1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,101 Hello, my name is Sarai David and over the past semester I've been 2 00:00:05,101 --> 00:00:08,134 researching Leonardo da Vinci's two versions of the virgins with 3 00:00:08,134 --> 00:00:11,504 the rocks paintings. Today I will be talking about how 4 00:00:11,504 --> 00:00:14,200 Leonardo changed from his traditional painting style to 5 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,244 one that created a more cohesive look in his second painting. For 6 00:00:18,244 --> 00:00:19,255 the final altarpiece. 7 00:00:22,070 --> 00:00:27,036 Leonardo was born in Vinci, Italy in 1452 as a young boy, he 8 00:00:27,036 --> 00:00:31,238 moved to Florence with his father to train as a painter 9 00:00:31,238 --> 00:00:35,440 under Andrea Devereaux Keo. He then left Florence in 1482 to 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:40,406 move to Milan, where he worked under the Duke of Milan. In his 11 00:00:40,406 --> 00:00:44,226 court in 1483, Leonardo Sign a contract with Giovanni in 12 00:00:44,226 --> 00:00:48,046 Evangelista deputies to create the Virgin of the Rocks painting 13 00:00:48,046 --> 00:00:51,484 for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. The first 14 00:00:51,484 --> 00:00:53,012 version was completed around 15 00:00:53,012 --> 00:00:56,006 1486. But due to illegal dispute, the final payment was 16 00:00:56,006 --> 00:00:57,710 delayed and the painting was not 17 00:00:57,710 --> 00:01:01,387 turned over. It is believed that during this legal dispute, a 18 00:01:01,387 --> 00:01:02,519 second version was started. 19 00:01:03,460 --> 00:01:07,280 Leonardo would work on the second version until 1499, when 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,100 the French Army invaded Milan. Leonardo fled the invasion and 21 00:01:11,100 --> 00:01:12,628 left the painting behind. 22 00:01:13,470 --> 00:01:17,738 In 1506, Leonardo returned to Milan in an attempt to finish 23 00:01:17,738 --> 00:01:22,394 the painting, but was unable to do so in return. Finally, in 24 00:01:22,394 --> 00:01:23,558 1508 to finish. 25 00:01:24,460 --> 00:01:28,376 Thus ending a nearly 25 year period where Leonardo worked on 26 00:01:28,376 --> 00:01:29,444 these two paintings. 27 00:01:30,690 --> 00:01:34,056 So these are the two paintings I'll be talking about today. 28 00:01:34,056 --> 00:01:38,034 They will primarily be focusing on the one on the right. As you 29 00:01:38,034 --> 00:01:41,706 can see, the subject matter is very similar to group of four 30 00:01:41,706 --> 00:01:44,766 figures in the center of the panel surrounded by rocky 31 00:01:44,766 --> 00:01:48,438 terrain Marys in the center of the painting with Saint John the 32 00:01:48,438 --> 00:01:51,498 Baptist to the viewers left Saint John the Baptist is 33 00:01:51,498 --> 00:01:55,170 staring tordsen baby Jesus, who is then seated next to an Angel. 34 00:01:55,170 --> 00:01:58,230 We don't know the identity of the Angel for certain. 35 00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:03,242 But we do know that is an Angel because the wings are more 36 00:02:03,242 --> 00:02:06,582 clearly visible in the painting on the right, despite the 37 00:02:06,582 --> 00:02:09,254 similarities in the composition. The stylistic differences, like 38 00:02:09,254 --> 00:02:12,594 the shading and the color palette, a subtle changes in 39 00:02:12,594 --> 00:02:13,930 composition result in two 40 00:02:13,930 --> 00:02:18,466 distinct paintings. This version was painted between 1483 and 41 00:02:18,466 --> 00:02:23,174 1486 and has been in France in 1627. It was considered 42 00:02:23,174 --> 00:02:26,598 stylistically superior by many art historians for decades 43 00:02:26,598 --> 00:02:30,450 because the style of this painting matches more closely 44 00:02:30,450 --> 00:02:34,302 with Leonardo style than the second version. While both 45 00:02:34,302 --> 00:02:37,298 paintings have Leonardo's characteristic use of nature, 46 00:02:37,298 --> 00:02:42,434 this version has a haziness or sumat. Oh, that is often present 47 00:02:42,434 --> 00:02:46,286 in Leonardo's other paintings, the warmth of the individuals. 