• Da Vinci
• details in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ
• c. 1470
• Tempera and oil on panel
• Uffizi, Florence

• Often cited as containing the first figure painted by Leonardo
• Kneeling angel on the left was painted by Leonardo
• Verrocchio may have not developed the far-reaching landscape (hazy)

• da Vinci
• Drapery for a Seated Figure
• 1470
• Brush, grey and white on linen canvas
• Louvre, Paris

• Rejects the classical ideal of drapery and instead scientfically observes how drapery really works on a figure
• Interest to capture the truth (human form), not aesthetically pleasing or ideal drapery (classical form)

• da Vinci
• Annunciation
• c. 1472-75
• Oil on Panel
• Uffizi, Florence

• Commissioned for the Church of San Bartolommeo, stayed until 1876 and then brought to the Uffizi
• "hortus conclusus": closed garden, symbol for Virgin Mary
• Madonna lily held by Gabriel: symbol of Virgin's purity and Florence
• Moment of "Cogitatio" of the 5 Laudable Conditions of the Virgin
• Illustrates influence of Verrocchio ( but also his independence with his interest in botanical drawing, sfumato and far reaching landscape

• da Vinci
• Ginevra de' Benci
• c. 1474
• Oil and Tempera on Panel
• National Gallery, Washington DC

• Earliest known female portrait in which the sitter turns toward viewer
• First female portrait with hands (although cut down about 8" from bottom where hands were/drawing is evidence/early descriptions of the painting)
• Would have been 22 when painting this
• da Vinci's visible fingerprint on painting
• da Vinci's only double-sided work
• Landscape revolutionary becuse women were usually sheltered, usually shown through window
• Foliage Significance: juniper bush, "Jenepro," pun with Ginevra, symbolic of her virtue, evergreen foliage (fertile), symbol of chastity, appropriate for a young bride on the eve of her wedding

• da Vinci
• Study of Hands
• 1474
• drawing
• HM Queen Elizabeth II, Windsor

• Beauty of women through their hands and neck, concept of Sprezzatura: no expression of face
• Portrait of a Lady Holding Primrose: Verrocchio, earliest example of a bust female portrait with hands

• da Vinci
• Madonna of the Carnation
• c. 1476
• Oil on panel
• Alte Pinakothek, Munich

• Influence still Verrocchio but also Dessedero (revolutionary in his portraits of Virgin and child)
• Single piece of jewelry: large piece of crystal (purity and virginity) or mirror (immaculateness). Both associated with the virgin.
• Red carnation: symbolizes love, scientifically dianthus or "flower of god" in Greek
• Example of "relievo"

• Da Vinci
• Benois Madonna
• c. 1478
• oil on canvas/transferred from panel
• Hermitage, St. Petersburg

• Small size and lack of information suggests that it was intended for private devotion
• Similarly dressed as the Carnation Madonna with single brooch
• Symbol of Column in background: one of the objects of the passion of the Christ, object he was tied to during the flagellation
• Considered a transitional painting: anticipates the Virgin in the Adoration
• Evidence of artist brainstorming with several drawings/sketches

• da Vinci
• Hanging of Bernardo Baroncelli
• 1479
• Drawing
• Bayonne Musee, Bonnat

• Text adresses the costume, not the political ramifications of the events (member of the Pazzi Conspiracy who attempted to assassinate Lorenzo and Guliano, Baroncelli involved in Murder of Guliano) or information about Baroncelli
• This is an opportunity to examine an unusual costume (study of the body, desire to observe and document)

• da Vinci
• Adoration of the Magi
• c. 1481
• Unfinished Panel
• Uffizi, Florence

• Reveals his ability to draw and his inability to finish works
• First major commission, first large scale painting
• Commissioned for Monastery of San Donato Ascopeto (Augustinian monastery just outside of the city gate of Florence)
• Work was left unfinished in 1482 when da Vinci departed for Milan, monastery commissioned another work of the same subject by Filipino Lippi in its place
• Magi are Balthazar, Caspar, Melchior (not named in the bible), often interpreted as priest of other religions, representatives of other continents (Asia, Africa, Europe)
• Use of affetti
• Scholars believe this work to be one of the most significant in the Renaissance

• da Vinci
• St. Jerome
• c. 1482
• Unfinished Panel
• Vatican Museum, Rome

• More correctly this is a preparatory drawing rather than an unfinished work
• Woodcut made in Rome in 1500 based on this
• About psychological intense devotion and corporeal denial
• Most earlier depictions of St. Jerome portray him dressed as a cardinal, in a library surrounded by books

