Rock Grotto Madonna

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The rock grotto Madonna
Leonardo da Vinci
 
1st version , between 1483 and 1486
Oil on panel, 199 cm × 122 cm
Musée du Louvre , Paris

 
2nd version , between 1493 and 1508
Oil on panel, 189.5 cm × 120 cm
National Gallery , London

The Rock Grotto Madonna is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci . It shows the Virgin Mary with the Christ child , the boy John and with the angel Uriel in a rock grotto, painted with oil on wood. There are two versions of the painting. The first was made around 1483–1486 (dimensions: 199 × 122 cm), the second around 1493–1508 (dimensions: 189.5 × 120 cm). A third version is also mentioned, made around 1510 by Leonardo and Schüler; it is privately owned (Geneva) (dimensions: 168 × 140 cm).

Origin and history

The pictures are commissioned for an altarpiece by the "Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception" for the Franciscan Church of San Francesco Grande in Milan. The commission for a three-winged altarpiece with a representation of the Virgin Mary went in equal parts to Leonardo, the Evangelista brothers and Ambrogio de Predis , all of whom were artistically active at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan.

Rock Grotto Madonna, 1st version

Leonardo painted on the picture for three years (1483 to 1486) and depicted the people, quite unusual for the time, in the foreground of a dark rock grotto. The de Predis brothers painted two angels making music for the respective side wings. The entire altarpiece is now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

The nature-loving Leonardo, who combined almost all of his portraits with landscapes, impressively plays with light and shadow effects in this picture. He contrasts a rather eerie, cold and dark grotto with the light loveliness of the Mariengruppe. The very girlish-looking Maria is the center of the picture. Her gaze falls on the praying boy John , whom she grips with her right hand, while she holds her left hand over the boy Jesus, who is supported by an angel. The figures, which are atypical of the early Italian Renaissance, are in contact with each other through gestures or looks, but sometimes also with the viewer, who is thus included in the graceful scene.

The client had found the unusual combination and depiction of the baby Jesus and Johannesknaben provocative. However, the painting was never handed over and some changes were made. In the last version, boys (this time both Jesus boys) and Maria have gold and halos , which did not correspond to the late medieval pictorial tradition. Obviously there were also disputes about the payment, at least the first version of the painting reached the French court via Ludovicio Sforza and is now on display in the Musée du Louvre (inventory number INV. 777).

Rock Grotto Madonna, 2nd version

The second, slightly modified version - accepted by the brotherhood - was painted between 1493 and 1508, begun by Leonardo and continued by his pupil Ambrogio de Predis. Overall, the picture is kept lighter, and there are now halos and a Johannis staff. The picture is now in the National Gallery (London) (inventory number NG 1093).

literature

Gottfried Biedermann: Some iconographic annotations on Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin on the rock in Paris (Louvre) and some specific remarks on the digital gesture in other paintings . In: Historia Artis Magistra, Ljubljana 2014, pp. 281–288.

Web links

Commons : Felsgrottenmadonna  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Louvre
  2. a b National Gallery
  3. Leonardo da Vinci: Scientist, Inventor, Artist . Publisher Gerd Hatje, 2000.
  4. Audio guide NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON - Leonardo Rock Grotto Madonna (DE). Retrieved January 3, 2020 .