48 00:02:46,340 --> 00:02:48,664 Adds to the realism in this painting. 49 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,115 But this may be caused by the yellow tint of the aged varnish 50 00:02:53,115 --> 00:02:54,645 that has not been cleaned off. 51 00:02:55,550 --> 00:03:00,278 Despite the varnish, the people have a warmth that is missing in 52 00:03:00,278 --> 00:03:01,460 this second version. 53 00:03:02,710 --> 00:03:07,000 This painting is the 2nd version that was created and has been in 54 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,300 the National Gallery in London since 1880. It is noticeably 55 00:03:10,300 --> 00:03:13,600 brighter, thanks in part to her recent cleaning, which revealed 56 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,570 the vibrant colors that were used when Leonardo initially 57 00:03:16,570 --> 00:03:20,200 created this work. The figures are paler than the first version 58 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,510 in the shadows or care oscuro or 59 00:03:22,510 --> 00:03:26,810 more dramatic. The haziness of the previous painting is not 60 00:03:26,810 --> 00:03:29,770 pretty present, which also helps create sharper shadows. 61 00:03:30,550 --> 00:03:34,040 This version of the painting contains iconography that is not 62 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,879 present in the first version, like the Halos around Mary St 63 00:03:37,879 --> 00:03:42,416 John the Baptist and Jesus his heads as well as Saint John the 64 00:03:42,416 --> 00:03:45,906 Baptist staff. These details inform the viewer to whom they 65 00:03:45,906 --> 00:03:49,328 are praying. Those painting, along with the two side 66 00:03:49,328 --> 00:03:52,976 panels that are on the next slide were part of a larger 67 00:03:52,976 --> 00:03:53,584 sculptural altarpiece. 68 00:03:54,890 --> 00:03:58,274 These are the two side panels of the altarpiece. Notice how the 69 00:03:58,274 --> 00:04:01,094 style of these two paintings complements the style of the 70 00:04:01,094 --> 00:04:04,478 painting we just saw, but would have been jarring next to the 71 00:04:04,478 --> 00:04:05,888 first version of the painting. 72 00:04:07,180 --> 00:04:12,038 So here is how the panels would have been laid out in the ultra 73 00:04:12,038 --> 00:04:15,161 piece in traditional altar pieces are often diptychs or 74 00:04:15,161 --> 00:04:18,284 triptychs, where the altarpiece could have been closed, saving 75 00:04:18,284 --> 00:04:22,101 the interior for special days of worship. The two side panels 76 00:04:22,101 --> 00:04:26,265 where the Angels are would have folded in to cover the portrait 77 00:04:26,265 --> 00:04:31,123 of Mary in the infants with the Angel. Now if you look at how 78 00:04:31,123 --> 00:04:35,287 the panels look, it is clear that they would not have covered 79 00:04:35,287 --> 00:04:36,675 the entire center panel. 80 00:04:37,270 --> 00:04:40,720 Indicating that they were never meant to close in the 81 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,825 1st place. the National Gallery also laid out the 82 00:04:43,825 --> 00:04:46,585 three panels in this manner during their recent 83 00:04:46,585 --> 00:04:49,345 exhibition on the version of The Rocks painting. 84 00:04:50,790 --> 00:04:54,370 This is the underdrawing of the National Gallery's version of 85 00:04:54,370 --> 00:04:57,592 the painting Underdrawing show art historians. The details that 86 00:04:57,592 --> 00:05:01,530 artists put lots of time into prior to applying layers of 87 00:05:01,530 --> 00:05:06,184 paint on a canvas or panel. In this case, we can see that 88 00:05:06,184 --> 00:05:10,480 Leonardo put a lot of detail into the shading of Saint John 89 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,060 the Baptist, Jesus, and the Angels sitting next to Jesus. 