Leonardo da Vinci's paintings are beautiful and full of mystery. They are crafted to an unimaginable degree of perfection, as the master spent several years working on each of his creations.
Our rating lists all of them Leonardo da Vinci's greatest paintings, with photos, titles, and detailed information about each. The list did not include invention drawings, caricatures, or paintings that art historians doubt were by the artist. legendary Leonardo da Vinci. Copies of paintings that have not survived to this day are also not included in the selection.
18. Vitruvian Man
Years of writing: 1490.
Where is it located: Accademia Gallery, Venice.
Materials: paper, pen, ink, watercolor.
Dimensions: 34.3 x 24.5 cm.
If you say this isn't a painting, but a drawing, you'd be absolutely right. Indeed, the Vitruvian Man is a drawing, an illustration made by Leonardo for a book by the great ancient Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius and included in one of his diaries.
However, this drawing is no less famous than the paintings on our list. It is considered not only a work of art but also a scientific work. It demonstrates the ideal proportions of the human body.
After studying mathematics and geometry, particularly the works of Vitruvius, Leonardo's thirst for knowledge reached its peak. In the "Vitruvian Man," he applied the idea of universal symmetry, the golden ratio, or "divine proportion" not only to size and shape but also to weight.
- 6 palms = 1 cubit;
- length from the tip of the longest to the lowest base of 4 fingers = 1 palm;
- 4 palms = 1 foot;
- arm span = height;
- 4 palms = 1 step;
- 4 cubits or 24 palms = the height of a person.
Other world-famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci that incorporate the golden ratio principle include the Mona Lisa, the Annunciation, and the Last Supper.
17. Madonna of the Carnation
Years of writing: 1478–1480.
Where is it located: Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 42 x 67 cm.
Many art historians attribute this work to the young Leonardo, when he was still an apprentice in Verrocchio's painting workshop. A number of details support this theory, such as the detailing of the Madonna's face, the design of her hair, the landscape outside the window, and the soft, diffused light characteristic of the Italian artist.
Unfortunately, the years have not been kind to the painting, and due to improper restoration, the surface of the paint layer has become uneven.
16. Annunciation
Years of writing: 1472–1476.
Where is it located: Uffizi, Florence.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 98 x 217 cm.
Leonardo da Vinci's artistic beginnings were marked by the Annunciation. This painting was presumably created in collaboration with Andrea del Verrocchio, into whose workshop he was apprenticed at the age of 14. The stunning anatomical precision characteristic of all Leonardo's works, as well as a number of sketches in his surviving diaries, support the artist's attribution to the future famous Italian master. The brushstrokes and the composition of the paints used to paint Mary also support the artist's attribution; they contain lead, a feature uncharacteristic of da Vinci's work.
Interestingly, when viewing the painting directly in front of it, several anatomical errors are noticeable. For example, Mary's arm appears somewhat longer than is typical for the average person on planet Earth. However, if you move to the right side of the painting and view from there, Mary's arm magically shortens, she becomes larger, and the center of gravity shifts to her figure—as intended. Most likely, the supposed anomaly in her physique is the result of a carefully crafted optical illusion: the painting was intended to hang at an angle to the viewer.
15. Baptism of Christ
Years of writing: 1476
Where is it located: Uffizi, Florence.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 177 x 151 cm.
Leonardo also co-wrote this work with his teacher. According to Giorgio Vasari, who compiled a biography of the artist, Verrocchio commissioned the young apprentice (Leonardo was 24 years old at the time of the painting) to paint the figure of the white-haired angel in the left corner of the painting. The teacher was so impressed by his apprentice's skill that, disgraced, he gave up painting.
14. Portrait of Ginevra de' Benci
Years of writing: 1474–1478.
Where is it located: National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 38.8 x 36.7 cm.
The wreath of laurel and palm branches on the reverse of the painting hints at the woman depicted. The first wreath suggests her poetic pursuits, while the second suggests she is not averse to mercy and compassion. This impression is reinforced by the sitter's austere and somewhat stern beauty, her pale, alabaster skin, and her drooping eyelids, as if in thought. Her intellectual pursuits are also hinted at by the almost complete absence of jewelry and her deliberately modest clothing. Indeed, the painting depicts the poetess Ginevra de' Benci.
