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

In historical science there is a very conditionalThe end date of the Middle Ages is 1456. They are replaced by the Renaissance period, which began primarily in Italy, when there was a great interest in antiquity with its achievements in the most diverse areas of culture and social activities.

High Renaissance

In Italy, torn by internal contradictionsand feudal wars, suddenly there is an ejection of spirituality - the Renaissance of Leonardo da Vinci. At the same time, the gloomy Michelangelo walks through the streets and is cheerful, surrounded by a group of friends, Raphael. In Florence, at the same time, they receive an order for painting the cathedral by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and supervising the progress of work is entrusted to young budding official Niccolò Machiavelli. Well, isn’t this an ejection of spirituality? The ideals of the beauty of antiquity, with its precisely matched mathematical proportions of statues and buildings, become a model for artists. But they approach this creatively, with great imagination, borrowing only what they consider possible and appropriate, creatively reworking the Greco-Roman heritage.

The artistic legacy of Leonardo

The genius of this man spread to almost everything.areas of engineering and painting. He positioned himself mostly not as a painter, which was less in demand, but as an engineer, able to create weapons, for example, or as a cook, who brought new inventions and dishes to the kitchen. In Milan, he was also the manager of the Duke’s table. He observed both the serving of the feast tables and the cooking. The engineering achievements of Leonardo da Vinci include numerous drawings by which you can build an airplane.

A man must fly, believed this genius.Among his engineering inventions include a parachute, a telescope with two lenses, light portable walkways 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 two rivers and planned a channel between them.

Art

For some internal reasons, art was of little interest to Leonardo da Vinci. The works that have come down to our times are relatively few.

Еще надо подчеркнуть, что единственный портрет Leonardo may not portray him. Da Vinci and worked slowly, and gave the painting a little time. But its developments in the field of art are so large and significant that they are at an unattainable height right up to the present day. His blurred lines, air space, surrounding all the figures and objects in the images - this is how we see the objects depicted in life.

Notebooks

Он носил их постоянно и пришедшую мысль записывал secret letter, invented, of course, by himself. No one has yet fully decoded the records of Leonardo da Vinci. For all his life about one hundred and twenty such books have gathered, in which both fables and anecdotes are written. They have drawings, sketches. Leonardo considered the main thing not book knowledge, but knowledge of patterns and things. His desire to move science forward turned out to be very great.

Manuscripts

The manuscripts of Leonardo, which heHe wrote not with his right, but with his left hand. He did not print them, although in the last years of his life such thoughts occurred to him. He did not write in scientific Latin, but in colloquial Italian of his time - concisely, briefly, precisely. His language is rich, bright and expressive.

Therefore, besides the historical and scientific, recordinghave artistic value. For our contemporaries, the Treatise on Painting, written by him, is still relevant. His fables and humorous stories, as well as prophecies and allegories, epigrams have reached us.

Painting on the board

The painting "John the Baptist" by Leonardo da Vinciwritten with nut oil on wood in 1508-1513. Its size is 69 x 57 cm. I must say that in those days there was a completely different attitude to the materials for painting. Oil stood and bleached in the sun for fifty years. Sixty or more years, dried boards. And the artist paints himself, using crystals, pounded into powder.

So, the description of the painting by Leonardo da Vinci "John the Baptist."

Young John half-drawn depicted on the darkbackground. Light falls on him on the left. With the index finger of his right hand, he points to the cross, his typical attribute, and to heaven, as if inviting the viewer to reflect on the coming of Christ and prepare for his coming. John the Baptist Leonardo da Vinci is talking to the audience with his eyes, smiling fondly. His appearance is characteristic of a mature Leonardo. Hermit's clothing is a fur hide, in which he is not completely covered. The right shoulder with the correct proportions remained bare. John the Baptist Leonardo da Vinci has long curly hair that falls on his shoulders. The model, presumably, served as his disciple Salai. Transitions from light to shadows are subtle and elegant. This is the famous sfumato, which underlines soft and gentle transitions between light and dark tones to the plasticity and roundness of perfect forms, and also reflects the spiritual state of the saint. On the canvas is simply impossible to detect traces of the brush.

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