Who would have thought that the boy born in the small village of Vinci, Tuscany, in 1452 by an unmarried peasant called Caterina would become a legend?
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is probably one of the most fascinating characters of all times. His life was a little bit of a fairy tale. He was an artist, an engineer and an inventor and worked for the most powerful families during the Renaissance such as the Medici, the Sforza and the French king Francis I. It’s even said that the French king went to Leonardo’s death bed to take farewell before the artist passed and Leonardo da Vinci’s tomb is still to be found in Amboise, France.
Leonardo and Florence
Leonardo spent many years in Florence and that is why we consider him to be our boy. He grew up in Vinci, about 44 km from Florence, with his grandparents on his fathers’ side. Leonardo soon began to study the nature that surrounded his birth place, but it was in Florence where he got his training under the steady hand of Andrea del Verrocchio from 1469 and where he some years later started a career on his own, thanks to his father.
In 1481 Leonardo left Florence to go to Milan and he only returned in 1500. Back in Florence the genius received several important commissions such as the battle scene for the Signoria in Palazzo Vecchio (the Battle of Anghiari), but it didn’t avoid Leonardo traveling and working in other towns and the last short stay in Florence was in 1511.
Where to see the original works by Leonardo in Florence?
Many of the works that Leonardo started during his second stay in town were lost or went abroad (like Monna Lisa which is today at the Louvre Museum in Paris).
Still you have a chance to see three of his paintings in a unique setting at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The “Baptism of Christ”, the surprising “Adoration of the Magi” and the beautiful “Annunciation” are all early works by the artist and were carried out during Leonardo’s first stay in the capital of Tuscany.
Leonardo and Verrocchio
It was Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo’s master, who received the commission to paint the “Baptism of Christ”. Verrocchio’s workshop was without any doubt the most flourishing and prestigious one in Florence in the mid 15th century. Apart from Leonardo there was also another talented apprentice who soon became Leonardo’s best friend, Sandro Botticelli.
The painting from around 1470 was carried out by Verrocchio with the help of several students. Botticelli painted the angel next to Jesus while Leonardo, only 18 years old, probably took care of part of the landscape and the other angel.
According to Giorgio Vasari Leonardo’s contribution was so significant and outstanding that he surpassed his master and supposedly Verrocchio stopped painting after this moment. It will instead be the start point of Leonardo da Vinci’s successful career.
The unfinished work
The second painting to admire at the Uffizi Gallery is the “Adoration of the Magi”. Commissioned by the monks of San Donato in Scopeto, Leonardo started to work on this drawing in 1481 but left it unfinished as he went up to Ludovico Sforza in Milan who had offered Leonardo a well-paid job.
Though Leonardo returned to Florence at the end of the same century he never completed the work and eventually the friars commissioned a new “Adoration” from Filippino Lippi (also in the Uffizi Gallery).
The extremely interesting thing about this painting is that we are today able to see all the details that for centuries were hidden by a coat of dirt thanks to the excellent restoration of the artwork done by the “Opificio delle Pietre Dure” in Florence between 2012 and 2017.
The Annunciation
Leonardo painted the “Annunciation” around 1475. Once again it was a commission by some friars. The scene is set in a Tuscan landscape which is underscored by the cypress trees appearing at the back.
The attribution was for a long time controversial since Leonardo da Vinci never signed his paintings and we still do not know who added the wings on the angel’s back, but it is today pretty clear that Leonardo was inspired by his master Verrocchio who had made a tomb for the Medici that looks similar to the table where Mother Mary is sitting.
We still preserve at the Uffizi Gallery several sheets of paper where Leonardo sketched draped skirts all over again. These sketches are valuable as they show the amount of practice that the artist did before starting a painting.
Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches are unfortunately rarely visible for common visitors of the Uffizi Gallery. They are too fragile to be exposed for longer periods.
Inventions
The original works by Leonardo da Vinci in Florence are all at the Uffizi Gallery, but I have some good news for you!
If you want to see and perhaps try the copies of Leonardo’s inventions and machines you can visit the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Via dei Servi. It’s an interactive museum and definitely the perfect one for kids and teenagers as they are able to touch and play.
Leonardo’s inventions are described in what we call the Da Vinci codes.
The codes are spread around the world. Some are in England and in Spain. A fun fact to know is that Bill Gates is the owner of the Hammer Codex/Leicester Codex.
From 1500 and on
Leonardo da Vinci returned to Florence in 1500. He was now almost 50 years old. This will be one of his most prolific periods as a painter. Leonardo stayed with the friars in the monastery of SS. Annunziata where he began the cartoon which represents St. Anne, Mother Mary and baby Jesus for the same church.
In 1503 the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo commissioned the portrait of his wife Elisa Gherardini or Monna Lisa, but the painting never reached the home of the Giocondo family. It was instead one of the artworks that Leonardo had with him when he moved to France in 1516/17.
Unfortunately for Florence the artworks that Leonardo carried out during his second stay in town are today in other countries or lost.
The Competition
For instance we lost the wall painting in the Salone del ‘500 in the town hall of Florence, Palazzo Vecchio.
Leonardo signed a contract in 1503 to paint a battle scene commissioned by the Florentine republic.
It was gonna be sort of a competition between two great artists who were both active in Florence at the same time. On one hand the famous artist Leonardo was supposed to paint the “Battle of Anghiari”, a fight that the Florentine army won against Milan in 1440. On the other hand there was a young talented artist called Michelangelo, who had to fresco the “Battle of Cascina”. This the Florentine soldiers won this battle against Pisa in 1364.
Sadly none of the two works are today visible in the Palazzo Vecchio
Michelangelo eventually only made the cartoon (the preparation sketch) for his fresco before he went to Rome to work for Pope Julius II. Perhaps one of the reasons why Michelangelo didn’t fulfill his commitment was that he was gonna get less paid than Leonardo.
Leonardo da Vinci instead finished his painting, but used a technique that failed.
Leonardo had studied an ancient Egyptian technique and believed he could fix the colors by using fire. It turned out to be a bad idea and about 15 years after the artist had completed his work the painting started to disappear from the wall.
It was in such bad shape that Giorgio Vasari covered it in the mid 16th century with a new battle scene commissioned by Cosimo I of the Medici.
According to the tradition it’s said that Vasari indicated where the painting was by writing on some banners “cerca trova” (look and you’ll find it). Therefore, in recent years experts have tried to discover the “hidden” painting. Small holes were made on Vasari’s work and some paint was detected below.
The enigma is still whether or not the traces are dating back to the days of Leonardo.
Who knows if we’ll ever know the truth. Probably we would have to destroy what is on the top and it doesn’t seem to be an option, at least not right now, but perhaps in the future.
It is clear though that Leonardo da Vinci keeps on fascinating us over 500 years after his death.