Numerous drawings by Leonardo testify to how attracted he was to the theme of a beautiful young mother with her child. He depicted women with faces, sometimes serious, sometimes smiling, in poses expressing tenderness, with a gaze full of trembling feeling and quiet peace, and adorable babies - busy playing and other childish amusements. It is difficult to find absolute adherence to a constant pattern in the interpretation of the image of Mary by the master. Leonardo chooses purely human situations; analyzing in detail the psychological and physiological motives accompanying them, using the highest expressive possibilities in the Madonna and Child plot.

The so-called Litta Madonna, kept in the same way as the Benois Madonna in the St. Petersburg Hermitage, is attributed by art historians to the Milanese period of Leonardo’s work. The preparatory drawing for the Hermitage painting is kept in the Louvre. Before entering the Hermitage in 1865, the “Madonna Litta” was in the family collection of Duke Antoine Litta in Milan, hence its name. The preservation of the painting was so poor that it had to be immediately transferred from wood to canvas. This unique technology, which made it possible to save the canvas, was invented by the Hermitage carpenter Sidorov, for which he received a silver medal.

Controversy does not subside around one of the most beautiful picturesque images of the Mother of God and Child. The authorship of Leonardo is questioned, and although his papers contain sketches for the painting, some consider it the fruit of the work of the maestro’s students (at least as regards clothing and interior design; still, there are few people who would deny that the face of the Mother of God belongs to the brush of Leonardo ). The date of its creation is also unknown. Although the painting is usually attributed to the Milanese period of Da Vinci’s life, there are also later dates, to the time when Leonardo lived in Rome - there are hypotheses on this score. One of them is worth telling.

Not so long ago, more precisely, in the nineties of the last century, the Russian scientist and church archaeologist O.G. Ulyanov studied frescoes in the catacombs of St. Priscilla in Rome. This place is known from ancient sources as the “Lady of the Catacombs” because 7 of the first popes were buried there, including the martyr Pope Marcellinus and his successor Pope Marcellus. According to the latest archaeological data, it dates back to the 2nd century AD.

Among the catacomb frescoes there is an image of the Virgin Mary with the Child, which is, apparently, the oldest image of the Mother of God in world painting. The Russian scientist was struck by its coincidence with the composition of the “Madonna Litta”. Like Leonardo, the feeding Child turns around and looks at the viewer.

The catacombs, discovered by chance at the end of the 15th century, became a favorite walking place for artists and thinkers living in Rome. Leonardo arrived in the Eternal City in 1513 and lived there for three years. Of course, he, interested in everything, especially everything unusual, simply could not help but go down to the catacombs, where he saw an ancient fresco that impressed him so much that he repeated it in his painting. That is, the creation of the “Madonna Litta” should be attributed to the time between 1513 and 1517. However, what is interesting about this hypothesis is not the new dating, but the very possibility of that spiritual impulse that was transmitted from the unknown painter of the 2nd century to the genius of the Renaissance.

However, unlike the earlier “Benois Madonna,” in this work the viewer is presented with a thoughtful and serious young woman. She has the artist’s favorite type of beauty: a high, clean, almost eyebrowless forehead according to the standards of that time, a slightly elongated nose, a mouth with the corners of the lips raised by a Leonardian smile, and reddish hair. This is the image of an ideally beautiful woman.

Let us note Mary’s emotional pose, expressions of tenderness and pleasure from contemplating her baby suckling at her mother’s breast, while simultaneously turning her gaze towards the viewer. The image is based on the traditional Madonna del latte (Mammal) motif. Beauty, embodied in the delicate forms of young Madonnas and the plump bodies of babies, is not just a pictorial motif for Leonardo - it is the master’s reflection on the image of a mother, on her deep love for her son, which he translated into the language of painting. As always with Leonardo, he is not impassive, but all feelings are hidden so deeply that they do not interfere with the clear harmony of the image. They are hidden only in the hidden sadness of the facial expression and in a half-smile that is either bitter or mysterious. The baby in the picture is also sad and serious beyond his age.