90 00:05:14,060 --> 00:05:17,640 Now part of Leonardo's legacy comes down from Georgia Vasari, 91 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,578 who's one of the 1st art historians, one of the first 92 00:05:21,578 --> 00:05:23,368 people that records lives of 93 00:05:23,368 --> 00:05:27,849 artists. In his book lies of the artist that was published in 94 00:05:27,849 --> 00:05:32,516 1550, we don't always Know if is Ari is telling the truth about 95 00:05:32,516 --> 00:05:36,106 events or if he's making up stories to entertain his 96 00:05:36,106 --> 00:05:40,055 patrons. But there is a story about Leonardo painting the Last 97 00:05:40,055 --> 00:05:43,645 Supper that shed some light on his methods, particularly when 98 00:05:43,645 --> 00:05:47,594 we look at this underdrawing as the story goes, Leonardo was 99 00:05:47,594 --> 00:05:51,543 unable to complete the face of Jesus in the Last Supper 100 00:05:51,543 --> 00:05:55,492 painting because he was worried that he wouldn't be able to. 101 00:05:55,710 --> 00:05:59,373 Capture the divinity of a figure like Jesus Christ. He didn't 102 00:05:59,373 --> 00:06:03,702 feel like he could do justice as an earthly man to someone of 103 00:06:03,702 --> 00:06:05,034 divine nature like Jesus. 104 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,481 We know that Leonardo did complete the painting. Jesus 105 00:06:10,481 --> 00:06:17,216 does have a face, but it shows that he put a lot of detail into 106 00:06:17,216 --> 00:06:22,155 these figures that were so important to him and so many 107 00:06:22,155 --> 00:06:26,645 people like Leonardo during this time who are devout Christians? 108 00:06:26,645 --> 00:06:31,135 This doesn't explain why Mary's face would be so pale. 109 00:06:33,020 --> 00:06:37,844 Because she was an important part of the story, but it does 110 00:06:37,844 --> 00:06:41,468 help explain. The shading in the other characters. 111 00:06:42,630 --> 00:06:47,226 So the three panels in London that we've looked at were part 112 00:06:47,226 --> 00:06:50,673 of a larger sculpted altarpiece. As I've mentioned, no. 113 00:06:50,673 --> 00:06:54,120 Unfortunately, this altarpiece no longer survives. Part of the 114 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:58,333 altar were sold in 1576, about 70 years after the second 115 00:06:58,333 --> 00:07:01,397 painting was completed. However, the contracts for the 116 00:07:01,397 --> 00:07:04,461 commissions for this altarpiece survive. The contracts describe 117 00:07:04,461 --> 00:07:08,291 a large sculpted altarpiece with 16 items specifically listed for 118 00:07:08,291 --> 00:07:11,738 gilding and painting by Leonardo and the Depretis brothers. 119 00:07:11,738 --> 00:07:13,653 According to the contract, the 120 00:07:13,653 --> 00:07:17,411 entire altarpiece. Was going to be made of three sections. The 121 00:07:17,411 --> 00:07:21,428 top of the altarpiece was going to be a sculpture of Mary in 122 00:07:21,428 --> 00:07:24,518 Jesus surrounded by rocks and mountains with God above the 123 00:07:24,518 --> 00:07:27,917 mother and her child. The bottom of the altarpiece featured a 124 00:07:27,917 --> 00:07:31,994 predella. Now, Padilla is a horizontal base of an ultra 125 00:07:31,994 --> 00:07:34,346 piece that is typically decorated with narrative 126 00:07:34,346 --> 00:07:37,706 scenes. These narrative scenes can either be painted on or 127 00:07:37,706 --> 00:07:41,066 sculpted and release style, where parts of the wood, or 128 00:07:41,066 --> 00:07:44,762 the marble, or the material just in general, are cut away 129 00:07:44,762 --> 00:07:48,122 to leave behind figure and images to tell a story. 