative work
St John the Baptist
1508–19
Oil on panel
72.9 x 56.3
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Own hand
Leda
1510–15
On panel
Unknown
Lost or never executed
Unknown
 
St John the Baptist (renamed Bacchus 17th c.)
1517–20
Oil on panel on canvas
177 x 201
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Own hand, or more likely, workshop (Francesco Melzi)
Our Lady of the Assumption with St Dominic and Peter of Verona, Lodovico il Moro and Beatrice d'Este
Unknown
On wall
Unknown (in a lunette over the main entrance)
Formerly, Convent of Sta Maria della Grazie, Milan [mostly destroyed and painted over]
Traditional attribution
 
The Redeemer
Unknown
On wall
Unknown (in a lunette over the door)
Formerly, Convent of Sta Maria della Grazie, Milan [destroyed 1603]
traditional attribution
 
Virgin and Child (or Virgin with the Yarn Winder)
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Lost
Unknown
 


Other works by Leonardo da Vinci


Sources:
1. The Last da Vinci. Christie's, October 2017.
2. M. Kemp. Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man, revd. ed. Oxford, etc.: Oxford University Press, 2006.
3. A. Ottino della Chiesa; L. D. Ettlinger. The Complete Paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci, reprint. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1985..

Museums: Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, 2023; Musée de Louvre, 2023; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2023; Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 2023.
 

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