The Madonna is wearing the costume of a Florentine lady. A dress with a wide neckline, a cloak with a colored lining, and an intricately twisted transparent scarf covering her hair. Only the colors have been preserved from church tradition in this costume: even in early Byzantine icons, the Madonna was depicted in a purple tunic and a blue maphoria cloak. Her head was sure to be covered. Leonardo does not violate these traditions, but treats them with amazing freedom and spontaneity.

The weak light falling from the windows hardly illuminates the figures, but makes the wall darker. The main lighting does not come from behind, as would be more logical, but from somewhere in front and to the left, softly modeling bodies and faces. The Madonna is depicted in such a way that her entire figure is clearly outlined against the dark background of the wall. This makes the figure especially prominent. Leonardo worked hard and hard from a young age to create such lighting combinations that would make it possible to emphasize with the gentle play of light and shadow the volume and reality of what is depicted.

Against the background of a wall cut through by two windows, a young woman sits holding a baby on her lap, whom she is breastfeeding. Her face, tender and somewhat dark, captivating with its amazing, subtle beauty, is modeled with that love for light, almost elusive chiaroscuro, of which Leonardo was an admirer and connoisseur. A gentle and somewhat mysterious half-smile plays on the mother’s lips, which from now on becomes obligatory for most images of artists, gradually becoming more emphasized and bitter. The baby, as in “Benois Madonna”, is somewhat large, turned his eyes towards the viewer, drawn in an unusually expressive manner, and on his plump child’s body the play of chiaroscuro seems to reach its apogee, the most delicate shades of light seem to caress the silky skin, creating the impression of its almost tactile concreteness. vinci madonna fresco litta

A blue, dreamy mountain landscape is visible through the windows, from which light pours in, revealing the distant horizons of a beautiful, but barely visible world.

As proof that the painting was not painted by Leonardo himself, but by someone from his school, they often point to the fact that the background is too simple and contains virtually no detail, which does not resemble the style of Leonardo himself. However, in contrast, the argument is made that such simplicity of the background was made deliberately so as not to distract attention from the main part of the picture: the Madonna and the baby herself, thereby once again emphasizing the depth and at the same time the beauty of the mother-child relationship.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Madonna Litta

1490-1491. Canvas, tempera. 42 x 33. State Hermitage Museum. Saint Petersburg

Plot

The painting shows a woman holding in her armsthe baby she is feedingchest. Background of the picture -wall with two arched windows, the light from which falls on the viewer and makes the wall darker. The windows offer a view of the landscape in blue tones. The very figure of the Madonna is illuminatedlight coming from somewhere in front. The woman looks at the child tenderly and thoughtfully. Madonna's face is depicted in profile, there is no smile on her lips, only a certain image of her lurks in the corners. The baby looks absentmindedly at the viewer, holding his mother's chest with his right hand. In his left hand the child holds goldfinch

Story

The work was written for the rulers of Milan, then passed on to the familyLitta, and was in their private collection for several centuries. The original title of the painting was “Madonna and Child.” The modern name of the painting comes from the name of its owner - Count Litt, owner of the family art gallery in Milan. In 1864 he contacted the Hermitage with an offer to buy it along with several other paintings. IN 1865 along with the other three paintings. Madonna Litta was acquired by the Hermitage for 100 thousand francs

Composition part:

The motto of the picture: The most intimate, deepest, most truthful love is Mother's love.

Associations: Affection, love, peace, lightness, sleep, tenderness, simplicity, mother, kindness.

Mother. It's no secret that Leonardo was attracted to this topic, and Leonardo's numerous drawings testify to this. The theme of a young woman with a child is his “element”. He depicted women with faces, sometimes serious, sometimes smiling, in poses expressing tenderness, with a gaze full of trembling feeling and quiet peace, and adorable babies - busy playing and other childish amusements. It is difficult to find absolute adherence to a constant pattern in the interpretation of the image of Mary by the master.

Leonardo chooses purely human situations; analyzing in detail the psychological and physiological motives accompanying them, using the highest expressive possibilities in the Madonna and Child plot.

