LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

1. LIGHT, SHADE, RELIEF In 1464, the young Leonardo began an apprenticeship in Florence with Andrea del Verrocchio, one of the greatest sculptors of the 15th century. While in Verrocchio’s workshop he studied the sculptural nature of form, movement (on which reality depends and all narratives are constructed) and chiaroscuro (the use of light and shade to create a sense of drama). His prime source of instruction was Christ and Saint Thomas, a monumental bronze sculpture cast by Verrocchio for the Florentine church of Orsanmichele. In this work, Verrocchio demonstrated a profoundly pictorial conception of sculpture, from which Leonardo drew the basis of his own art: the idea that space and form come into being through light and exist only in the play of light and shade. Leonardo’s monochromatic Drapery Studies, painted on linen after clay figures covered with pieces of cloth dipped in clay, resemble Verrocchio’s studies for the figures of Christ and Saint Thomas and were inspired by this innovative perception of space. The Annunciation, the Madonna of the Carnation and the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci reflect Leonardo’s transition fromsculpture to painting. This shift was boosted by his interest in the work of his contemporaries at a rival Florentine workshop run by the Pollaiuolo brothers, and in the innovations brought to Florence by Flemish painters – three-quarter view portraits and the use of oil.