Leonardo Da Vinci Drawings

Some of Leonardo da Vinci drawings show the "sfumato" technique to render realistic effects. It is in this period that Giotto's realism lessons ( and also Cavallini's, , Duccio's and Masaccio's ) are enhanced to even more spectacular levels.

Leonardo da Vinci, Study of Arms and Hands. c. 1474.
Pen and Ink with white chalk on brown paper

 

 

Leonardo, cartoon, national gallery (c. 1499-1500)

 

Head of a Young Woman , Accademia di Belle Arti, Venice

 

 

Head of the Vergin, 1508-1512, MET New York

Here follow some pictures taken from this website

Study of woman

Study of Woman

Vitruvian Man

St Anne

Drawing for the Battle of Anghiari

Peter Paul Ruben's copy of the Battle of Anghiari by Leonardo (original lost) , c. 1603 - click to enlarge

The Battle of Anghiari Details - click to enlarge

Study of Horses with riders

Study of horse and rider

Probably a sketch for the equestrian monument of the his mentor and patron Ludovico Sforza's father, Francesco Sforza, which he never made.

A landscape study. Landscape as a gendre was not yet established as a form of art. Landscape painting begun with the invention of color-tubes in the 19th century which allowed painters to carry colors outside their studios and paint "en plein air".

Self-portrait - ca. 1512-1515

 

 

 

The Chiaroscuro is a technique which manipulates the shades. It was known in the ancient Greece (Apollodoro, Polignoto of Thasos).

Leonardo modified it in a "sfumato" technique which renders the passing from light to dark softer.

(continues...)

Miscellaneous

check the website about Leonardo Inventions

 

 

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