The so-called Litta Madonna, kept in the same way as the Benois Madonna in the St. Petersburg Hermitage, is attributed by art historians to the Milanese period of Leonardo’s work and, despite the existence of Leonardo’s own drawing, undoubtedly associated with the painting, is usually attributed to the master’s school. Let us note Mary’s emotional pose, expressions of tenderness and pleasure from contemplating her baby suckling at her mother’s breast, while simultaneously turning her gaze towards the viewer. The image is based on the traditional Madonna del latte (Mammal) motif.

Beauty, embodied in the delicate forms of young Madonnas and the plump bodies of babies, is not just a pictorial motif for Leonardo - it is the master’s reflection on the image of a mother, on her deep love for her son, which he translated into the language of painting.

The weak light falling from the windows hardly illuminates the figures, but makes the wall darker. Against its background, these figures are especially clearly modeled by the light coming from somewhere in front. Leonardo worked hard and hard from a young age to create such lighting combinations that would make it possible to emphasize with the gentle play of light and shadow the volume and reality of what is depicted.

Against the background of a wall cut through by two windows, a young woman sits holding a baby on her lap, whom she is breastfeeding. Her face, tender and somewhat dark, captivating with its amazing, subtle beauty, is modeled with that love for light, almost elusive chiaroscuro, of which Leonardo was an admirer and connoisseur. A gentle and somewhat mysterious half-smile plays on the mother’s lips, which from now on becomes obligatory for most images of artists, gradually becoming more emphasized and bitter.

The baby, as in “Benois Madonna”, is somewhat large, turned his eyes towards the viewer, drawn in an unusually expressive manner, and on his plump child’s body the play of chiaroscuro seems to reach its apogee, the most delicate shades of light seem to caress the silky skin, creating the impression of its almost tactile concreteness. A blue, dreamy mountain landscape is visible through the windows, from which light pours in, revealing the distant horizons of a beautiful, but barely visible world.

The artist’s task was to show us the beauty, love and care of a mother for her child. Of course, this cannot be done without harmony in composition and harmony in colors.

And the author masterfully masters these techniques. Parsing the picture into light and dark spots, we see that we can distinguish 5 main light spots. The face of a girl, the figure of a baby, two windows located along the upper edges of the picture and a blue cape on the girl. All these spots create movement inside the image, as if the Virgin and Child come to life and they have life there, life beyond the picture, but these spots also create a kind of construction, reminiscent of an inverted triangle.

The compositional structure of the painting is distinguished by amazing clarity and perfection, conciseness and balance. It is enough to pay attention to how beautifully the extremely generalized and at the same time living silhouette of the Madonna’s figure is combined with the geometrically strict outlines of two symmetrically located window openings or how unmistakably precise, but at the same time naturally her head is placed in the partition between these windows.

Thanks to this, we can distinguish two main figures, the figures of the Madonna and the Child, as well as two secondary ones, the windows in the background. The first two figures intersect quite deeply, which undoubtedly gives a feeling of unity, the unity of the image, the inseparability of the whole. By this, the author shows how close the images of mother and child are. It seems that nothing will separate them. Two other images, two windows, only confirm this, since they seem to support the image of the mother on both sides, giving it even more stability and reliability, which further helps in these sensations in addition to the above-mentioned triangles.

The soft sculpting of her face benefits from the contrasting juxtaposition with the blue sky visible through the windows. The feeling of the joy of motherhood in the painting “Madonna Litta” deepened thanks to the content of the very image of Mary - in it the type of Leonardian female beauty found its mature expression. The Madonna's thin, beautiful face is given a special spirituality by her half-closed eyes and a subtle smile - it seems that she is smiling at her dreams...

"MADONNA LITTA"

There are so many paintings depicting the Virgin Mary that the most famous ones are usually given nicknames. Often the name of one of the previous owners sticks to them, as happened with the “Madonna Litta”.

The painting, painted in the 1490s, remained in Italy for many centuries. Since 1813, it was owned by the Milanese Litta family, whose representatives knew very well how rich Russia was. It was from this family that the Maltese knight Count Giulio Renato Litta came, who was in great favor with Paul I and, having left the order, married his nephewItse Potemkin, becoming a millionaire. However, it has nothing to do with Leonardo’s painting. A quarter of a century after his death, in 1864, Duke Antonio Litta turned toHermitage, recently became a public museum, with an offer to buy several paintings from the family collection.

