Image source: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). View source
Virgin of the Rocks
Leonardo da Vinci · Renaissance & Mannerism
- Artist
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
- Date
- c. 1483–1486
- Dimensions
- 199 x 122 cm
- Medium
- Oil on panel (transferred to canvas)
- Location
- Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
The Virgin of the Rocks shows the Virgin Mary kneeling in a strange rocky grotto with the infant Jesus, the infant John the Baptist and an angel. The children meet in a mysterious landscape of stone, water and plants.
A closer look
The four figures form a pyramid. Mary extends one hand protectively over the kneeling John and holds the other above Jesus, who blesses his cousin. The angel, with a gentle face, looks out at the viewer and points to John. Leonardo bathed the scene in soft, smoky light, the 'sfumato' for which he was famous, so that the figures emerge gradually from the shadows. Each plant is botanically accurate, and the jagged rocks reflect his geological studies. This is the earlier of Leonardo's two versions; the second is in the National Gallery, London.
