See adjacent text.

A margin note by Agostino Vespucci (visible at right) discovered in a book at Heidelberg University. Dated 1503, it states that Leonardo was working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.[16][17]

Louis Béroud's 1911 painting depicting Mona Lisa displayed in the Louvre before the theft, which Béroud discovered and reported to the guards

Excelsior, "La Joconde est Revenue" ("The Mona Lisa has returned"), 1 January 1914

Le goûter (Tea Time) by Jean Metzinger, 1911, oil on canvas, 75.9 × 70.2 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Prado Museum La Gioconda

Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance.

Cicero Marginalia and the 1503 Timeline

A 2005 discovery in a 1477 printing of a volume by ancient Roman philosopher Cicero confirmed the initial timeline of the masterpiece. Dated October 1503, the marginal note was written by Leonardo's contemporary Agostino Vespucci. This finding established crucial historical evidence that Leonardo da Vinci had begun the portrait during that period.

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The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16

Crucifixion by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano, 1495, opposite Leonardo's Last Supper

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)

A study for The Last Supper[b] from Leonardo's notebooks[22] shows twelve apostles, nine of which are identified by names written above their heads. Judas sits on the opposite side of the table, as in earlier depictions of the scene.[16]

The Last Supper, c. 1520, Andrea Solari, oil on canvas, in the Leonardo da Vinci Museum, Tongerlo Abbey

The Last Supper made in salt in Wieliczka Salt Mine (Poland)

The Last Supper (Leonardo)

The Last Supper is a mural painting by Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1495–1498 and housed in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy.

Tempera Experiments on a Sealed Wall

Leonardo rejected standard fresco techniques because wet plaster prevented slow execution and frequent corrections. Instead, he painted The Last Supper in tempera on a stone wall sealed with gesso, pitch, and mastic. Cennini had warned that this panel technique was far more risky on walls than fresco. As a result, the paint failed to adhere properly, triggering rapid decay.

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Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour

A Vitruvian Man depiction in the edition of De Architectura by Vitruvius; illustrated edition by Cesare Cesariano, 1521

One of Francesco di Giorgio Martini's three attempts at creating the ideal "Vitruvian Man"

A "Vitruvian Man" prototype by Giacomo Andrea, 1490

The proportions of the arm, a drawing by Leonardo which was probably in preparation for the Vitruvian Man

(left) Patch of the Skylab 3 mission (erroneously written as 2), showing the Vitruvian Man in the center; (right) NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit Vitruvian Spaceman patch (Space Shuttle version, with three stars representing NASA's human spaceflight programs)

Vitruvian Man

Vitruvian Man is a drawing by Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1490, depicting a nude man in two overlapping positions inscribed within a circle and a square.

Decentering the Navel to Reconcile Square and Circle

Vitruvius posited that a single anatomical point should govern both circular and rectangular figures, leading early Renaissance artists to center both shapes strictly on the navel. Leonardo realized that adhering to this premise generated geometric inconsistencies. He unlocked the solution by separating the anchor points, maintaining the navel as the center of the circle while establishing the genitals as the true center of the square.

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Lady with an Ermine - Leonardo da Vinci (adjusted levels)

Detail of the lady's head

Detail of the ermine

The Ermine Hunt (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer Karol Estreicher pose with the painting upon its return to Poland in April 1946.[46]

Lady with an Ermine

The Lady with an Ermine is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, painted in oils on walnut wood around 1489–1491 depicting Cecilia Gallerani.

Shared Timber from a Single Tree

Leonardo favored walnut wood panels, a choice atypical for painters working in Lombardy. The support for this portrait is cut remarkably thin, measuring only about 4–5 millimetres. Experts note that this single piece of walnut most likely came from the exact same tree used for his later portrait, La Belle Ferronnière.

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The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio and Leonardo)

The Baptism of Christ is an oil-on-panel painting finished around 1475 in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio and generally ascribed to him and his pupil Leonardo da Vinci.