Angelo Bronzino. Competition between Apollo and Marsyas. 1531-1532. State Hermitage Museum

Da Vinci's painting arrived in Russia in very poor condition; it had to not only be cleaned, but also immediately transferred from board to canvas. This is how the first one appeared in the Hermitage« Leonardo» .

By the way, here is an example of disputes over attribution: did Leonardo create the Madonna Litta himself or with an assistant? Who was this co-author - his student Boltraffio? Or maybe Boltraffio wrote it entirely, based on Leonardo’s sketch?
This issue has not yet been finally resolved, and the Madonna Litta is considered a little dubious.

Leonardo da Vinci had many students and followers - they are called "Leonardeschi". Sometimes they interpreted the master’s legacy in a very strange way. This is how the type of nude “Mona Lisa” appeared. The Hermitage has one of these paintings by an unknown author - “Donna Nuda” (“Naked Woman”). It appeared in the Winter Palace during the reign of Catherine the Great: in 1779, the Empress acquired it as part of the collection of Richard Walpole. In addition to her, the Hermitage also houses a large collection of other Leonardesques, including a copy of the dressed Mona Lisa.

"MADONNA BENOIS"

Previously, the painting was owned by her father, the Astrakhan millionaire merchant Alexander Aleksandrovich Sapozhnikov, and before him, by her grandfather Alexander Petrovich (grandson of Semyon Sapozhnikov, who was hanged in the village of Malykovka by one young lieutenant named Gavrila Derzhavin for participating in the Pugachev riot). The family said that “Madonna” was sold to the Sapozhnikovs by wandering Italian musicians who somehow ended up in Astrakhan.

Vasily Tropinin. Portrait of A.P. Sapozhnikov (grandfather). 1826; portrait of A.A. Sapozhnikov (father), 1856.

But in fact, Sapozhnikov’s grandfather purchased it in 1824 for 1,400 rubles at an auction after the death of the senator, president of the Berg College and director of the Mining School Alexei Korsakov (who apparently brought it from Italy in the 1790s).
Surprisingly, when after Korsakov’s death his collection, which included Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt and other authors, was put up for auction, the Hermitage bought several works (in particular, Millet, Mignard), but neglected this modest “Madonna”.

Having become the owner of the painting after Korsakov’s death, Sapozhnikov began restoring the painting; at his request, it was immediately transferred from board to canvas.

Orest Kiprensky. Portrait of A. Korsakov. 1808. Russian Museum.

The Russian public learned about this painting in 1908, when the court architect Leonty Benois exhibited the work from the collection of his father-in-law, and the chief curator of the Hermitage Ernst Lipgart confirmed the hand of the master. This happened at the “Exhibition of Western European Art from the Collections of Collectors and Antique Dealers of St. Petersburg,” which opened on December 1, 1908 in the halls of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts.

In 1912, the Benois couple decided to sell the painting; the painting was sent abroad, where experts examined it and confirmed its authenticity. London antique dealer Duveen offered 500 thousand francs (about 200 thousand rubles), but in Russia a campaign began for the state to purchase the work. The director of the Hermitage, Count Dmitry Tolstoy, addressed Nicholas II. The Benois couple also wanted “Madonna” to remain in Russia, and eventually lost it to the Hermitage in 1914 for 150 thousand rubles, which were paid in installments.

The Hermitage houses two works by Leonardo da Vinci. These are the Litta Madonna and the Benois Madonna. Today we will take a closer look at the history of creation MADONNA LITTA..

Numerous drawings by Leonardo testify to how attracted he was to the theme of a beautiful young mother with her child. He depicted women with faces, sometimes serious, sometimes smiling, in poses expressing tenderness, with a gaze full of trembling feeling and quiet peace, and adorable babies - busy playing and other childish amusements. It is difficult to find absolute adherence to a constant pattern in the interpretation of the image of Mary by the master.