The style of the painting (especially the finger shading—Leonardo was just beginning to master this technique, so the paint layer is uneven in places) already speaks volumes about the artist's mastery. Especially the characteristic soft lighting and the landscape in the background, seemingly shrouded in a luminous haze.
13. Madonna Benois
Years of writing: 1479–1481.
Where is it located: Hermitage, Saint Petersburg.
Materials: oil painting on canvas.
Dimensions: 48 x 31.5 cm.
«"The ghost of an old woman" with a "wrinkled neck," a "bloated body," and a "toothless grin"—these were the unflattering words used to describe the painting by an American art historian commissioned by the owners, the Benois family, to establish its authorship. Despite all the colorful epithets, he nevertheless attributed it to Leonardo da Vinci, a view supported by both the artist's brushwork and the soft, diffused light characteristic of the artist, effortlessly creating the volume of the two figures.
One of the symbolic details is the cruciferous plant, hinting at the child's future. However, neither mother nor baby knows this yet. He plays carefree, and she looks at him with a smile.
12. Adoration of the Magi
Years of writing: 1479–1482.
Where is it located: Uffizi, Florence.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 246 x 243.
One of the paintings by the great Renaissance artist, sculptor, scientist, and engineer, unfortunately remained unfinished. Leonardo moved to Milan and had no intention of returning. Fortunately, his commissioners preserved the unfinished painting. It is distinguished by its unusual composition and rich symbolic meaning.
For example, Mary sits under an oak tree, which is a symbol of eternity; in the distance, a palm tree grows – a sign of Jerusalem, and the ruins of a pagan temple on the horizon represent the destruction of the pagan religion, which was supplanted by Christianity.
11. Saint Jerome in the Desert
Years of writing: 1480–1490.
Where is it located: Vatican Pinacoteca.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 103 x 75 cm.
Although the painting remained unfinished, it made a strong impression on his contemporaries. This is primarily due to the astonishing anatomical accuracy of his depiction of the human body, for which Leonardo was renowned.
The painting met a difficult fate: some time later, it was sawn up, and the boards were used for the most ignoble purposes. It is said that part of the painting was discovered by an art enthusiast in the form of a chest lid.
10. Madonna Litta
Years of writing: 1478–1482.
Where is it located: Hermitage.
Materials: tempera, board.
Dimensions: 42 x 33.
The mastery of the great Italian artist is also evident in the details, which tell a story. For example, the woman's red dress has special slits for nursing, one of which is sewn shut. Apparently, she decided it was time to stop breastfeeding. But one of the slits has been ripped open in her haste, revealing stitches and dangling threads.
9. Madonna of the Rocks
Years of writing: 1483–1490 and 1495–1508.
Where is it located: The Louvre and the National Gallery, London.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 199 x 122 cm
There are two virtually identical works by Leonardo in existence, each with the same title. One is in Paris, the other in London. Da Vinci's first version was commissioned for an altarpiece, with a clearly defined subject matter. However, the artist apparently felt his talent and skill entitled him to certain liberties. As a result, so many were taken that the commissioners refused to pay. A long-running lawsuit ensued, which, however, ended relatively successfully. The second version hung in the church, while the first disappeared from art history radars for about 150 years, until it was rediscovered in the French royal treasury.
Like many of Leonardo's paintings, this one is full of coded messages. The cyclamen next to Jesus symbolizes love, the primrose symbolizes virtue, the acanthus symbolizes the coming resurrection, and the St. John's wort symbolizes the blood shed by Christian martyrs. It was this painting that the author of the controversial "Da Vinci Code" attempted to use to illustrate his theories, claiming that the traditional subject actually has a very different meaning.
8. Portrait of a musician
Years of writing: 1485–1487.
Where is it located: Ambrosian Library, Milan.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 43 x 31.
