Image · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Renaissance · Painting
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1503–1519
ArtistLeonardo da Vinci
Datec. 1503–1519
TypePainting
MediumOil on poplar wood
Dimensions168 cm × 130 cm (66 in × 51 in)
LocationDenon Wing
— The Work
About this masterpiece
Three generations — Saint Anne, her daughter the Virgin Mary, and the infant Christ — are folded into a single pyramidal composition of remarkable tenderness. Christ playfully tugs at a lamb (a symbol of his coming Passion), Mary leans toward him from Anne’s lap, and the whole group rises before a dreamlike mountain landscape rendered in luminous sfumato.
— Context
Historical significance
Begun around 1503 and worked on by Leonardo until his death in 1519, this painting embodies the artist’s lifelong fascination with familial bonds and atmospheric depth. Restored by the Louvre between 2010 and 2012, it now displays its full subtlety of color and modeling.
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