LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

Infrared reflectogram of the Virgin and Child, known as the Madonna of the Carnation, by Leonardo da Vinci Distemper and oil on panel. About 1474–1476 Alte Pinakothek, Munich The Virgin Mary is showing Jesus a carnation whose shape evokes a nail, symbolising his crucifixion. The infrared reflectogram reveals how the architectural structure and windows behind the figures were drawn out. Leonardo prepared the compositions of his first paintings so meticulously that very few changes needed to be made during the painting process, which was also perfectly executed. © Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen – Doerner Institut – Lars Raffelt Hans MEMLING Seligenstadt, about 1435–Bruges, 1494 Portrait of a Man (Bernardo Bembo?) with a Roman Coin Oil on panel About 1471–1474 Some art historians have identified the sitter for this portrait as the Venetian patrician Bernardo Bembo because of the palm tree and laurel leaves – features of his personal emblem, which appears on the back of Leonardo’s earliest portrait, Ginevra de’ Benci. Bembo served as the Venetian ambassador to the court of Burgundy from 1471 to 1474, and Memling’s portrait is thought to date from that period. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, inv. 5 0 25 0 26