Cross-Disciplinary Apprenticeship in the Florentine Studio

Verrocchio trained apprentices in his Florentine workshop across diverse disciplines, including surface anatomy, mechanics, geography, and Italian literature. He routinely set aside designated zones in his works for students to sketch and paint after he began them. Through this collaborative system, assistants including Botticelli, Francesco Botticini, and Leonardo da Vinci contributed directly to workshop paintings.

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Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo)

Study for The Adoration of the Magi, 1478–1481, Louvre, Paris

Perspectival study for The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1481, Uffizi, Florence

Study of a rider and rearing horse for The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1481, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Filippino Lippi, Adoration of the Magi, 1496 – The altarpiece eventually delivered to San Donato a Scopeto

Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci, both before and after its restoration. High definition viewer of before and after restoration

Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo)

The Adoration of the Magi is an unfinished early painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence since 1670.

Alien Pigment on a Master's Canvas

Modern scientific diagnostics inverted long-held assumptions regarding Leonardo's physical contribution to the panel. Art diagnostician Maurizio Seracini analyzed the work using high-resolution digital scans and infrared techniques, generating over 2,400 records. His investigation proved that all visible top layers of paint were added much later by unknown artists to make the unfinished piece salable. Leonardo himself had executed only the elaborate underdrawing before abandoning the work in Florence.

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Codice Atlantico - Legatura

Hoist by Leonardo da Vinci (Codex Atlanticus, f. 30v., 1480 ca.). Reconstruction at the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan.

Design for a giant crossbow

Waterwheels and Archimedean screws

Codex Atlanticus

The Codex Atlanticus is a 12-volume bound set of drawings and writings by Leonardo da Vinci, the largest single set of his work, comprising 1,119 leaves dating from 1478 to 1519.

An Atlas of Thought Rather Than Geography

The title of the Codex Atlanticus does not refer to transatlantic exploration or maritime cartography. Instead, its name reflects the large paper format traditionally used to bind atlases, repurposed to preserve Leonardo's working pages. Across 1,119 leaves dating from 1478 to 1519, the collection encompasses subjects ranging from flight and weaponry to botany and mathematics.

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Leonardo da Vinci's study in silverpoint for The Horse, c. 1488[1]

Study in silverpoint for the monument (abandoned design), c. 1490[2]

Sketched plan of cast for the head portion of the horse (right)

The equestrian monument by Pietro Tacca

Leonardo's Horse in Milan

The American Horse at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Leonardo's horse

Leonardo's Horse is a project for a bronze equestrian sculpture commissioned from Leonardo da Vinci in 1482 by the Duke of Milan Ludovico il Moro, but never completed.

Dwarfing the Renaissance Masters in Bronze

Ludovico il Moro collected seventy tons of bronze for a monument approaching 8 metres in height. This colossal scale was calculated to dwarf earlier horse monuments by Donatello and Leonardo's former master, Verrocchio. Leonardo da Vinci planned an unprecedented colossus that exceeded any equestrian statue of his era.

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Leonardo da Vinci - Portrait of a Musician - Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

Detail of the face

Detail of the sheet music

Il Condottiere, c. 1475, Antonello. Louvre, Paris. Antonello's method of lighting the face may have inspired Leonardo.[37]

Portrait of a Young Man, c. 1490–1491, Circle of Leonardo. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. The artist was noticeably inspired by the Portrait of a Musician.

Clockwise from top left: Ludovico Sforza, Gaffurius, Gian Galeazzo Sforza and Josquin have each been proposed as the subject of the Portrait of a Musician (center) (clickable image—use cursor to identify).

Portrait of a Musician

The Portrait of a Musician is an unfinished painting dated to c. 1483–1487 by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is his only known male portrait painting.

Concealed Notes Overturning a Ducal Identity

For centuries, the portrait was assumed to depict Leonardo's aristocratic employer, Ludovico Sforza. That longstanding belief collapsed during a 1904–1905 restoration conducted by Luigi Cavenaghi and Antonio Grandi. By stripping away layers of overpaint, conservators uncovered a hand holding sheet music, establishing that the sitter was actually a musician.

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