#15o413
(Reconstruction)

A small portrait of Leonardo to mark his birthday…

♥

Untitled
(Reconstruction)

Seeing that I rarely seem to draw or paint Leonardo face on, because his nose is just so much more magnificent in profile, this one felt strange for quite some time. - It was meant to be much lighter, but somehow I always end up going back to the spectrum of shadows that Leonardo played with so much in his own work…

From the Shadows
(Reconstruction)

“The shadow of a great genius is a peculiar thing. Under Rembrandt’s shadow, painters flourished to the extent that we can no longer distinguish their work from his own. But Leonardo’s was a chilling shadow, too deep, too dark, too overpowering.”

Leonardo, based on available sources and previous reconstructions. The long curls are mentioned by a contemporary from his early days in Florence, so I wanted to see what that may have looked like. And of course, this is also a homage to the “Salvator Mundi”…

Da Vinci
(Reconstruction)

“Do not reveal, if freedom is dear to you, that my face is the prison of love.”

~ Leonardo da Vinci

Keeping it simple: Using available references, namely Verrocchio’s “David”, Leonardo’s own “Adoration of the Magi” and the “Fioravanti” self portraits, as well as Melzi’s exquisite profile drawing of Leonardo to compare, build and refine his facial structure, here he is again.

Obviously, artistic license was taken with the hair and eye colour, though he has been described as blonde and blue eyed. The freckles are my personal touch - may I be forgiven.

THE BATTLE OF ANGHIARI

“Addì 6 di giugno 1505, in venerdì, al toco delle 13 ore, cominciai a colorire in palazo. Nel qual punto del posare il pennello, si guastò il tenpo e ssonò a banco, richiedendo li omini a ragione. Il cartone si stracciò, l’acqua si versò, e rupesi il vaso dell’acqua che ssi portava. E subito si guastò il tenpo e piovve insino a ssera acqua grandissima. E stette il tempo come notte.”

“On 6th June 1505, on Friday, at the stroke of the 13th hour I began to paint at the Palazzo. At the moment of putting down the paintbrush the weather changed for the worse, and the bell in the law-courts began to toll. The transfer sketch came loose. The water spilled as the jug that contained it broke. And suddenly the weather worsened, and the rain poured down till nightfall. And it was dark as night.”

[ The fresco was doomed from the beginning, it seems… ]

The “Adoration” Self-Portrait
(Master Copy - Reconstruction)

Caution and awe be damned, I’ve decided to pull Leonardo’s face from the shadows of the believed self-portrait in the unfinished “Adoration of the Magi”, with the minor alteration of not painting the cap he’s wearing in the original.

Leonardo III

The modern and final version of this little series. Enjoy!