Madonna Litta

Leonardo da VinciMadonna Litta , 1490-1491 Hermitage. Canvas. Tempera. 42×33 cm

The original title of the painting was “Madonna and Child.”

Before entering the Hermitage in 1865, the “Madonna Litta” was in the family collection of Duke Antoine Litta in Milan, hence its name. The preservation of the painting was so poor that it had to be immediately transferred from wood to canvas. This unique technology, which made it possible to save the canvas, was invented by the Hermitage carpenter Sidorov, for which he received a silver medal

In 1864 Duke of Litta appealed to Hermitage with an offer to sell it along with several other paintings. IN 1865 together with the other three paintings “Madonna Litta” was acquired by the Hermitage for 100 thousand francs

The preparatory drawing for the Hermitage painting is kept in the Louvre.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE.

The mother breastfeeds the child, fixing a thoughtful, tender gaze on him; a child, full of health and unconscious energy, moves in his mother’s arms, spins, and moves his legs. He looks like his mother: the same dark complexion, with the same golden stripes.

She admires him, immersed in her thoughts, concentrating all the power of her feelings on the child. Even a cursory glance catches in “Madonna Litta” precisely this fullness of feelings and concentrated mood. But if we realize how Leonardo achieves this expressiveness, we will be convinced that the artist of the mature stage of the Renaissance uses a very generalized, very laconic method of depiction.

The Madonna's face is turned to the viewer in profile; we see only one eye, even its pupil is not drawn; the lips cannot be called smiling, only the shadow in the corner of the mouth seems to hint at a smile ready to appear, and at the same time, the very tilt of the head, the shadows sliding across the face, the guessing gaze create that impression of spirituality that Leonardo loved so much and knew how to evoke.

Vivid imagery of the work is revealed in small details that tell us a lot about mother and child. We see the baby and mother in the dramatic moment of weaning. The woman is wearing red wide neck shirt . There are special slits made in it, through which it is convenient to, without removing the dress, breastfeed the baby . Both incisions were carefully sutured (that is, the decision was made to wean the child from the breast). But the right cut was hastily torn apart - the top stitches and a piece of thread are clearly visible. The mother, at the insistence of the child, changed her mind and postponed this difficult moment.

The weak light falling from the windows hardly illuminates the figures, but makes the wall darker. Against its background, these figures are especially clearly modeled by the light coming from somewhere in front. Leonardo worked hard and hard from a young age to create such lighting combinations that would make it possible to emphasize with the gentle play of light and shadow the volume and reality of what is depicted.

Madonna Litta. Hermitage.

There is another version ABOUT THE LAST OWNERS OF THE PICTURE.

Count Giulio Renato Litta traced his ancestry to the rulers of Milan, the Visconti. Under Paul 1 he was the permanent representative of the Order of Malta in St. Petersburg. He fell in love and married Countess Ekaterina Vasilievna Skavronskaya, nee Engelgart, the beloved niece of Prince Potemkin.

Saint Petersburg.

Madonna Litta. A loving mother holds her child. Who sucks the breast. The Virgin Mary is beautiful. The baby bears a striking resemblance to its mother. He looks at us with a serious look.

The painting is small, only 42 x 33 cm. But it amazes with its monumentality. The small space of the picture contains something very important. The feeling of being present at an event that is not subject to time.

This picture is distinguished not only by its majesty. But also with its details.

Have you noticed that the baby is holding a bird in his hand? That the nursing cutouts on Madonna's dress were sewn shut. And in a hurry one of them was ripped open? Have you noticed how unusually the characters are lit? And why didn’t Leonardo work out all the details of the picture?

Leonardo da Vinci. Last Supper. 1495-1498 Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazia, Milan

Here we also see a blue mountain landscape. The light falls on the figures of Christ and the apostles also from somewhere on the left. As if from the windows of the refectory of the monastery, in which the painting is located. Leonardo created such an illusion so that the fresco fits harmoniously into the space.

Perhaps he achieved the same effect in Madonna Litta. Taking into account the room in which it was supposed to hang.

