Virgin of the Rocks
The Virgin of the Rocks, sometimes the Madonna of the Rocks, is the name of two paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, of the same subject, with a composition which is identical except for several significant details. The version generally considered the prime version, the earlier of the two, is unrestored and hangs in the Louvre in Paris. The other, which was restored between 2008 and 2010, hangs in the National Gallery, London. The works are often known as the Louvre Virgin of the Rocks and London Virgin of the Rocks respectively. The paintings are both nearly 2 metres high and are painted in oils. Both were originally painted on wooden panels, but the Louvre version has been transferred to canvas.
Both paintings show the Virgin Mary and child Jesus with the infant John the Baptist and an angel Uriel, in a rocky setting which gives the paintings their usual name. The significant compositional differences are in the gaze and right hand of the angel. There are many minor ways in which the works differ, including the colours, the lighting, the flora, and the way in which sfumato has been used. Although the date of an associated commission is documented, the complete histories of the two paintings are unknown, leading to speculation about which of the two is earlier.
Two further paintings are associated with the commission: side panels each containing an angel playing a musical instrument and completed by associates of Leonardo. These are both in the National Gallery, London.
The paintings
Louvre version
The Virgin of the Rocks in the Louvre is considered by most art historians to be the earlier of the two and dates from around 1483–1486. Most authorities agree that the work is entirely by Leonardo. It is about 8 cm taller than the London version. The first certain record of this picture dates from 1625, when it was in the French royal collection. It is generally accepted that this painting was produced to fulfill a commission of 1483 in Milan. It is hypothesised that this painting was privately sold by Leonardo and that the London version was painted at a later date to fill the commission. There are a number of other theories to explain the existence of two paintings. This painting is regarded as a perfect example of Leonardo's "sfumato" technique.London version
A very similar painting in the National Gallery, London, is also ascribed to Leonardo da Vinci, and ascribed a date before 1508. Originally thought to have been partially painted by Leonardo's assistants, a close inspection of the painting during the recent restoration between 2008 and 2010 has led the conservators from the National Gallery to conclude that the greater part of the work is by the hand of Leonardo, but debate continues. Parts of the painting, the flowers in particular, indicate the collaboration and have led to speculation that the work is entirely by other hands, possibly Leonardo's assistant Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis and perhaps Evangelista.It was painted for the chapel of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, in the church of San Francesco Maggiore in Milan. It was sold by the church, very likely in 1781, and certainly by 1785, when it was bought by Gavin Hamilton, who took it to England. After passing through various collections, it was bought by the National Gallery in 1880.
Angels
Two paintings of angels playing musical instruments are believed to have been part of the composition that was set into the altarpiece. These two pictures, now in the National Gallery, London, are thought to have been completed between 1490 and 1495. One, an angel in red, is thought to be the work of Ambrogio de Predis while the angel in green is thought to be the work of a different assistant of Leonardo, perhaps Francesco Napoletano.History
Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
The Chapel of the Immaculate Conception was founded prior to 1335 by Beatrice d'Este, wife of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. The chapel was attached to the church of San Francesco Grande, Milan.In 1479 the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception contracted Francesco Zavattari and Giorgio della Chiesa to decorate the vault of the chapel. In 1480 the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception contracted Giacomo del Maino to create a large wooden altarpiece with spaces for paintings and with carvings and decoration, to be placed above the altar of the chapel. Final payment was to be made on August 7, 1482.
Commission for the painting
On April 25, 1483, Prior Bartolomeo Scorlione and the Confraternity contracted Leonardo da Vinci, and the brothers Ambrogio and Evangelista de Predis to provide the painted panels for the altarpiece. The contract was not explicit about what each artist was to do. Leonardo was referred to in the contract as "Master". Ambrogio de Predis was also a painter. It is presumed that Evangelista de Predis was a gilder and assisted in preparing the colours.The details of the painting, colouring and gilding are set out in the contract. The central panel was to be a painting showing the Virgin Mary and Christ child, with two prophets, probably David and Isaiah, surrounded by angels. Above them was to be a lunette containing a relief panel of God and the Virgin Mary, beneath which was a panel showing the crib. The relief figures were to be brightly painted and gilded. To either side of the central painting were to be painted panels showing four angelic musicians on one side and four singing angels on the other. A number of sculptured relief panels were to depict the life of the Virgin Mary. Details of the colours and the gilding of the major parts were specified in the contract.
