LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

Infrared reflectogram of The Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci Oil on panel.1480–1482 Uffizi Gallery, Florence The Adoration of the Magi is held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Its reflectogram reveals the extraordinary freedom of Leonardo’s ‘intuitive’ compositional technique. The endless superimposition of ideas transforms the crowd present at the ‘manifestation of Christ to the world’ into swirling, chaotic darkness. Leonardo never finished the Adoration, but the same prodigious inventiveness inspired many of the great compositions of his later career. © Archivo Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Su concessione del Ministero dei Beni e delle actività culturali Leonardo da VINCI Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 Compositional Study for The Adoration of the Magi Leadpoint reworked with pen and brown ink About 1480–1481 This first version of the composition of Leonardo’s Adora- tion is held in the Louvre. It established the position of the Virgin and Child in the centre, breaking with the tradi- tion that placed them to one side. Department of Prints and Drawings, Musée du Louvre, Paris, RF 1976 0 51 0 52