2. Leonardo did NOT work out all the details of the painting

Notice how carefully the faces of the characters in the picture are worked out. At the same time, Madonna's cloak is written more roughly. Remember how carefully each fold was drawn. Not surprisingly, speculation arose.

Allegedly, Leonardo once again did not have the patience to complete the work. The version that is still popular is that one of his students helped him. The faces were painted by Leonardo. But everything else, of worse quality, was written by another person.

I am sure that the work belongs entirely to Leonardo. He just got ahead of himself once again.

Having done varying degrees of elaboration, he placed accents. So that the viewer’s vision “snatches” the most important thing from the space of the picture. Faces of Madonna and Child.

After Leonardo this effect will come. Sometimes he left part of the work unfinished. “The painting is finished as soon as the artist has fulfilled his intention in it,” said the master.

Look at Rembrandt's impressionism, unexpected for the 17th century. The customer's clothing is painted in thick, quick strokes. For Holland, which was famous for its meticulous attention to detail, this was too revolutionary. Rembrandt was not understood.

Imagine how misunderstood Leonardo was. Who resorted to such effects a century and a half earlier. Maybe it’s in vain that many of his works are considered unfinished? Maybe they were designed this way?

3. The prototype of the Madonna Litta was created 13 centuries before Leonardo

Was Leonardo the first to depict the Madonna breastfeeding? In fact, a similar image can be found on early Christian frescoes. In the Roman catacombs.

Before the official recognition of Christianity, believers were forced to hide their religion. Underground rooms were dug. Christian martyrs and the first Popes were buried in them. Services were also held there. And the walls of the dungeon were covered with frescoes depicting biblical scenes.

I have no doubt that Leonardo was in these catacombs. They were rediscovered during his lifetime.

The Virgin Mary on one of the walls of the catacombs is very similar to Madonna Litta. Lots of coincidences. The way a mother holds her child. Like a baby suckling and looking towards the audience. Even the tilt of Madonna's head is the same.

And Saint John the Baptist stands nearby and points his finger at the star. His gesture is similar to the gesture from Leonardo’s famous painting “John the Baptist.” If you put both paintings side by side, you get a painting from the Roman catacombs.

4. Torn stitches on the chest of the Madonna as a symbol of mercy

The most unusual detail of the picture. Which rarely anyone pays attention to. Madonna's dress has two cutouts for breastfeeding. They were carefully sewn up. As can be seen from the cut on the left breast.

However, the stitches on the right breast are torn. What would that mean? The mother cannot sew up the cutouts every time after feeding. And before feeding, tear them apart. Only one conclusion suggests itself.

Madonna planned to wean the child. Therefore, the cutouts were sewn up as unnecessary. However, she could not resist the cry of the child. Who asked for his mother's milk. In the haste, the stitches were torn. And the child fell to her chest.

Why does Leonardo add such a detail? Why not depict the usual feeding process. Without the little drama preceding it?

Around 1300, noble ladies stopped breastfeeding their children. Hiring wet nurses. And who was the poorest to make do with cow's milk? Since “unused”, elastic breasts have come into fashion.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that in the 14th century Leonardo’s older contemporaries began to depict the image of the Madonna of the Mammal. Having been fed, at best, with the milk of a wet nurse, they idealized the image of a nursing mother.

Leonardo was most likely breastfed by his mother. After all, she was a girl from the lower class, a peasant.

But he experienced another trauma. At the age of 3 he was separated from his mother. The noble father wished to see his illegitimate son next to him.

Undoubtedly, this childhood trauma influenced Leonardo. That is why he portrays the image of his mother with such trepidation. Mother merciful and loving.

5. Goldfinch. The illusion of a smile. Lack of halos.

There are many other unusual details in the “Madonna Litta”. in the hand of a baby. This bird symbolizes the Christian soul.

Do you think Madonna is smiling? Not really. This is an illusion due to the shadow in the corner of the lips.

Also note that there are no halos above the Madonna and Child. If customers did not insist on their depiction, then Leonardo preferred to paint saints without them.

He was a humanist. Exalting man. And in saints he was also more interested in their human side than in their divine side.

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