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Date : approx. between 1491 and 1508
Sizes : 1.2 m x 1.9 m
Material : Oil painting on wood
Acquisition : (1880)
| Item 7 on 17
Italian Painting
Painting
Area related
Italy
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| Description |  |
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The Virgin holds out her hand above the Christ Child, who unusually is seated on the ground. Supported by an angel, he blesses his cousin, the infant Saint John the Baptist. Since the Baptist is protected by the Virgin and is not wearing his usual camel he could be mistaken for Christ. His cross and scroll were added by a later artist to avoid confusion. The rocky setting was Leonardo's invention.
The painting was made for an elaborate sculpted altar in the chapel of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception in San Francesco, Milan. How much of the painting Leonardo executed himself is disputed. The best-preserved parts (especially the angel's head) could only be by him. Much of the background may be by an assistant.
The Virgin of the Rocks displayed here is the second version of the subject that Leonardo made for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception in Milan. An earlier version, now in the Louvre, was sold probably because the Confraternity refused to pay the raised fee demanded by the artist.
Recent infrared examination of this second version has revealed two distinct compositional underdrawings which provide new evidence about the making of this work.
The first underdrawing shows the figure of a kneeling Virgin. The pose suggests that Leonardo did not originally plan to make a copy of this earlier work, but instead create a new composition depicting the Adoration of the Christ Child. The head and left hand of this figure (left), later abandoned, were drawn over lines transferred directly from cartoons, that is, full-size preparatory studies for paintings. The head exactly reproduces at about half size and in reverse that of Saint Philip in Leonardo's 'Last Supper', finished by early 1498 (right). This connection suggests that the artist was exploring compositional ideas for the two pictures at about the same time, almost certainly in the early 1490s.
The second underdrawing is for 'The Virgin of the Rocks' as we see it here. This shows freehand changes to an underdrawing transferred in part from cartoons, possibly cut out of a full-scale composition cartoon for the earlier version.
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