• da Vinci
• Madonna of the Rocks
• 1483-1486
• Panel transferred to canvas
• Louvre, Paris

• Central part of an Ancona
• Commissioned by Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception (Franciscan fraternity)
• Rocky landscape symbolic: originates from early Old Testament writings where the Virgin is referred to as a rock inhume by human hands

• da Vinci
• Madonna of the Rocks
• 1491-1508
• oil on panel
• National Gallery, London

• Does not include the angel's gesture but instead halos and John now holds a cross staff
• Most agree that most of the painting is not by da Vinci, almost entirely by Ambrosio although he did follow da Vinci's plan, design and under-drawings
• No sfumato

• da Vinci
• Cecilia Gallerani
• c. 1483-1486
• Panel
• Czartoryski Collection, Krakow

• Irmin provides a clue as to the sitter's identity, Greek word for irmin is "galle", symbol for purity and modesty (appropriate attribute for young women), appears in the emblems of the king
• 1491: Cecilia has a son named Cesare
• 1492: sent away from palace and marries another man
• She lives in a palace given to Cesare by Ludovico, essentially still supported by him
• Ludovico was named a member of the Chivalric Order of the Irmin

• da Vinci
• Last Supper
• 1495-1498
• fresco/oil/tempera
• Refectory, Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan

• Badly damaged, began to deteriorate within 20 years of its completion because of oil and limestone reacitons
• Commissioned by the Duke of Milan: Ludovico
• Depicts the moment that Chirst announced that one of his followers at the table will betray him
• "Cenacalo": Last Supper in Florentine
• Revolutionary positoin of Judas: from this point foward everyone will place Judas on the same side of the table
• Martin Kemp says: the ebb and flow of the movement in the Last Supper is the outward effect of the inner causes of motion
• 1978: Restoration begins, refectory was sealed and climate controlled to preserve the space
• August 1943: the refectory was hit by an allied bomb, the painting was not destroyed

• da Vinci
• Madonna and Child and St. Anne
• c. 1499-1501
• Charcoal cartoon
• National Gallery, London

• full scale prep drawing for a study for painting for a painting
• not for altarpiece, for Louis XII
• Theme intended to parallel the Holy Trinity (Human trinity)
• Sold to Nation Gallery of London for 80,000 pounds
• July 1987: attacked with a shotgun, single shot, not destroyed
• 1962: someone throws a bottle of ink at it

• da Vinci
• Battle of Anghiari
• c. 1503-1505
• Lost Fresco
• Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

• Expresses military victories of the Florentines
• da Vinci commissioned to paint this and Michelangelo commissioned to paint the mural opposite (Battle of Cascine)
• Most supreme example of State sanctioned artistic rivalry (paragone) to date
• Abandoned project in 1506 but tried to repay Signoria before he left Florence, Michelangelo also left the project in about 1505 to go to Rome

• da Vinci
• La Gioconda (Mona Lisa)
• 1503-1505
• oil on panel
• Louvre, Paris

• Estimated roughly 6 million people a year see this image in person
• Use of Sprezzatura
• Never finished, never given to the sitter or her husband, Leonardo takes this will him to France, in his possession when he dies, ends up in the collection of King Francis I, this is why it's in the Louvre
• October 2004: extensive study of painting
• August 21, 1911: stolen by Peruggia, glass worker, decides it shouldn't be in France
• 1913: tries to sell it and gets caught
• After invention of the printing press, one of the most widely reproduced images in the world

• da Vinci
• Madonna and Child and St. Anne
• c. 1508
• Oil on Panel
• Louvre, Paris

• Considered to be his last work in Italy
• Recalls the Burlington cartoon although John the Baptist is exchanged for a lamb (Christ's sacrifice)
• Often Characterized as a summation of Leonardo's Artistic interests: probably his most complete panel painting

• da Vinci
• Saint John the Baptist
• c. 1513-1516
• Oil on Panel
• Louvre, Paris

• da Vinci goes to France and serves Francis I, he's appointed first painter, architect and mechanic of the king
• Given small castle in back of the estate at Ambroise
• Brings Mona Lisa and probably two other unfinished works (St. John the Baptist and Bacchus)
• Illuminated by unknown light source as most da Vinci's are
• Anticipates later works by Caravaggio, etc.

