Paintings
Virgin of the Rocks
Leonardo da Vinci
c. 1483–1486
The Virgin Mary shelters the infant John the Baptist while the Christ Child blesses him, watched by the angel Uriel, in a mysterious grotto of jagged rocks and water. Leonardo binds the figures into a pyramidal composition and bathes them in soft light and shadow. The plant life and geology are rendered with a naturalist’s precision.
Historical Context
Commissioned by the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception for a chapel in Milan, the painting sparked a long dispute over payment. Leonardo painted a second version, now in the National Gallery, London. The Louvre version is generally considered the earlier and is more subtly modelled.
Provenance
Acquired by Louis XII or Francis I in the early sixteenth century, and has been in the French royal and national collections ever since.
Details
- Medium
- Oil on panel (transferred to canvas)
- Dimensions
- 199 × 122 cm
- Department
- Paintings
- Period / Era
- Renaissance
- Origin
- Italy (Milan)
- Location in museum
- Denon Wing, First Floor — Grande Galerie
About the Artist
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) moved to Milan in the early 1480s to serve Duke Ludovico Sforza. There he painted, designed engines and festivals, and studied optics and anatomy, laying the foundations of High Renaissance art.