Tag Archives: Walter Isaacson

Four Women of the Renaissance

5 January 2025 By in Art, Biography, History, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Leonardo da Vinci, who died on May 2, 1519 at the age of 67, began around 40 paintings in his lifetime, of which fewer than 20 survive. Of those that survive, only about 15 are believed to be complete.

The artist painted only four known portraits of women:

  • Ginevra de’ Benci at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
  • La Belle Ferronnière at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
  • Mona Lisa also at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
  • Cecilia Gallerani (known as “Lady with an Ermine“) at the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland.

Cecilia Gallerani was the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and was painted while da Vinci worked in the Duke’s court in Milan, Italy. The Polish government paid 100 million Euros for the painting in 2016.

Trivia: Many believe that Leonardo da Vinci continuously reworked the Mona Lisa throughout his life; it was still in his possession when he died. The fact that the Mona Lisa does not have eyebrows suggests, to me, that the painting was still unfinished. The absence of eyebrows in the Mona Lisa has led to other theories as well:

  • Others argue that da Vinci might have intentionally left them out for artistic reasons.
  • There’s also the theory that the eyebrows might have faded over time due to the varnish or other conservation issues.

Source: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson, 2017. Graphic: Lady with and Ermine by da Vinci, public domain.

Mona Lisa Eyes

25 March 2024 By in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment 
Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She's got Bette Davis eyes

Bette Davis Eyes. By Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon

In 1503 Leonardo da Vinci ended his association with the murdering and duplicitous Cesare Borgia, meaning he was again without a patron or in today’s vernacular; unemployed and without income. Likely, through a paternal connection, familial duty, and the need for money, he agreed to take a commission from a silk merchant to paint his 24-year-old wife: Lisa del Giocondo nee Gherardini.

He posed her in a seated, half-length, unconventional three-quarter portrait view with a typical Leonardo background of winding rivers, mountains, and misty sky. Her enigmatic smile and follow-you-anywhere eyes are the subject of endless discussions and debates. He employed his now famous, delicate blending of colors with soft edges; “sfumato”, and his almost transparent layering to create what is now considered the archetypical Renaissance art form, and the world’s most famous and valuable painting. Some estimates place the value of the painting somewhere north of one billion dollars.

In predictable fashion, Leonardo never finished the painting. He began the painting in 1503, as confirmed by a margin note in a book dated to that year, and continued working on it until he died in France in 1519 at the age of 67. If you look closely at the painting, you will notice that Lisa does not have any eyebrows or eyelashes although modern science has detected them as being originally there. It is believed that they were removed over time by repeated cleanings, but it is just as likely Leonardo overpainted them with the intent of painting them back on at some later date.

The painting is now on display in the Louvre, having been purchased by the King of France, Francois I, Leonardo’s final patron, shortly after the painter’s death.

Source: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. Published 2017.

Painting from Wikipedia. Public Domain

Salvator Mundi

24 March 2024 By in Art, Biography, Books Nonfiction, History Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Salvator Mundi, Savior of the World, is believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci sometime between 1499 and 1510 which is considered by historians to be the beginning of the High Renaissance period. The painting was supposedly commissioned by King Louis XII of France and was later recorded in the possession of the English Kings Charles I and II. How the English acquired the painting is unknown. It was then passed onto the Duke of Buckingham in the 1600s after which his son sold it in 1763. The painting then disappeared for 137 years.

It reappeared in 1900, changing hands a few times without anyone realizing it may be an authentic Leonardo. In 2005 a consortium of art dealers and collectors purchased it with the intent to have it cleaned and restored all the while attempting to prove that it was indeed a Leonardo painting. In 2013 most experts agreed that it was an authentic Leonardo allowing it to be sold for $80 million to Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier which he quickly resold to the Russian Rybolovlev for $127.5 million. This sale quickly became a legal mess with the resolution not entirely clear.

Somehow the legal issues resolved themselves and the painting came to market again in 2017 selling for $450.3 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold. After much wild and erroneous speculation, it was revealed that Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism bought the painting.  It is currently in storage awaiting the completion of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2020 the experts have struck again and attribution of the painting to Leonardo is in doubt. Experience says this debate will continue ad infinitum. Meanwhile an extremely expensive art piece supposedly by a gay painter of Jesus Christ resides in the Arab Middle East.

Sources: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson published in 2017. Salvator Mundi by Christies published in 2017. Salvator Mundi by ArtNet published in 2020.

Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Cesare Borgia:

13 March 2024 By in Biography, Books Nonfiction, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Leonardo, dreamer, artist, and scientist; Cesare Borgia, Cardinal, murderer, duplicitous tyrant; and likely subject of Niccolo Machiavelli’s book: The Prince, were holed up together for three months during the Renaissance winter of 1502-1503 in the five blocks by eight blocks Italian walled garrison town of Imola.

According to Walter Isaacson in his 2017 “Leonardo da Vinci” biography he states that, “While he was in Imola with Machiavelli and Borgia, Leonardo made what may be his greatest contribution to the art of war. It is a map of Imola… It is a work of beauty, innovative style, and military utility…Drawn in ink with colored washes and black chalk… The aerial view is from directly overhead, unlike most maps of the time. On the edges he specified the distances to nearby towns, useful information for military campaigns…”

Cesare Borgia (1475-1507), backed by his father Pope Alexander VI, was on a military campaign to carve out his own personal princedom, by hook, crook or force. He had moved his court to Imola to further plans for his conquest of the area. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was there because he had signed on as Borgia’s chief military engineer. Leonardo’s task was to reinforce castles and defenses in the region and construct new military machines based on his notebook designs such as his rapid-fire projectile weapon, armored car, helicopter, and giant crossbows; none of which were ever built in his lifetime. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), was dispatched by the Florentine authorities as a diplomat to discern Borgia’s intentions towards the city and dissuade him, if possible, from attacking Florence.

As an aside, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher and critic, introduced the concept of Ubermensch: an idealized individual who transcends conventional morality and societal norms. Nietzsche elevated Borgia to this lofty status. Borgia’s daring, ruthlessness, and strategic cunning seemed to align with the philosopher’s ideals of a powerful individual who creates his own fate. Many have split hairs with Nietzsche’s concept of Ubermensch but when one creates his own morality it is hard to distinguish the end result from that of a psychopath.

Shown above is Leonardo’s map of Imola drawn in 1502-03. Public domain.

Shown above right is a Friedrich Nietzsche, circa 1975. Photo by Friedrich Hartmann. Public domain.