Leonardo da Vinci trained in Florence in Andrea del Verrocchio’s workshop. Painting and sculpture formed part of a much wider curiosity about nature. Drawings recorded ideas, observations and experiments, from anatomy and animals to water and machinery. His notebooks show an artist repeatedly using the act of drawing to ask a question.
That attentive approach offers a way into even his most familiar images. In the Mona Lisa, begin with the hands and their measured position rather than the celebrated smile. The body turns gently within the picture, while the distant landscape carries the eye farther away. Each transition gives the portrait a different sense of scale and a slower rhythm of looking.
An artist between cities
Leonardo worked principally in Florence and Milan, with later periods in Rome and France. Relatively few finished paintings survive, alongside a substantial body of drawings. The Last Supper, made for Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, brings a dramatic human event into a rigorously arranged architectural setting.
Look across the table as though following a conversation. Hands, heads and bodies answer one another, while the room provides a steady framework for their movement. The contrast between the surrounding activity and the central figure makes the composition immediately readable. Returning to an individual gesture reveals another local relationship within that larger order, keeping a crowded scene remarkably clear and spacious.
A picture as an enquiry
Leonardo spent his final years in France, where he died in 1519. His drawing and painting continue to connect artistic invention with close investigation. Soft transitions of light and shade are especially important to his portraits, allowing forms to emerge without a uniformly hard outline.
The Vitruvian Man brings another kind of attention to the page. A body, a circle, a square and written notes share one surface. Follow the lines individually, then consider their meeting points. In the paintings, try the opposite process: let the complete arrangement settle before seeking a detail. Both approaches make room for the patient visual thinking that gives Leonardo’s work its continuing fascination.
Art to live with.
Fine-art prints on 200 gsm paper. Choose unframed or explore the available frame finishes, in a size that suits your space.