The due date of installation was December 8, 1483, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, giving seven months for its completion.
Payment
On May 1, 1483, there was an initial payment of 100 Lire. This was followed by payments of 40 Lire per month from July 1483 until February 1485 totalling 800 Lire. A final payment was to be negotiated upon completion and delivery of the work in December 1483.Between 1490 and 1495, Ambrogio and Leonardo wrote to the Confraternity stating that the centrepiece had cost the whole 800 Lire and they asked for a further 1,200 Lire, according to the contract. The Confraternity offered them only 100 Lire as a result of the petition. Leonardo and Ambrogio then requested Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, to intervene on their behalf. It was suggested that the altarpiece should be assessed by experts and evaluated, for the final payment. The artists also suggested that if an agreement over price could not be met, then they should remove the artwork.
In 1503 Ambrogio again appealed for payment, on his own behalf and that of the heirs of his now deceased brother, Evangelista. On March 9, 1503, Louis XII of France, who had invaded Lombardy in 1499, wrote to the commander of Milan requesting that he intervene on behalf of the artists. On June 23, 1503, the Confraternity set out a deed contesting de Predis' request for evaluation or return of the painting. On April 27, 1506, an evaluation was made. It was judged that the work was still incomplete. Leonardo was requested to finish it, but he was still absent from Milan.
On August 18, 1508, the painting was delivered and put into place. On August 7, 1507, and October 23, 1508, Ambrogio received two payments totalling 200 Lire. The receipt of this payment is acknowledged in correspondence by Leonardo.
1524–2011
Louvre painting
In 1625 the Virgin of the Rocks now in the Louvre was seen at Fontainebleau by Cassiano dal Pozzo. In 1806, the French restorer Fr Hacquin transferred the Louvre Virgin of the Rocks from its panel onto canvas. For a brief time in 2011–12 it was hung with the London painting as part of an exhibition in the National Gallery on Leonardo's activity as painter to the court of Ludovico Sforza.Side panels
The two panels from the completed altarpiece containing figures of angels playing musical instruments were acquired by the National Gallery, London in 1898.Subject
The subject of the two paintings is the adoration of the Christ child by the infant John the Baptist. This subject relates to a non-Biblical event which became part of the medieval tradition of the Holy Family’s journey into Egypt. The Gospel of Matthew relates that Joseph, the husband of Mary, was warned in a dream that King Herod would attempt to kill the child Jesus, and that he was to take the child and his mother and flee to safety. There are a series of non-Biblical narratives that relate to the journey to Egypt. One of these concerns Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, whose family, like that of Jesus, resided in the town of Bethlehem where the Massacre of the Innocents was to take place. According to legend, John was escorted to Egypt by the Archangel Uriel, and met the holy family on the road. The Louvre website refers to the angel in the painting as "Gabriel". This accords with the Apocryphal gospel of John the Baptist, which describes his removal from Bethlehem as by Gabriel rather than Uriel and does not mention the meeting on the road to Egypt.The subject of the Virgin Mary with the Christ child being adored by John the Baptist was common in the art of Renaissance Florence. John the Baptist is the patron saint of Florence and has often been depicted in the art of that city. Those who painted and sculpted the subject of the Mary and child with St John include Fra Filippo Lippi, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
In both paintings the scene is depicted taking place against a background of rock formations. While scenes of the Nativity were sometimes depicted as taking place in a cave, and Kenneth Clark points to the existence of an earlier rocky landscape in an adoration painted for the Medici family by Fra Filippo Lippi, the setting was unprecedented and gave to the paintings their usual name of the Virgin of the Rocks.