COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.51.90
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Drawings and Watercolors
Creator Name:
Leonardo Da Vinci
Creator Name:
Leonardo Da Vinci
Creator Nationality:
European; Southern European; Italian
Creator Role:
Artist
Creator Dates/Places:
Italian, b. Vinci 1452 - d. Cloux 1519
Creator Birth Place:
Vinci
Creator Death Place:
Cloux
Creator Name-CRT:
Made by Leonardo da Vinci
Title:
Head of the Virgin
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
1507-1513
Creation Start Date:
1507
Creation End Date:
1513
Materials and Techniques:
Charcoal, black and red chalks; traces of framing line in pen and brown ink at upper right
Dimensions:
8 x 6-1/8 in. (20.3 x 15.6 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
51.90
Credit Line:
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1951
Context:
This exquisitely finished drawing closely relates to the oil painting of the 'Virgin and Child with Saint Anne' (Musée du Louvre, Paris), of about 1508-12, and may have been a preparatory study. To render the infinite gradations of light and shadow, the artist used the sfumato technique, softly stumping the strokes of chalk. The effect is that of seamlessly blended tone 'in the manner of smoke' ('fumo'). Although the drawing surface has suffered somewhat, this study is unmistakably by Leonardo, and vividly illustrates the depth of his explorations of optical phenomena late in his career. Some of the major drawings for the Louvre picture are in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, England.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.dp51.90.R.tif
Initial Sort:
Leonardo Da Vinci
Head of the Virgin
