LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

Leonardo da VINCI and workshop Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 The Virgin and Child, known as the Virgin of the Yarnwinder or the Lansdowne Madonna Oil on panel transferred to canvas About 1501–1510 (?) Leonardo spent several years perfecting the composition; the changes he made are visible in infrared reflectogra- phy. Private collection 135 In 1499, in Milan, Leonardo met Florimond Robertet, secretary to Louis XII of France. Robertet commissioned the artist for a painting of the Madonna. We know that Leonardo was working on this painting in April 1501, and that it featured the infant Jesus grasping a cross-shaped yarnwinder (foreshadowing his future death) and the Virgin making a gesture of surprise. There are two versions of this composition, both painted in Leonardo’s workshop and brought together for this exhibition.The landscape in the Buccleuch Madonna was painted over an initial underdrawing identical to that of the Lansdowne Madonna. Differences between the two painting in terms of the pictorial technique and the extent of Leonardo’s contribution have generated controversy among art historians with regard to their attribution.