Leonardo's influence...

10:32 a.m.

Today we celebrate the 561th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's birth, the Renaissance man par excellence. However, his influence in the world of Art seems to have no time nor age...

Historians say Leonardo was asked to paint the altar of the Nunziata in Florence... And, as it always happened with him, the work delayed the presentation of the first sketches. Finally, he drew on a cardboard the Virgin Mary, Saint Anne (the Virgin's mother), baby Jesus and St John the Baptist. For the Virgin, he did a simple yet beautiful face, as only the mother of Christ could have: he wanted to show her modesty and humility, while delighted to be holding her Son. But she is also looking at St John, depicted as a small boy with a lamb. The entire scene is supervised by St Anne, with satisfaction and joy towards the Divine family. Once finished, the whole of Florence, in solemn procession, went to admire the masterpiece. Years later it was taken to France.

Saint Anne, the Virgin and the Child with St John the Baptist, by Leonardo da Vinci (ca. 1500)

Technique: black stone and details in white, on a montage of 8 sheets of paper glued to the canvas / Measures: 141,5 x 104,6 cm

The National Gallery - Londres

The "Trinity of Saint Anne" is an iconographic motif of great popularity in the beginning of the 16th Century. It shows the Virgin with her mother and the Child. The figures are usually superimposed vertically or horizontally, in a static way. Below, an example belonging to MNBA's permanent collection:

Santa Ana Triple, Anonymous.

Technique: sculpture in wood / Measures: 85 x 44.5 x 17 cm

MNBA

The Dominican priests commissioned Leonardo a work for the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milano. Da Vinci painted there The Last Supper, one of his most famous works. He easily executed the faces of 11 of the Apostles. But he had a hard time finishing two: that of Judas and Christ. True to his ways, he delayed the work and wouldn't finish it. Thus, the priests wouldn't stop pushing him to pit an end to it and deliver the result.
Leonardo chose to depict the exact moment in which the Son of God tells his Apostles that one of them will betray him. Their faces show fear, confusion, anger and sadness. Finally da Vinci decides to paint Judas' face as that of the priest who wouldn't stop bothering him. Christ's face is left unfinished.

The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci (1495-1498)

Técnica: tempera and oil on canvas / Measures: 4,6 x 8,8 mts

Santa Maria delle Grazie - Milán

Da Vinci still influences artists of today. Yinka Shonibare was born in London, lived in Nigeria but returned to the UK to study Art. In the work below he also represented The Last Supper, but the bodies have no heads. According to the artist, he wanted to reflect today's globalisation, so he could not give them neither a race nor local features or feelings in their faces.