The only portrait of a man among da Vinci's famous paintings. Initially, art historians believed the painting depicted the Duke of Milan himself, Leonardo da Vinci's patron and friend (to the extent that a man of such social standing could be anyone's friend). Until it was later discovered that the young man was clutching a scroll beginning with the words "Angel's Song." Therefore, the painting was renamed "Portrait of a Musician." And some art historians have boldly suggested that it is Leonardo himself, as music was also among his interests.
7. Lady with an Ermine
Years of writing: 1488–1490.
Where is it located: Czartoryski Museum, Krakow.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 54.8 x 40.3 cm.
Although the genius Italian artist's authorship has sometimes been questioned, art historians now agree that this is one of Leonardo da Vinci's finest paintings, if not his most accomplished, from a painterly perspective. It is believed that the artist, who adored riddles and codes, encoded the white animal in the model's arms as a symbol of her name. In Latin, the mustelid family is called gale, and the woman's name was Cecilia Gallerani.
The snow-white pelt of the ermine (and it is most likely an ermine depicted in the portrait) is a bold challenge to the somewhat dubious status of the Duke of Milan's kept woman. According to popular belief, this animal values its pristine white fur so much that it would rather die than stain it with dirt.
6. The Last Supper
Years of writing: 1495–1498.
Where is it located: Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
Materials: fresco.
Dimensions: 460 x 880 cm.
One of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings isn't really a painting. It's a kind of grandiose and ultimately unsuccessful experiment by the great Italian scientist. At the end of the 15th century, the Duke of Milan commissioned the renowned artist to paint a monastery wall for the equivalent of $700,000 today.
It was envisioned that the artist, like many before him, would paint on wet plaster—after a final polishing, such paintings would be durable and long-lasting. However, fresco painting imposes its own limitations: in addition to the specific method of applying paint (painting must be done immediately and cleanly, with no subsequent corrections possible), only certain pigments are suitable for it. Even then, their vibrancy is diminished, "eaten away" by the highly absorbent surface.
For Leonardo, who was skeptical of authority, who achieved everything independently, and apparently took considerable pride in this fact, such restrictions were unbearable. With true Renaissance flair, he decided to reject the legacy of the past and rework the entire process—from the composition of the plaster to the paints used. The result was predictable. The fresco's paint layer began to deteriorate just two decades after its completion. Besides the poor technical decisions, the painting also suffered from time.
First, the monastery's residents decided to saw off Christ's feet, making a door in their place. Then, incompetent painters, attempting to renovate the painting, shamelessly distorted its subject matter (for example, the hand of one of the apostles was transformed into... a loaf of bread). The building was flooded, then converted into a hayloft, and during World War II, the church was bombed. Fortunately, the fresco was undamaged. It's no surprise that barely 20% of the original painting has survived to this day.
Interestingly, this crumbling and occasionally touched-up image was for many years da Vinci's most famous painting—indeed, the only one accessible to the average viewer. The rest were all kept by the wealthy. The status quo only changed with the transfer of the Mona Lisa from Napoleon's bedchamber to the Louvre.
Of the other two frescoes created by da Vinci, only fragments have survived to this day.
5. The Beautiful Ferronnière
Years of writing: 1493–1497.
Where is it located: Louvre, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 62 x 44 cm.
An interesting legend surrounds one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings. When the painting arrived in France, one of its owners inscribed it with the words "ferronnière." This mysterious word (like the woman's undeniable beauty) has captivated the imagination of those close to the arts for many years.
The gallant "historian of love," Guy Breton, who lived in our time, concocted a whole story. Allegedly, the nameless beauty was the mistress of Francis I, and she began wearing the jewelry to hide a bruise she received during a night with the king.
Leonardo da Vinci's painting "La Belle Ferronniere" most likely depicts Lucrezia Crivelli. She was one of the lovers of Leonardo's patron, the Duke of Milan. The name derives from the ferronniere, a decoration worn on her forehead.
4. Girl's head
Years of writing: 1500–1505.
Where is it located: National Gallery, Parma.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 24.6 x 21 cm.
This unfinished depiction of a young woman with a disheveled hairstyle (hence the painting's other title, La Scapigliata, or "The Disheveled One") is painted in a manner similar to other unfinished works—oil paints with a small addition of pigment. Art historians, however, believe that the contrast between the barely defined hair and the beautifully executed face was part of the artist's intention.