• Raphael
• Angel (Less Adorned)
• Baronci Altarpiece
• 1500
• Oil on Wood
• Sant Agostino, Citta di Castello
• Brescia

• First recorded commission given to him is dated Dec 10th 1500
• Altarpiece damaged in an earthquake and dismantled, pieces are in different places

• Raphael
• Angel (More Adorned)
• Baronci Altarpiece
• 1500
• Oil on Wood
• Sant Agostino, Citta di Castello
• Louvre

• Raphael
• Crucifixion
• Citta di Castello Altarpiece
• c. 1502
• Oil on Wood
• National Gallery, London

• First signed work
• Patron: Gabari, commissioned for his Chapel in San Domingo in Citta di Castello
• Reveals adherence to Perugino's style although new independence: figures reveal more modeling, particularly in face, interest in far reaching landscape, more natural colors (Perugino's are harsher, more opaque)

• Raphael
• Three Graces
• c. 1503-04
• Oil on Wood
• 6.7 x 6.7 in.
• Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

• While in Urbino does a number of small commissions for Guido Baldo, Duke of Urbino and his wife Elizabeth Gonzaga, this is one of those works along with the Vision of a Knight
• Both secular and courtly in nature, suggest they belong to the same serious of works
• His first study of the female nude
• Not based on living models but the classical ideal of the female nude and probably a sculpture
• Shows ability to work in a variety of mediums and scale, sacred and secular themes

• Raphael
• Vision of a Knight
• 1503-04
• Oil on Wood
• 6.7 x 6.7 in.
• National Gallery, London

• Virtue holds a sword and a book, identified as Minerva (windy path that leads to castle)
• Vice holds a small bunch of white flowers, identified as Venus (brides and water behind her)
• Often interpreted as an allegory: Virtue offers a tougher and less glamourous path

• Raphael
• The Marriage of the Virgin
• 1504
• Oil on Round Headed Panel
• 67 x 46 in
• Brera Milan

• "Sposalizio" Italian for "the one to be married"
• Another commission from the patrons in Citta di Castello, Fillipo di Ludovico Albizzini
• Remarkably similar to a painting by Perugino of the same subject, completely shortly before Raphael does his painting
• Subject appears in the Golden Legend
• Temple serves as place he chose to sign and date the work
• His earliest surviving work to be both signed and dated
• Most agree this work proves he surpassed Perugino
• Most important Pre-Florentine work

• Raphael
• Madonna of the Grand Duke
• c. 1505
• Oil on Wood
• 84 x 55 cm
• Palazzo Pitti, Florence

• Title reflects the fact that Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany owned it and wouldn't go anywhere without it
• Perhaps the earliest of several half length protraits of the virgin and child done in this period
• Represents how far away he has moved from the model of Perugino
• Viewed works by Michelangelo and da Vinci, working with relievo, sfumato, sculptural quality: figures are much rounder and softer, developed through chiaroscuro, moving away from Perugino's linear figures
• Gombrich said this painting is classical, served generations as a standard of perfect

• Raphael
• The Madonna of the Goldfinch
• c. 1505
• Uffizi, Florence

• Influence of Leonardo: composition similar to his pyramidal constructions, faces develop through chiaroscuro, connect through gesture, ambiguous action of children
• Although light and clarity: discarded sfumato
• Preference for more saturated and jewel tone colors
• Probably executed for Taddeo Taddeo, a Florentine merchand and art lover
• Vasari tells us that he paints two works as an exchange for his hospitality
• At the same time, Michlangelo has been commissioned the Taddei Tondo
• Two extant sketches by Raphael of the tondo

• Raphael
• Madonna del Prato (of the Meadow)
• c. 1505
• Oil on Wood
• 113 x 88 cm
• Kunsthistorisches, Vienna

• Painted for his friend Lorenzo Nasi, probably a wedding gift
• Probably influenced by Michelangelo's Bruge Madonna
• Poses are radically different from the Madonna of the Meadow
• Goldfinch: common symbol of the passion, believed they lived and fed in thorns
• Damaged when there was a partial collapse of the Nasi house in 1548, work put back together by Nasi's son
• Recently restored from 1998-2008

Giorgio Vasari

• Italian painter and architect who is today famous for his biographies of Italian artists
• Cosidered the ideological foundation of Art-Historical writing
• Essentially the first Italian art historian
• Wrote: "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptuors and Architects" 
• One of the earliest authories to use the word "competition" ("concorrenza") in Italian in its economic sense
• Nortoriously bias in favor of Florentines and tends to attribute to them all the developments in Renaissance art, for example, invention of engraving
• Venentian art in particular is systematically ignored in the first edition although between the first and scond editions, he visits Venice and while the second edition gave me attention to Venetian art (finally including Titian) it did so without achieving a neutral point of view