130 00:07:49,340 --> 00:07:53,586 The Virgin of the Rocks in the two smaller paintings were 131 00:07:53,586 --> 00:07:56,674 displayed between these two sculpted parts. Yokomo Domano 132 00:07:56,674 --> 00:08:00,148 had the contract for the sculptural elements of this 133 00:08:00,148 --> 00:08:03,622 ultra piece. In his contract contract predates Leonardo in 134 00:08:03,622 --> 00:08:07,482 the Depretis brothers contract by about three years, and this 135 00:08:07,482 --> 00:08:10,570 means the sculptural elements should have been completed 136 00:08:10,570 --> 00:08:14,816 before Leonardo began painting the Virgin of the Rocks and it's 137 00:08:14,816 --> 00:08:18,676 my belief that Leonardo changed his typical painting style from 138 00:08:18,676 --> 00:08:19,834 realistic and soft. 139 00:08:19,990 --> 00:08:23,103 To match the sculptural element of the rest of the altarpiece. 140 00:08:24,130 --> 00:08:27,562 This also means that the presence of the rocks in the 141 00:08:27,562 --> 00:08:29,434 painting, something researchers have debated for 142 00:08:29,434 --> 00:08:32,242 many years, would not have been Leonardo's decision to 143 00:08:32,242 --> 00:08:34,114 include but that of the confraternity. 144 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,230 Yakima Domano was contacted by the Confraternity to create the 145 00:08:39,230 --> 00:08:42,051 sculptural elements of this altarpiece. Then this 146 00:08:42,051 --> 00:08:45,678 altarpiece, as mentioned before, doesn't survive, but the other 147 00:08:45,678 --> 00:08:50,111 altar pieces that he created throughout his lifetime do as do 148 00:08:50,111 --> 00:08:53,335 their contracts. the National Gallery is determined by 149 00:08:53,335 --> 00:08:56,156 comparing the contracts for the Immaculate Conceptions 150 00:08:56,156 --> 00:09:00,186 Altarpiece who the other contracts that we can use the 151 00:09:00,186 --> 00:09:03,410 surviving altarpieces to recreate. The one that we've 152 00:09:03,410 --> 00:09:05,022 lost this image here. 153 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,462 Is one of those altarpieces and I believe it does a good job of 154 00:09:08,462 --> 00:09:09,860 representing what the top of the 155 00:09:10,500 --> 00:09:13,550 missing altarpiece would have looked like. In the center of 156 00:09:13,550 --> 00:09:17,515 the altarpiece, we have a statue of the Virgin Mary was in the 157 00:09:17,515 --> 00:09:21,175 altarpiece. It's lost it like we would have had the statue of 158 00:09:21,175 --> 00:09:22,395 Mary and Jesus there. 159 00:09:23,770 --> 00:09:28,294 God is over headed behind her in the alcove with a circle 160 00:09:28,294 --> 00:09:32,064 around him that's been gilded. There are also Angels and 161 00:09:32,064 --> 00:09:35,834 seraphim surrounding her on either side of the center part. 162 00:09:35,834 --> 00:09:39,604 There are narrative scenes which are also mentioned in the 163 00:09:39,604 --> 00:09:42,243 contract that survives for the Immaculate Conceptions 164 00:09:42,243 --> 00:09:42,620 altarpiece. 165 00:09:44,260 --> 00:09:48,139 Separating the narrative scenes are decorative pilaster's and we 166 00:09:48,139 --> 00:09:53,311 can't see the predella here, but there likely would have been one 167 00:09:53,311 --> 00:09:57,190 as well. The entire altarpieces gilded, even the narrative, 168 00:09:57,190 --> 00:09:58,914 reliefs on the sides. 169 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:03,990 The only. Things that are not gilded are the faces in the 170 00:10:03,990 --> 00:10:07,094 hands and the seraphims, better painted in cinnabar. 171 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,777 As I mentioned earlier, Leonardo's figures in his second 172 00:10:11,777 --> 00:10:15,220 painting are quite different from the ones in his first. Then 173 00:10:15,220 --> 00:10:18,350 there is a painting technique called grisaille that was used 174 00:10:18,350 --> 00:10:21,167 during the Renaissance that Leonardo may have been inspired 175 00:10:21,167 --> 00:10:25,580 by. Grisaille is a style of painting where the subject is 176 00:10:25,580 --> 00:10:29,474 painted in Gray tones to mimic sculpture. The exterior of the 177 00:10:29,474 --> 00:10:33,014 Portinari Altarpiece by Hugo van der Grosse features two figures 178 00:10:33,014 --> 00:10:36,908 that are painted in grisaille, seen here