A painting that pointed the way to art’s future
Our columnist takes a look behind some of the world’s most significant paintings. This week, St John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci
o much is known about the polymath S Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): he is probably the most studied and dissected figure in history.
His painting techniques leave artists still in wonderment today. He managed to establish imperceptible transitions between light and shade, and his brushwork is often so subtle it is difficult to detect the strokes, even on close inspection. His invention of “sfumato”, meaning vanished or evaporated, enabled him to blend his colours and outlines, as he described it, “without borders, in the manner of smoke”.
Leonardo was entranced by the fall and play of light on surfaces and flesh. He wanted to perfect a luminescence in his portraits, applying layer upon layer of faint, almost transparent colour, in thin veils. It allowed his subjects to glow in ethereal splendour. When describing the painting
Mona Lisa, Giorgio Vasari, chronicler of the Renaissance, said, “As art may imitate nature, she does not appear to be painted, but truly of flesh and blood. On looking closely at the pit of her throat, one could swear that the pulses were beating.”
Of course, it is well known that Leonardo drew upon his own fascination with human anatomy to achieve such realism. His interest in capturing the sinews and musculature of the body led him to dismember corpses, at a time when embalming was not practised and bodies were hard to preserve.
His depictions of the heart, vascular system and genitals are some of the first precise studies ever made of the internal organs of the body, a breakthrough in biology as well as an invaluable source material for his paintings.
Between 1513 and 1516 he worked on St John the Baptist, believed to be his last painting. St John appears to be pointing to heaven, smiling as gently and serenely as Mona Lisa, as he emerges from the darkness behind him.
Some have suggested that St John appears to be effeminate in this portrayal, his hand held in a feminine way at his chest, his hair in gentle ringlets, and his features faunlike and ambiguous. This was not the John the Baptist of the Bible, they claim, who was an earthy, somewhat fiery man of the desert, dressed in rags and living on locusts and honey. Clearly, Leonardo liked to conceive a very personal interpretation, and must have rather enjoyed the inscrutable, almost mystical air his portrait conveys.
You will not be surprised to know that Leonardo was something of a Golden Child. At the age of just 15, he gained an apprenticeship to work in the studio of the leading Florentine artist Verrocchio.
He learned fast. Verrocchio was greatly concerned with the quality of execution, insisting that each painting must convincingly express the human figure. From that point on, it became clear that Leonardo’s approach was always based on using tradition, and improving on it, rather than rebelling against it.
It was quickly apparent that Leonardo’s skills were extraordinary. During the Italian Renaissance it was commonplace for masters and assistants to collaborate on commissions. But Verrocchio found that Leonardo’s indiscernible evolutions from hard to soft, from pale to dark, were a revelation, and far exceeded his own powers. Soon, Leonardo set up his own studio. Even while very young, his reputation was such that he was chosen by a major church for a complete altarpiece.
In this work, Adoration of the
Magi (1481), Leonardo developed a new approach, moving beyond the use of traditional linear perspective, where objects appear smaller in proportion the further away they are. Instead, he used paint to make distant objects less distinct, and more muted in colour.
Soon afterwards, Leonardo was summoned to take up the position of court artist to the Duke of Milan, where he was fascinated by the laws of motion and propulsion. His first Milanese painting, The
Virgin of the Rocks, allowed Leonardo to experiment with representing nature in dimmed light, using the figures of the Holy Family sheltered in a cave. Explaining his viewpoint, Leonardo suggested “artists should practise drawing at dusk in courtyards with walls painted black”.
When Leonardo returned to Florence, he was greeted with great acclaim. Many artists were drawn to his breathtaking methods and eager to become disciples. Before long, he found himself working for the powerful Borgia family, as the leading military engineer of the era. He still found time to complete a number of the world’s great masterpieces, including Mona Lisa.
Leonardo’s influence on other painters of the day cannot be overstated. Raphael and Michelangelo were both able to absorb and modify his techniques rather than merely copying his style.
Unfortunately, relatively few of Leonardo’s works have survived. However, The Last Supper, painted during his time in Milan (14951498), is still in reasonable condition for a fresco using tempura and oil. Created for the city’s monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, this magnificent work measures a commanding 15ft by 29ft. Each apostle’s distinct emotion and expression is revealed, with Jesus centred, and yet isolated, as he declares; “One of you shall betray me.” No other artist has captured this most significant of moments with such touching clarity.
The electrifying effect he would have upon all art that followed still resonates today, just as it did in the 15th century.