The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (cartoon)
Lost drawing by Leonardo da Vinci / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is a cartoon said to have been created by Leonardo da Vinci as part of his "Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" project, and now considered lost. It is known from a letter written on April 3, 1501, by Fra Pietro Novellara, Isabella d'Este's envoy to the painter. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as "Fra Pietro's cartoon". Although still hypothetical, its existence seems to be confirmed by paintings by Raffaello and Andrea del Brescianino that are said to have been made from it, as well as by various pencil studies.
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne | |
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Artist | Leonardo da Vinci |
Year | between 1500 and April 1501 |
Movement | Italian Renaissance |
Subject | Religious art |
Condition | Lost |
The drawing, if it ever existed, features some of the most important figures in Christianity. It is a full-length portrait depicting a group formed by Mary seated on the lap of her mother, Saint Anne, and stretching out her arms towards her son Jesus of Nazareth, who is riding a lamb at her feet. The drawing evokes the moment when Jesus challenges his mother to accept his future Passion, aided by his grandmother, who also symbolizes the Church.
Dated between 1500 and April 1501, this is the second of three cartoons the painter needed to create the painting The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne in the Louvre: it follows the abandoned Burlington House cartoon by a few months, and precedes by a year to a year and a half the equally lost cartoon from which the Louvre painting is derived. It marks a significant stage in the painter's thinking: he abandons the figure of St. John the Baptist in favor of that of the lamb; and while it bears great similarities to the painting, the cartoon differs mainly in that its figures adopt a more upright posture and are oriented in an inverted left-to-right image.
The composition, and in particular the motif formed by the Infant Jesus straddling the lamb, met with some success among the painter's followers. This motif can be found in works by Raphael, Bernardino Luini and Giampietrino.