in the lower right 179 00:10:36,908 --> 00:10:41,510 hand corner of this slide is an image of the interior of the 180 00:10:41,510 --> 00:10:44,342 Portinari Altarpiece in case anyone is curious. The 181 00:10:44,342 --> 00:10:47,528 altarpiece is believed to have traveled to Florence shortly 182 00:10:47,528 --> 00:10:51,776 after it was completed in 1478. None of the painting did travel 183 00:10:51,776 --> 00:10:55,828 there. And was exhibited between 1478 and 1482. Leonardo would 184 00:10:55,828 --> 00:10:58,642 have been in Florence to see the 185 00:10:58,642 --> 00:11:02,476 altarpiece. The other piece was incredibly influential for its 186 00:11:02,476 --> 00:11:06,727 use of nature, but if Leonardo visited on a day it wasn't open, 187 00:11:06,727 --> 00:11:10,651 he would have seen the Karzai figures on the back. This isn't 188 00:11:10,651 --> 00:11:15,229 to say that this was the first time goes I had ever been used 189 00:11:15,229 --> 00:11:18,172 in painting, but with how influential this altarpiece was 190 00:11:18,172 --> 00:11:21,115 an Italian artist. It is entirely possible that Leonardo 191 00:11:21,115 --> 00:11:24,385 drew influence from this altarpiece to be used as needed 192 00:11:24,385 --> 00:11:27,655 in his future paintings. It is important to note that 193 00:11:27,655 --> 00:11:30,271 Leonardo's figures are not completed in the traditional 194 00:11:30,271 --> 00:11:34,211 grisaille style. His figures are not painted and only grey tones. 195 00:11:34,211 --> 00:11:37,830 They have color to them. However, I don't believe that it 196 00:11:37,830 --> 00:11:41,449 was his intention to make his figures solely look like stone 197 00:11:41,449 --> 00:11:42,765 in the first place. 198 00:11:44,180 --> 00:11:47,722 Instead, the central for figures were meant to be real people 199 00:11:47,722 --> 00:11:50,620 within a painting, but their composition still needed to 200 00:11:50,620 --> 00:11:53,840 complement the rest of the altarpiece to create a cohesive 201 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,060 design. When we lower the brightness of the three panels, 202 00:11:57,060 --> 00:12:00,602 like I've done here, we can begin to imagine what the 203 00:12:00,602 --> 00:12:03,822 paintings would've looked like within a low light setting like 204 00:12:03,822 --> 00:12:07,860 the Chapel. The stone, like skin of the figures in the central 205 00:12:07,860 --> 00:12:10,852 panel, stand out against the darker colors in the more muted 206 00:12:10,852 --> 00:12:12,212 tones of the outer panels. 207 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,320 And they begin to draw the attention of the viewer for 208 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:17,600 worship or for contemplation. 209 00:12:19,290 --> 00:12:23,252 It is unknown if art historians will ever be able to tell if the 210 00:12:23,252 --> 00:12:26,082 National Gallery's version of The Rocks figures were meant to 211 00:12:26,082 --> 00:12:28,912 mimic sculpted elements of the rest of the altarpiece. However, 212 00:12:28,912 --> 00:12:32,025 we do know that Leonardo was a skilled painter who thought 213 00:12:32,025 --> 00:12:35,421 about the minute details of the world around him. He could have 214 00:12:35,421 --> 00:12:38,534 looked at the first version of his painting and realized that 215 00:12:38,534 --> 00:12:41,647 he could help create a more cohesive altarpiece and then use 216 00:12:41,647 --> 00:12:44,194 the second version as an opportunity to do so. 217 00:12:45,270 --> 00:12:48,834 This version has a long history of being thought of as lesser 218 00:12:48,834 --> 00:12:51,804 simply because it is not the traditional style of Leonardo, 219 00:12:51,804 --> 00:12:55,665 but that's not the case. Or the second version is not in the 220 00:12:55,665 --> 00:12:59,526 style of Leonardo that we have come to know and love. That does 221 00:12:59,526 --> 00:13:02,496 not diminish the skill that it took to create it. 222 00:13:04,660 --> 00:13:05,320 Thank you.