Leonardo da Vinci: Perspective study for the “Adoration of the Magi”

What we see isn’t always what we see. It took artists thousands of years before the concept of perspective was perfected. Beginning in the 15th century artists dabbled with the use of perspective,

but until Brunelleschi no one had mastered its geometry. This study by da Vinci shows how the geometric lines of perspective converge toward a single vanishing point on the page.

vanishing point

Leonardo da Vinci: The Adoration of the Magi

Leonardo da VinciStudy of an Old Man’s Profile

The efforts of Renaissance painters to improve the realism and accuracy of their figures reflects the increasing humanism within European society. During the Middle Ages, when society concentrated on life in the hereafter, rendering everyday life accurately was unimportant, but humanism sought to reflect on life in the present. This shifted the focus to the individual, and as the individual’s importance increased so did the human detail in painting. Leonardo conducted careful studies of the human form,even going so far as to dissect cadavers and sketch the muscles and organs under the skin.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation

Leonardo da VinciThe Madonna of the Carnation

Last Supper, after restoration

Castagno, Last Supper

Mona Lisa

Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466

Lady with Ermine

Virgin and St. Anne

Leonardo da Vinci (ca. 1485)Virgin of the Rocks

Mantegna (1493-1496)Madonna of the Victory

Filippo Lippi (1485-1486)Madonna and Child