Arcadópolis
Nudity. This work is shown blurred, as in the Museum.Show work
Madonna Litta
Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490
What you see
Mary, in profile with her head bowed, holds the Child in her arms as she nurses him. He, by contrast, turns his face outward and looks at the viewer. Behind them, a dark wall with two arched windows opens onto a sky with clouds and distant mountains. The eye moves from Mary’s calm face to the Child’s, then out through the windows.
The bright red of the dress and the blue of the mantle stand out against the almost black background. The skin is smooth and luminous, with soft shadows. Notice the little bird the Child holds in his hand, the golden curls on his head and Mary’s cloth headdress, with its fine stripes and embroidery.
About Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo was born in Vinci, near Florence, and was a painter, inventor, engineer and scientist all at once. He filled thousands of notebook pages with flying machines, studies of the human body and mirror-written notes. He finished only a few paintings, but almost all of them changed the history of art.
More by Leonardo da Vinci
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