A MIND WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
Yet his greatest gift was painting, where the observational precision of a researcher met the imagination of a poet. Each Leonardo is like a box with a hidden compartment. Beneath its visible beauty lie new layers of meaning and mystery that draw the viewer into an intellectual adventure.
Leonardo was born in 1452 near the Tuscan town of Vinci and showed extraordinary abilities from an early age. He trained in Andrea del Verrocchio’s workshop. Tireless curiosity guided his entire life: he observed, experimented and invented, while drawing became an instrument for understanding nature.
His contemporaries admired the breadth of his interests, although that versatility sometimes kept him from completing commissions. Absorbed in a new experiment, he could abandon painting for long periods. Yet when he returned to the easel, something extraordinary emerged. Even his unfinished works astonished those around him; the completed paintings earned him enduring fame.
THE LAST SUPPER
One of Leonardo’s principal masterpieces is The Last Supper, painted around 1495–1498 on the wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. He approached the Gospel narrative like a stage director. Christ sits at the centre and announces that one of the apostles will betray him. A wave of emotion passes across every face.
The figures are arranged in groups of three, like actors within a carefully controlled scene. The moment is frozen at the climax of the drama.
The precisely calculated perspective intensifies the sense of reality. Every line converges behind Christ’s head, directing the viewer’s gaze towards him. To achieve subtle tonal effects, Leonardo abandoned the durable method of traditional fresco painting. As a result, the work began to deteriorate during his lifetime.
The impression remains monumental. This is not a static meal but a psychological drama filled with gestures, glances and symbols that viewers continue to interpret.
The Last Supper
1495—1498 / Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
THE MONA LISA
If The Last Supper is a monumental drama painted on a wall, the Mona Lisa (1503–1519) is an intimate image of equal force. The portrait of the Florentine Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, has become the most famous painting in the world.
Leonardo achieved an exceptional degree of psychological depth and technical mastery. The sitter’s half-smile has stirred the imagination for five centuries, as though she were about to reveal a secret.
Leonardo used sfumato—misty transitions that soften contours—to move from light to shadow without abrupt boundaries. This almost imperceptible haze gives the portrait extraordinary life. The skin seems lit from within, while the gaze possesses an enigmatic warmth. Contrary to a popular myth, her eyes do not literally follow the viewer around the room.
LADY WITH AN ERMINE
Leonardo also created exceptional portraits and devotional paintings. Lady with an Ermine (1489–1490) is strikingly alive. The sitter is usually identified as the young Cecilia Gallerani, although that identification has been debated.
She appears in motion, as if someone had just called her name. The animal she holds has prompted several interpretations. One explanation understands it as a play on words: the Greek word for ermine resembles the sitter’s surname. Another reads the animal as a traditional symbol of purity, despite Cecilia’s status as Duke Ludovico Sforza’s mistress.
It has also been suggested that the animal conceals a pregnancy or refers directly to Sforza, who belonged to the Order of the Ermine and used the creature as an emblem. Other, more symbolic readings propose that the woman holds a sign of her influence over the duke. Some observers even argue that the animal is not an ermine but an albino domestic ferret.
There is no single accepted answer, which is hardly surprising in Leonardo’s case.
Mona Lisa
c. 1503—1519 / Musée du Louvre, Paris
THE VIRGIN OF THE ROCKS
The Virgin of the Rocks (1483–1486) departs from traditional religious convention. There is no gold ground and none of the rigid formality of icons. A dim grotto replaces the celestial background.
Mary is not a distant symbol but a living mother who tenderly embraces the Christ Child. The young John the Baptist and an angel complete the group. Gestures and glances connect all the figures.
The composition forms a harmonious pyramid in which the divine and earthly appear inseparable. Soft rays of light bring faces out of the darkness, while the depth of the cave gives the scene a mysterious atmosphere.
ART AND SCIENCE
Leonardo sought to unite art and scientific investigation. The drawing known as Vitruvian Man embodies this union through the idea of the human body as a microcosm of the universe.
He believed that truth was hidden in nature and could be revealed through persistent observation. Painting was not merely a craft. It was a way to investigate the world and express its infinite complexity.