Leonardo was likely inspired by a passage from the ancient writer Pliny the Elder, popular during the Renaissance. He wrote that the great artist Apelles deliberately left his final depiction of the Venus of Cos unfinished, and that his admirers admired it more than his other works.
3. Saint Anne with the Madonna and Child Christ
Years of writing: 1501–1517.
Where is it located: Louvre, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 168 x 112 cm.
The painting's content is deeply symbolic: Mary sits on the lap of her mother, Anne, reaching out to the product of her womb—the infant Christ. The lamb symbolizes the meekness and future destiny of the Savior as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Contemporaries deeply appreciated the liveliness and naturalness of the facial expressions of all three participants in the scene - especially Leonardo's signature enigmatic half-smile with which Anna looks at her daughter and grandson.
2. Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)
Years of writing: 1502–1516.
Where is it located: Louvre, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 76.8 x 53.
It's probably hard to find anyone on earth who isn't familiar with the "Mona Lisa." It is undoubtedly the most famous work by this talented Italian. Many mysteries and secrets surrounding this Leonardo da Vinci painting remain unsolved to this day:
«The Mona Lisa held a special significance in the artist's life—it's no secret that at times, swept up in something new, he was reluctant to return to an interrupted work. However, he worked on the Gioconda with passion and dedication. Why?
It's unclear exactly who is depicted in the portrait. Was it the wife of del Giocondo's merchant? Or the same woman who posed for "Lady with an Ermine"? There's even a theory that the model for the Mona Lisa was Salai, one of the artist's apprentices, who was depicted by him in at least two other paintings.
What color was the Mona Lisa's dress originally? Leonardo must have experimented with paint again, and again unsuccessfully, so nothing remains of the original sleeves. Incidentally, contemporaries admired the painting's sumptuous coloring.
And finally, the mysterious half-smile – is she smiling at all, or is it just an illusion, skillfully created by the artist through the shadows in the corners of her lips?
1. John the Baptist
Years of writing: 1508–1516.
Where is it located: Louvre, Paris.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 69 x 57 cm.
The artist's last painting, presumably depicting Salaì, one of the artist's apprentices, who, for unknown reasons, enjoyed Leonardo's special favor. The master forgave his apprentice many things, even stealing money for a pre-purchased cloak in which Salaì was draped for "Bacchus," a painting that survives only in copy form. His effeminate face, carefully curled hair, and especially indiscreet half-smile raised certain doubts about the nature of the relationship between master and apprentice.
However, it's difficult to decipher anything from the artist's diaries—after being accused of sodomy at a young age, he carefully avoided mentioning his personal life anywhere. He left his estate and money in his will, incidentally, to Leonardo Salai and another of his assistants.
Leonardo da Vinci's Turin Self-Portrait
Years of writing: after 1512.
Where is it located: Royal Library, Turin.
Materials: sanguine, paper.
Dimensions: 33.3 x 21.6 cm.
Believed to be a self-portrait of the artist, painted at the age of 60, the portrait was created with a kaolin and iron oxide stick, which is what gives the painting its yellowish tint. It is currently not on display due to its fragility.
The authorship of this popular work remains controversial, despite the fact that the hatching runs from left to right, as was typical for Leonardo. However, some art historians consider it a forgery. According to some reports, a painting, presumably dating to the 17th century, was discovered beneath the image of the old man during X-ray examination.
Leonardo da Vinci's most expensive painting in a private collection: Salvator Mundi
Price: $400 000 000
Years of writing: 1499–1507.
Where is it located: private collection.
Materials: oil painting on board.
Dimensions: 66 x 47 cm.
Many art historians doubt that Leonardo da Vinci was the author of this painting. For this reason, it was not included in our main list. However, "Salvator Mundi" is undoubtedly one of the most expensive works of art in history.
At Christie's in November 2017, the painting sold for a staggering $400 million. It now resides in the private collection of a Saudi prince and may be exhibited at the Louvre's branch in that country.